Swing and Jazz Mandolin 102 with Matt Flinner, 9/22-11/21

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

Check out Swing Mandolin 101 with Matt Flinner on Mondays here.

Explore the wonderful world of swing mandolin with Grammy-nominated mandolinist Matt Flinner. Learn a new jazz or swing tune (or two) each week and get pointers on how to play chords and backup as well as approaches to improvising. This course will be very much into chord voicings, scales, arpeggios and how they all relate to one another. The 102 level course is intended for intermediate to advanced players, and will cover swing tunes as well as jazz standards and bebop tunes. It’s a great way to expand your playing and musicianship (and learn some great tunes)!

SCHEDULE:

60-minute classes take place online every Tuesday evening from September 22 to November at 17 9 pm eastern time, and 45-minute practice/review sessions take place every Saturday morning from September 26 to November 21 at 11 am eastern time. The week of Oct 13-17 is off due to Matt’s touring schedule.

WHAT STUDENTS GET FROM THE COURSE

All students will also have unlimited access to short recorded videos of all of the material played at a slow tempo, PDFs of all material in both standard notation and mandolin tablature, and mp3s of all of the tunes at slow and medium speeds that they can practice along with. Students can access all of this material at any time through the class website, and can also download all materials (videos and class session videos included) to keep them permanently. All class sessions and practice/review sessions are recorded and posted on the class website (usually by the following day) so that students who were unable to attend the live sessions may view them at their own convenience, and all students may review the class videos as often as they wish.

Students will also be given a “Recommended Listening” list each week for the material covered. A variety of versions of each tune will be provided in the hopes that students will listen to recordings and further explore the wide world of recorded swing, jazz and bluegrass music.

HOW INTERACTIVE IS THE COURSE?

During the live sessions, students can ask questions and/or play examples via their microphone (built-in or external plug-in), or they can ask questions via a built-in chat window. The instructor responds to all questions immediately (or between teaching exercises, etc.) on the spot.

Students are also encouraged to submit mp3 recordings at any time during the course if they would like to, and the instructor will respond in an mp3 recording with constructive criticism. Students can submit these mp3s either privately via email or publicly via the class website, where all students can listen and respond if they choose to. Mp3 submissions are encouraged but not required, and there is no limit on how many mp3 submissions a student can send in.

There is also a class website where registered students can find all class materials (videos, PDFs, mp3s) anytime. The site also has a Forum section, where students can ask questions, bring up topics for discussion, etc., in an open forum where the instructor and other students can respond.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO PARTICIPATE:

1. A desktop or laptop Mac or PC computer, iPad or Internet-connected mobile device in order to view the sessions, plus a good internet connection.

2. An internal microphone and speakers on your laptop or desktop computer, or a phone to listen and speak (if desired) during the sessions. Instructions for participating by phone are included when you register for the course (long distance charges may apply).

3. During the course, you have the option of submitting recorded examples of your playing to the instructor (and to the group, if desired). In order to do this, you will need your computer’s built-in microphone or an external microphone plugged directly into your computer (via built-in ports or an external audio interface), in addition to basic audio recording software, such as Audacity or Garage Band, that will allow you to record yourself playing andsave the recording in MP3 format.

4. A mandolin (actually maybe that should have been #1).

The fee for the course is $200. If you have questions about the course, email Matt at [email protected].

To view other online mandolin courses being offered this winter, click one of these links:

Swing and Jazz 101 Curriculum

Appalachian Mandolin Curriculum

SWING AND JAZZ MANDOLIN 102 CURRICULUM:

Week 1 (Sept 22): The advanced blues progression

Some blues licks in two positions

ii-V-Is in the blues

Dominant and Major 7th arpeggios: two octaves

Mixolydian and major scales and patterns II

Things Ain’t What They Used to Be