Summer Intensive Online Courses Begin August 11, 12

These courses have 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 102 level course, which takes place on Tuesday evenings, is intended for beginner to intermediate students, and students will learn one bluegrass or old-time tune in conjunction with the exercises. The 202 level course, which takes place on Wednesday evenings, is intended for intermediate to advanced level students, and students will learn one swing or jazz-style tune in conjunction with the exercises. Both courses will also address fundamentals which should be beneficial to players of all ability levels. And both courses will also have practice/review sessions on Saturday mornings.

102 Curriculum

202 Curriculum

Here’s a description of the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 online experience that I hope will give you a good idea of what this exciting style of mandolin lessons is all about.

BLUEGRASS MANDOLIN 101 (and 201!)

The Bluegrass Mandolin 101 program is a unique approach to online mandolin lessons that gives students the best of both worlds: access to live lessons as well as recorded mandolin instructional videos. These courses focus on helping mandolin students get to the next level in their playing and broaden their understanding of the bluegrass, old-time and fiddle tune traditions.

A UNIQUE APPROACH: LIVE INSTRUCTION PLUS INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS

Part of what makes the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 program unique is the fact that students follow a step-by-step program of live lessons over a four-week course. The live lessons get a little more challenging each week, and students are encouraged to practice during the week in order to get comfortable with that week’s concepts in order to be more prepared for the next class session. Students also have unlimited access to several short instructional videos each week (usually about 8 or 9) but are also following a regular schedule which encourages them to actually practice the material regularly during the eight week period. The archive of short instructional videos plus the video recordings of each class session and practice session give the student plenty of material to work with during the course and on into their future mandolin endeavors!

THIS QUARTER’S COURSES

For Summer Quarter, there will be TWO 4-week courses offered from August 11-September 12. These are follow-up courses to the 101 and 201 courses, which took place June 30-July 25. It is NOT necessary that students take the 101 or 201 in order to take the 102 or 202 courses; students can jump into these courses at any point and begin working on their technique! All of these courses will focus on various aspects of technique. Each week, students will receive seven exercises (one for each day of the week): picking exercises, fingering exercises, arpeggios, scales, double stops, chord exercises, and licks. Students will also be given one new tune each week, along with some ideas on how to apply that week’s exercises to the tune in order to create variations.

1. Summer Intensive 102, which is geared toward upper beginner to intermediate students. Students will be given seven exercises per week plus a bluegrass or old-time tune, along with suggestions on how to relate the exercise to that week’s tune.

2. Summer Intensive 202, which is geared toward upper intermediate to advanced students. Students will receive seven exercises plus a swing or jazz-oriented tune, along with suggestions on how to relate the exercises to that week’s tune.

THE SCHEDULE

The live lessons for the Summer Intensive 102 course take place every Tuesday night from 8-9 pm Central time from August 11 to September 12, and for the Summer Intensive 202 course every Wednesday from 8-9 pm Central time from August 12 to September 12 (Matt will be taking the week of August 24th off due to his touring schedule, so the courses will conclude September 12th rather than September 5th). Both courses will also have Saturday practice/review sessions; 102 will be from 9-10 am central time, and 202 will be from 10:15-11:15 am central time.

It is NOT imperative that students be able to attend the live mandolin class sessions. As all sessions will be recorded, students can revisit the recorded sessions during the week to catch up on that week’s material at their own leisure. Students attending the live lessons will be able to ask questions on the spot (and get immediate answers and interaction), while those watching the recorded sessions will be able to ask questions via email or on the class forum page.

VIDEOS, WRITTEN MATERIALS AND RECOMMENDED LISTENING

Students have access to video recordings of all of the class sessions and practice sessions as well (generally by the following morning, or, in the case of the Saturday practice sessions, later that afternoon). In addition, shorter practice videos of the material are immediately available for viewing after each class session, along with PDFs of the all of the material in standard notation and tablature. All of these videos (about eight or so per week) are available to view as many times as the student would like. Students can also download all materials (including videos and PDFs) to keep as long as they wish.

