Tours
The International Bluegrass Music Museum (IBMM) invites you to enter an exciting world rich with culture, art, history, adventure, and positive human interaction by experiencing its all-new series of interactive, hands-on, guided tours, available daily to groups of all ages.
Tours range from introductory 1-hour adventures to 3-hour in-depth excursions through the museum with musical instrument demonstrations, discussions and studies on music theory, history, and Kentucky culture and humanities.
Groups can immerse themselves in an educational, inspirational, and historical journey through Kentucky's most famous art form: bluegrass.
All tours include live music demonstrations, are designed to accommodate groups of up to 120, and last from 1 to 3 hours.
Introductory Tour
This tour begins with a live instrument demonstration in which the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo are introduced by one of our music teachers.
The demonstration includes history and music theory discussions that cover certain KERA (Kentucky Education Reform Act) core content, as well as a Museum Walk-Through, all of which address musical influences, pivotal artists, the effect of geography on artistic expression, and the influence of electronic media.
Cost is $3.00 per person (30 or more) or $6.00 per person (5 or more).
Hands-On Instrument Demonstration Tour
Music teachers/historians demonstrate the instruments of bluegrass music, and discuss music history, melody, form, timbre, dynamics, tempo, and harmony.
A "Hands-On Mandolin Experience" follows, in which our teacher distributes Weber "Sweet Pea" mandolins to members of the group, and instructs them in chords of a triad.
Available for a minimum of 10 and maximum of 30 participants only.
Cost is $7.00 per person.
Walk-Through Museum Tour
These tours include an extensive guided tour of all the museum exhibits including:
- History of Bill Monroe
- Music Listening Stations
- IBMA Bluegrass Hall of Fame
- Timeline of Bluegrass Music
- 1950s Cafe
- Bluegrass Time: A Photographic Exhibit by Phil Zimmerman
- The History of Bluegrass Music in Europe and Japan
- Video Oral History Project documentary films of Bluegrass Pioneers
Questions at each exhibit are encouraged on this tour.
Cost is $3.00 per person (30 or more) or $6.00 per person (5 or more).
The Blue Tour
This 3-hour tour begins with a "Walk-Through Museum Tour" that has extra emphasis on the history of bluegrass music, and is followed by a screening of the museum's "Video Oral History Project" films in the Bluegrass Unlimited Theatre.
After the film, your group will be treated to an extended "Hands-On Mandolin Experience" or "Hands-On Fiddle Experience" in which the teacher/guide will distribute the respective instruments to each member of your group and teach them a bluegrass song.
Cost is $8.00 per person (30 or more) and $18.00 per person (5 or more).
The Green Tour
This tour allows your group more freedom to concentrate on the areas of the museum that most interest individuals.
As a group, they will be given the "Walk-Through Museum Tour," followed by their choice of the "Hands-On Mandolin Experience" or the "Fiddle Through the Ages" program.
Afterward they will be given 1 hour to re-visit their favorite exhibits or films, ask questions of their teacher/guide/docent, and shop in our unique gift shop.
Cost is $8.00 per person (30 or more) and $18.00 (5 or more).
