Summer Mandolin Intensive Course 101 Curriculum

This course has concluded. To view the current list of courses offered, visit the Winter Online Course page.

The Bluegrass Mandolin 101 online lessons program continues this summer with two four-week long intensive courses designed to help your overall mandolin playing technique. Each week, we’ll look at seven exercises intended to increase your knowledge of the fretboard and help your picking hand control as we look at seven different areas: picking exercises, fingering exercises, scale exercises, arpeggios, chord exercises, double stops, and licks. We’ll also learn a new tune each week and apply the ideas from each of the exercises to that week’s tune; by practicing these exercises in this context, students get some practical applications for the exercises as well as some ideas for variations on tunes.

The 101 level course begins June 10th and runs through July 5. Class sessions meet every Tuesday evening from 8 to 9 pm Central time, and practice/review sessions meet every Saturday from 10-10:45 am Central time. Students are encouraged to attend the live sessions to be able to interact more directly with the instructor, but live attendance is not required. Students will be able to view the recordings of the sessions any time afterward as often as they want through the class website.

You can register for the 101 course here.

To view the curriculum for the 102 level course, click here.

Students will have access to:

The live sessions (Tuesdays and Saturdays) with Matt on the internet

Recordings of the above sessions

Shorter videos of all of the exercises and songs

mp3s of the songs to practice with

Feedback from the instructor for any mp3s students submit for review

The class website, which includes all of the above plus a discussion forum and mp3 submission area

The 101 level course is intended for students at a beginner to intermediate level. Some material may be more easy or more challenging for individual students. Students are encouraged to prioritize certain exercises according to their ability level, and are given the option of adding to many of the exercises in order to further challenge themselves if they wish to. Part of the intent of the course is to challenge students at a variety of levels, and to help students advance their playing, learn new musical ideas and have more fun playing the mandolin regardless of their ability level.

Here is the 101 Curriculum:

WEEK 1 (June 10): Picking Exercise on one string

Fingering exercise: finger combinations across the strings

Scale exercises: major scales in 6 keys and broken thirds

Arpeggio Exercises: Major 7 Arpeggios in 6 keys

Chord Exercises: “Guitar-style” rhythm on I-IV-V in 6 keys

Double Stop Exercise: Double Stops in G

Lick: V-I Monroe-style lick

Tune: Blue Ridge Cabin Home

WEEK 2 (June 17): Syncopated picking exercise

Fingering exercise: finger combinations on one string in first position

Scale exercises: Mixolydian scales in 6 keys, broken thirds

Arpeggio exercises: Dominant 7 Arpeggios in 6 keys

Chord Exercise: I-vi-IV-V exercise

Double Stop Exercise: Double Stops in G (I-IV-V) around the neck

Lick: V-I lick in 6 keys

Tune: Dill Pickle Rag

WEEK 3 (June 24): Picking exercise on 2 strings

Fingering exercise: finger combinations across three strings at a time

Scale exercises: Dorian scales in 6 keys, broken thirds

Arpeggio exercises: Minor 7 Arpeggios in 6 keys

Chord Exercise: Minor i-iv-V progressions

Double Stop exercise: Double stops in C

Lick: Bluesy lick in 6 keys

Tune: Shady Grove

WEEK 4 (July 1): Picking exercise on 3 and 4 strings

Fingering exercise:

Scale exercise: Blues scales in 6 keys

Arpeggio exercise:

Chord Exercise: 7th chords over a blues progression

Double Stop exercise: Double Stops in A

Lick: Monroe bluesy lick

Tune: Milk Cow Blues

The fee for the course is $100.

Students can register for both the 101 and 102 level courses at a discounted rate of $180. You can go ahead and register for both and we’ll refund the discounted amount afterwards, or you can email Matt at [email protected] to make other payment arrangements or get more information. We suggest you use the $20 savings for therapy!

To view the 102 level curriculum, click here.

To visit the Summer Intensive 101 and 102 program page, click here.