Students will also be given a list of recommended recordings for each week’s tunes. A variety of mp3 recordings will be suggested in the hope that students will broaden their musical horizons and get a better idea of how the tunes are played by the masters!

HOW INTERACTIVE IS THE COURSE?

All live sessions are interactive; students can ask questions and/or demonstrate tunes or exercises via live microphone or telephone, or via a chat window (most students opt for this approach). The instructor is able to immediately respond and demonstrate the answers for the whole class. Another form of interaction comes via mp3 recordings; students can record mp3s on their own time of themselves playing the material (or anything else they want to send in) and send it to the instructor for feedback, which is also recorded in mp3 form and sent back to the student. Students can post their mp3s on the class site (and likely get encouraging feedback from other students in addition to the instructor) or email them privately to the instructor.

HOW MUCH DO I NEED TO PRACTICE?

That is completely up to the student. While, say, 30 minutes per day might be a good recommendation for practice time, students can make whatever they choose of this course based on their own schedule and aspirations. Practicing week to week (again, say 30 minutes per day) will help students keep up with the week’s lessons and concepts, but the instructor knows that people have busy lives! This is why all instructional material is archived and available for download so that students can learn on their own time after the course has finished as well as during the eight weeks of classes. However, one advantage to the four-week scheduled course is that by practicing at least somewhat regularly, students are more able to be prepared for the following week’s lessons and therefore take full advantage of the live and recorded mix of lesson material.

Students can decide whether to practice along with the class session or with the shorter individual videos (or both), depending on what they want to focus on for that week. Material is given each week that is targeted toward various ability levels; a song is given which is playable for beginning to intermediate players (or intermediate to advanced in the 102 class), and various concepts relating to that song are also given to educate and challenge players at beginning, intermediate and even advanced levels. The student essentially decides how much they want to take on for the week (and the course) based on their ability level and how much practice time they have. Any material they were unable to get to during the week and want to revisit later will be available in the archived videos and PDFs. The instructor will also give students a recommended list of priorities each week to help students take the best advantage of their practice time.

THE CLASS WEBPAGE

This is the virtual gathering place for Summer Intensive 101 and 201 courses, where students can view the instructional videos, view and/or download all written materials, listen to mp3s of Matt playing the tunes, get listening recommendations, ask questions, submit their own mp3s for feedback and generate forum discussions. It’s a great place to drop by any time and explore, learn and discuss.

REGISTRATION FEE

The fee for each four-week course is $120. This gives you access to all live online lessons and practice sessions as well as access to all recorded videos, written materials and mp3s (which are yours to keep). Students opting to take more than one course at a time will receive a $40 discount for the two courses (for a total fee of $200). Email [email protected] for info on receiving the discounted rate.

Here are a few quotes from some past students about their experiences in Bluegrass Mandolin 101:

“I’ve practiced more in two weeks than I have in months! Really enjoying how it’s going.”—Donna O.

“I have to say that making everything available online is a great convenience for me. Being able to stop and return to a more challenging exercise or a newer phrase is great for learning. I also really appreciate your availability to answer questions offline. This is a great course, and I feel as though I’m improving daily because of it.”—Joe C.

“The level was perfect. Mentally I understand many things that have opened up the fingerboard a lot; now I need some quality time to get it under my hands. I found things challenging without feeling out of reach.”—Stan M.

“I’m really enjoying the course. The first time I’ve actually practiced an instrument in my 60 years!”—Skip H.

To visit the registration pages, click one of these links:

Summer Intensive 102 Registration

Summer Intensive 202 Registration

You can always ask questions about the courses via email ([email protected]), and I’ll get back to you as quickly as possible. I hope to see you this summer!

All the best,

Matt

102 Curriculum

202 Curriculum