Bebop Mandolin Curriculum (10/4-12/3)

“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

“This was the best online learning experience I’ve ever had. And, for the time and money, the best music learning experience in any format: DVD, video, group, or individual live lessons.”—Christine R.

See the Swing Mandolin 101 with Matt Flinner curriculum (10/3-12/3)

See the American Roots Mandolin with Matt Flinner curriculum (10/5-12/3)

This course is intended to help students learn some more advanced jazz concepts and the “bebop” musical language. We’ll learn two bebop standards each week, and look at the harmonic flow and phrasing of bebop melodies, learn ways of navigating chord progressions including blues progressions and ii-V-Is, and look at some solos and licks by several of the bebop masters of the 40s and 50s. Tunes by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, Horace Silver, Miles Davis and others will be taught each week, and bits of melody will be transposed to various keys to help students be able to better hear and understand bebop melodies and how they relate to keys and chords. Students will also be given supplementary exercises to help them learn more of the fretboard and apply various musical concepts on other tunes they may already play or encounter in the future. The course is intended for intermediate to advanced level students.

Class sessions take place on Tuesdays at 2 pm and 9 pm eastern time (both sessions will be the same, and students are welcome to join either or both sessions), and practice/review sessions will take place on Saturdays at 11 am eastern time.

Here is the curriculum:

WEEK 1 (10/4)

Blues

A couple of licks

Neighbor tone exercises

Now’s the Time

Blue Monk

WEEK 2 (10/11)

Some ii-V-Is

ii-V-I licks transposed

Changing ii-V-I licks to different target notes

Scrapple from the Apple