This sounds like pretty serious stuff for students of the mandolin. Lou Martin, described as a “senior Monroe mandolin disciple, and Rounder Records solo artist, has released two self-published instruction books.

“Twenty Studies in the First Position for Bluegrass Mandolinists, Op. 5” is designed to assist bluegrass mandolin players in becoming literate with standard musical notation….

The fifth annual Midwest Mandolin Festival, presented by the Mandolin Society of Central Indiana, will be held on Saturday, June 6, from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Indianapolis’s Eagle Creek Park on the Marina Stage.

The event will include a variety of music, all centered around the mandolin, including old time, traditional, jazz, blues, contemporary, Celtic, progressive, orchestrated, and bluegrass music by regional performing artists….

Mike Compton has been named camp and curriculum director for the fourth annual Monroe-Style Mandolin Camp on Sept. 11-13, hosted by the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, Ky.

Cumberland, MD — After a spectacularly successful 2008 festival, the folks at McCoury Music and High Sierra Music have added a bluegrass music academy to the program for DelFest 2009, broadening and enriching the festival experience for all levels of musicians. The first DelFest Academy will take place May 18-21, 2009; DelFest 2009 follows directly, on May 22-24….

The Musical Heritage Center of Middle Tennessee in Pegram is hosting t a Matt Flinner mandolin workshop for players of all ability levels from 1 to 4 p.m. Feb. 7 at the Fiddle & Pick in Pegram.

Topics will include new approaches to rhythm playing. Flinner will share a few standard bluegrass songs and examine different ways of playing rhythm behind them….