“I’m loving the instruction and all the materials, it’s got me playing my mandolin constantly!”—James M.
“I’ve participated in many online learning programs, but so far, your format is the best I’ve ever seen. I am so pleased I happened upon your courses.”—Gina M.
Register by 2/9 and save $75!
Register for Bill Monroe Tunes for Mandolin with Matt Flinner
See the Fiddle Tunes for Mandolin 101 with Matt Flinner curriculum (3/24-5/24)
See the New Acoustic Mandolin with Matt Flinner curriculum (3/26-5/31)
This course is intended to give students a broader understanding of many aspects of bluegrass mandolin playing through the music of the greatest writer of mandolin tunes—Bill Monroe! Students will explore fundamental aspects of technique (picking exercises, double stop exercises, tremolo and more) to help them at any ability level while learning some great (and often lesser-known) Bill Monroe tunes. Each week, students will be given two tunes relating to various aspects of technique, along with several exercises and suggestions for playing backup and creating variations on the tunes.
Students also have access to short (1-3 minute) practice videos each week, along with mp3s to practice with at various tempos and PDFs of all of the written exercises and tunes. Students are invited to download all materials (including short practice videos and recorded videos of all class sessions) so that they can view and/or listen to them at any point in the future after the course has concluded.
Class sessions take place on Tuesdays at 2 pm and 9 pm eastern time (they’re the same—we’ve added the 2 pm time for the convenience of students in the UK and Europe, but anyone who finds the time convenient is welcome to join! And students can attend both sessions if they want to). Practice/review sessions will take place on Saturdays at 12:30 pm eastern time
The course is intended for players at an intemediate level, though advanced players as well as advanced beginners can benefit from the exploration of fundamentals to strengthen technique (plus learn some tunes they didn’t know before!).
The course fee is $225. Register by February 9th for just $150!
Register for Bill Monroe Tunes for Mandolin with Matt Flinner
WEEK 1 (3/25)
Getting open strings in the mix
Picking Exercise I
Picking Exercise II
Two ways of playing backup
The Dead March
Louisville Breakdown
WEEK 2 (4/8)
Double stops
G Double stop exercise I
G Double stop exercise II
Moving double stops to create variations
Bill’s Dream
Lee Wedding Tune
WEEK 3 (4/22)
Some classic Monroe licks
Chop chord position playing
Double stops in chop chord position
Virginia Darlin’
Honky Tonk Swing
WEEK 4 (4/29)
A couple of waltzes
Tremolo exercise
Tremolo with double stops
Kiss Me Waltz
Lonesome Moonlight Waltz
WEEK 5 (5/6)
Some minor key tunes
A couple of ways of playing minor chords in backup
Minor double stop exercise
Cheyenne
Jekyll Island
WEEK 6 (5/13)
Bluesy Tunes
A couple of advanced Monroe licks
Bluesy licks
Picking Exercise IV
Bluegrass Twist
Watson’s Blues
WEEK 7 (5/20)
A couple of fast ones
Picking Exercise for Speed
Playing double stops at fast tempos
Come Hither to Go Yonder
Tall Timber
WEEK 8 (5/27)
Some more advanced tunes
Picking Exercise V
Roanoke
Tanyards
Bonus Material: a few classics to know (these will be given at the begining of the course, and played occasionally during practice sessions).
Gold Rush
Wheel Hoss
Big Mon
The Road to Columbus
Register by 2/9 and save $75!
Register for Bill Monroe Tunes for Mandolin with Matt Flinner