Mando Europe Is Back! Bluegrass Mandolin 101 and American Roots Mandolin at Europe-friendly Times

We ring in the New Year with music to help bring us together, not just as Americans but as citizens of the world. I’m always amazed at how bluegrass music crosses so many boundaries—economic, religious, racial and international—and how people from these disparate corners can find common ground in something they love and can all relate to. So I’m hoping the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 program can perhaps help bring us together next year, at least in some small way!

Many folks in the UK and various parts of Europe have taken part in the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 program, but often the class times are inconvenient for them, to say the least. Two courses coming this winter will be offered at more Euro-convenient times—the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 course and the American Roots Mandolin course. Class sessions for the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 will take place live online on Mondays at 2 pm eastern time in the U.S., which is 7 pm in the U.K. and 8 pm in most of Europe, and sessions for the American Roots Mandolin course will take place on Wednesdays at the same time (and we’re not forgetting about you Aussies—it’s 6 am there, but we know you’re hardy folks who’ve probably already accomplished more than the rest of us will all day!). Students in any time zone are welcome to join these sessions as well as the 9 pm eastern time sessions on Mondays (for the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 course) or Wednesdays (for the American Roots Mandolin course). Both class sessions will essentially be the same, but some students enjoy attending both in order to get a couple of run-throughs for that week’s material. One of the sessions will be posted to the class website by the following day, so if you can’t make either one, not to worry: you can view it any time at your convenience (and even download it).

We will also have practice/review sessions for each course on Saturdays. For the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 course, this will take place Saturdays at 10 am eastern time (3 or 4 pm in the U.K. and Europe) and for the American Roots Mandolin course, this will take place at 12:15 pm eastern time (5:15 or 6:15 pm in the U.K. and Europe).

Click on these links to get some more information:

The Bluegrass Mandolin 101 curriculum

The American Roots Mandolin curriculum

The Advanced Bluegrass Mandolin curriculum (sadly, this only takes place at 9 pm eastern time on Tuesdays, but the practice review sessions are at 11 am eastern time on Saturdays—which is 4-5 pm in the U.K. and Europe)

You can register for the courses here:

Bluegrass Mandolin 101 registration

American Roots Mandolin registration

Advanced Bluegrass Mandolin registration

Course fees are US $225.

Email [email protected] with any questions. And Happy New Year!