Share the Music Scholarships
The Handmade Music School makes its home at the world famous Floyd Country Store and draws from the rich local traditions to connect students with master musicians and dancers. Similar to the Floyd Country Store’s “Pay It Forward” program that helps cover meal costs for those in need, the Handmade Music School has created “Share The Music”, a program that provides access to traditional music lessons, classes, workshops, and camps through a scholarship program.
Share The Music Goals
The Handmade Music School in Floyd, Virginia is asking for your continued support to help us share the traditional music and dance culture of Southwest Virginia – let’s make learning opportunities accessible to all students!
Our goal at The Handmade Music School is to make all of our programming available and accessible to all area youth, and the greater community.
The mission of the Share The Music Program is to:
About Our Scholarships
Our Share the Music Scholarships are easy to access. Any person who cannot afford our learning opportunities but wishes to take part can fill out a simple form below requesting the funds for the program of their choice. Choose whether you are interested in a workshop, private lessons, or camp. Simply fill out the form and someone from our team will be in touch. Funding is subject to availability of scholarship funds. Please discuss with your Handmade Music School team member or teacher. Please determine how much you or your family can contribute when requesting ongoing funding.
Scholarship requests must be received at least seven days in advance of a workshop event, and 30 days in advance of camp programing to allow our scholarship committee time to review and respond to the application.
HANDMADE YOUTH STRINGBAND PROGRAM
Scholarships for the Handmade Youth Stringband Program are available based on financial need. These scholarships are determined by the HMS Scholarship & Outreach Committee and will be awarded based on need and the strength of the application. Partial and full scholarships are available depending on need. You will be notified within 2 weeks of your application date. Applications are open until January 8, 2025. Please answer the questions completely and let us know what support you need and why.
YOUTH GET TOGETHER and Teen Week Camps
Scholarships for Youth Get Together summer camps are available based on financial need. These scholarships are determined by the HMS Scholarship & Outreach committee and will be awarded based on need and the strength of the application. Partial and full scholarships are available depending on need. You will be notified within 1 month of your application date. Applications are open until June 15th, 2025. Please answer the questions completely and let us know what support you need and why.
PRIVATE LESSONS
If requesting ongoing private lessons, we will award a bundle of five 30-min lessons at a time, and assess student progress and commitment in consultation with the instructor monthly to determine continuing support or increasing support to full hour-lessons.
WORKSHOPS
Workshops are offered regularly indoors and outdoors at The Floyd Country Store and other locations in downtown Floyd, VA. Visit our events page for the upcoming workshop schedule.
JOY JAMMERS
A mixed age class for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and their caregivers taught by Kari Kovick of Hear of the Child Music Education. Seasonal songs celebrate the abundance of nature we share in Floyd County with fun songs, lots of movement, scarves, balls, and rhythm instruments. For children up to 6 years.
OLD TIME MUSIC GET TOGETHER Camp
Scholarships for our Floyd Old Time Music Get Together Camp are available and provided to a limited number of applicants. These scholarships are determined by the HMS Scholarship & Outreach committee and will be awarded based on need and the strength of the application. Applications for the 2026 Get Together are open until January 31st, 2026. Applicants awarded a scholarship will be notified on February 1st and a spot will be held in their preferred class. Please answer the questions completely and let us know what support you need and why. We ask that everyone who is granted a scholarship contributes to making this event happen. We ask for 6 hours of volunteer time throughout the weekend as part of your scholarship. We also offer a direct hourly work trade arrangement separate from this scholarship. Please reach out to info@handmademusicschool.com if you’re interested in this arrangement.
Scholarship Application
Our Scholarship Funds
To donate to a specific scholarship fund, please visit our donation page. In the field labelled “Designation” click the pencil icon and select the fund you would like to contribute to from the drop-down list.
Willard Clower Scholarship Fund
This scholarship fund is dedicated to youth musicians pursuing their music education with the Handmade Music School to honor the memory of Willard Clower and his lifelong passion for music. It is available to all students under 18 years old.
MARTIN E. MAPLES SCHOLARSHIP FUND
This scholarship in memory of Martin E. Maples, (September 12, 1949 – December 8, 2012), has the intent of supporting the continued development of young musicians who embrace the joy of music, respect the culture and musical heritage of the Appalachian region and have the desire to continue to learn and grow their talent.
About Martin Maples
Martin came from a military family which meant there was a question of what deployment location was considered ‘home’. His Father was born in the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee and his Mother came from the coalfields of southeastern Kentucky, so the roots of the Scots-Irish were in his DNA. Within that DNA was the love of sound, of rhythm, of songwriting and the appreciation for the instruments that vibrated that sound. At the age of five, he requested a fiddle for Christmas, only to find a plastic replica under the tree. His parents thought he was too young to truly commit himself to the real instrument. That experience stayed with him throughout his life.
This memory would help to foster his commitment to providing musical opportunities to the children in his life. Having moved from Richmond to Southwest Virginia in 1991, he and his wife, Sarah, came back to the mountains from which she and her people had called home for generations. Having taught himself to read music and to play guitar in his teens, this move was his induction into the Appalachian culture of his parents and his immersion into the music of his DNA. Martin had always written songs, sang and played guitar in private, but he slowly began performing in public through the support of the Blue Ridge Music Makers Guild which he helped to establish. This is where he saw the need for providing opportunities for the youth of Appalachia to learn the music of their ancestors and to find joy in generationally passing on the knowledge. His love of refurbishing vintage guitars and getting them into the hands of young folks took hold. He painstakingly provided instruments, musical direction and encouragement to the children of his friends and to anyone else who showed the interest in the vibrations of the musical scale.
To honor his memory and his love of the musical heritage of Appalachia, this scholarship will provide opportunities for qualifying applicants to further their musical development. As his journal entry of April 30, 2012 states, “We do have to continue in faith, patience and grace.”
TIMMY MILLS SCHOLARSHIP FUND
The Timmy Mills Scholarship is used specifically to fund young students (under 25) who demonstrate an interest in the style of Bluegrass on any instrument. Preference will be given to committed students for ongoing lessons (either in-person or online). We will award a bundle of four 30-min lessons at a time, and assess student progress and commitment in consultation with the instructor monthly to determine continuing support or increasing support to full hour-lessons.
MARK PROCTOR SCHOLARSHIP FUND
This fund is dedicated to the memory and spirit of Mark Proctor. This scholarship fund supports young people under the age of 18 who are interested in the recording arts and multi-media production at The Music Loft program produced by the Handmade Music School. With the support of Dogtown Roadhouse we established an ongoing fund, in Mark Proctor’s name, to benefit local musicians who are on a dedicated path of music, or who could use a helping hand to get on that path. Mark believed in creativity, especially through music, and we believe he would be honored to know his name will live on in this way.
About Mark Proctor
Mark passed unexpectedly in February of 2021. He was a staple of our community and a long-time, regular customer at Dogtown and The Floyd Country Store and ALWAYS quickly befriended our staff and our customers. His kind and warm hearted spirit had a special kind of humor that uplifted anyone he came in contact with, young and old. He had a humble wisdom, which he would always share with anyone who seemed interested to sit with him to talk. He loved the people of our community (old and new) and embraced them with so much respect and curiosity. He loved creativity and MUSIC – he rarely missed live music on our stages and happily showed his support for local music and the dedicated, talented musicians who provide it to our sweet Floyd town.