“I have done some online courses, some one-on-one instruction and some camps. The course I just finished with you has been the most useful by a pretty large margin. Thanks for both the thought and effort that went into the design and material preparation and for the personal presence you bring to it.”—Steve F.
“I got a lot out of it! Everyday I have a practice routine based of the summer intensive. You have helped me by leaps and bounds.”—Sandy N.
Register for the New Acoustic Mandolin course for $225 (that’s about $14 per class session)
See the Celtic Mandolin Curriculum.
See the Beatles for Mandolin Curriculum.
“New Acoustic” music has come a long way since it first started up some 40 years ago. What was started by the likes of David Grisman and Sam Bush in the 1970s as an outgrowth of bluegrass and jazz has grown into a wide-ranging music incorporating elements of rock and roll, folk music, old-time music and more. We’ll explore this modern frontier of music and give students many of the tools they’ll need to play the tunes as well as improvise and play backup in new ways with new rhythms.
Spring of 2018 marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Matt Flinner’s “The View from Here” CD, which is regarded by many as a landmark album in New Acoustic music. Eight of the tunes from this CD will be covered, along with several other tunes from Flinner’s solo albums as well as Phillips, Grier and Flinner and Matt Flinner Trio albums. The styles of other New Acoustic players will also be covered, and a wide range of tunes will be studied in order to give students a better understanding of how to approach various tunes in Newgrass and New Acoustic Music.
This course runs from March 21-May 26. Classes take place on Wednesday evenings at 9 pm, and follow-up practice sessions take place on Saturdays at 12:15 pm eastern time. While it is recommended, students do not need to be present for the live sessions, as all sessions are recorded and available to view by the following day. Students may also download all class sessions and watch them offline at their convenience.
This course is recommended for students at an intermediate to advanced level.
The course fee is $225. Sign up here
WEEK 1
New Fiddle Tunes
Slightly more complex chord progressions
Variations using octaves and chord tones
Black’s Fork
The View from Here
WEEK 2
Rock-influenced rhythms and patterns
Rhythmic pattern I
Two bluesy licks
Cold Quarters
Nowthen
WEEK 3
Picking Patterns
Picking Exercise I
Picking Exercise II
Some positions up the neck
Suggestions for improvisation
A New Leaf
City Chickens
WEEK 4
More improvising
Mixolydian and Dorian modes
Melodic patterns
A few minor licks
Paint It Shut
The Narrows
WEEK 5
New Acoustic rhythms
Going between 4/4 and 3/4
Rhythmic exercise II
Wilson Bridge
Another Alley
WEEK 6
Major 7, Dominant 7 and Minor 7 chord forms
Diatonic 4-note chord exercise
Some David Grisman rhythms and licks
Ice Queen
Shiny Blue
WEEK 7
More rock and funk rhythms
Some Sam Bush grooves and licks
Quartal chord forms
Men from Boise
Half Moondog
WEEK 8
Advanced chord progressions
Using chord tones
More melodic patterns
Using various grooves in a tune
Miasma
Red Shift