Uploaded November 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
At ninety years old, musician Frank Hamilton has been an active player in the American folk music world for seven decades. He still teaches guitar lessons—and takes harmonica classes—at the school that bears his name.
The Frank Hamilton School in Decatur, Georgia, invites students from all levels of musicianship, from children to retirees. A beginner banjo player might sit next to a lifetime fiddle player in a bluegrass music course. Everyone learns the art of the jam: listening to and learning from each other, making things up as you hear them, and gaining confidence with every session.
It continues Hamilton’s long history of playing music in and for community. Read about his life and inspirations in Folklife Magazine: https://s.si.edu/3NzQP7x
Producer: Ian Volpi
Catalog No. CFV11787
At ninety years old, musician Frank Hamilton has been an active player in the American folk music world for seven decades. He still teaches guitar lessons—and takes harmonica classes—at the school that bears his name.
The Frank Hamilton School in Decatur, Georgia, invites students from all levels of musicianship, from children to retirees. A beginner banjo player might sit next to a lifetime fiddle player in a bluegrass music course. Everyone learns the art of the jam: listening to and learning from each other, making things up as you hear them, and gaining confidence with every session.
It continues Hamilton’s long history of playing music in and for community. Read about his life and inspirations in Folklife Magazine: https://s.si.edu/3NzQP7x
Producer: Ian Volpi
Catalog No. CFV11787
