Norman Blake Tunes and Songs for Mandolin Curriculum (10/7-12/6)

“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.

“I’ve practiced more in two weeks than I have in months! Really enjoying how it’s going.”—Donna O.

“I have to say that making everything available online is a great convenience for me. Being able to stop and return to a more challenging exercise or a newer phrase is great for learning. I also really appreciate your availability to answer questions offline. This is a great course, and I feel as though I’m improving daily because of it.”—Joe C.

See the Blues & Rags for Mandolin Curriculum (10/6-12/6)

See the Mandolin for Beginners Curriculum (10/8-12/6)

This course will get in-depth into the music of the great Norman Blake. Tunes and songs from albums spanning Norman and Nancy Blake’s career will be given each week including handful of mandolin tunes from the classic “Natasha’s Waltz” (or the original LP, “Underground Music from the Mysterious South”). Students will also be given some picking exercises, double stop exercises, licks and other exercises to help with more difficult parts of the tunes and to help them learn the fretboard more thoroughly and help with their improvisation skills. We’ll explore various approaches to soloing each week and discuss which approaches tend to work best from tune to tune. We’ll also relate these concepts to other tunes and songs students may already know. The goal is to create more possibilities in our soloing and to have more fun playing music with other people—and, especially, to learn some great tunes and songs by one of the greatest American roots musicians ever!

The course is intended for students at an intermediate to advanced level. Exercises at a variety of levels will be given each week; students will be encouraged to focus on the exercise(s) that they feel best suits their ability level and/or interest.

This course is offered at Europe-friendly times! Class sessions take place on Tuesdays at 2 pm eastern time (7 or 8 pm in most of Europe) and 9 pm eastern time. Students are welcome to join whichever session is more convenient for them…or they can join both! Students who cannot make it to the live sessions are able to view the sessions afterwards on the class website—generally by the following day. Tuesday class sessions will run from October 7 to December 2 (with the week of November 25 off due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S.), and practice/review sessions will take place on Saturdays at 11 am eastern time from October 11 to December 6 (with November 29 off).

The course fee is $225. Register by 9/14 for just $150!

WEEK 1 (10/7)

Getting warmed up

Picking Exercise I

Playing tunes in different octaves

Blind Dog

Billy Gray

WEEK 2 (10/14)

Some Bluesy stuff

Blues licks in a few keys

Chattanooga Sugar Babe

Crossing Number 9