Matt Flinner

Join Don Stiernberg, Alan Bibey, David Surette and Matt Flinner for a 5-day online mandolin camp June 29-July 3. It’s a great opportunity to learn bluegrass, swing and/or Celtic mandolin from some of the best players and teachers in the world!  And all from the convenience of your own home.  

Each day, students will be able to attend any and all class sessions offered from 11 am to 6 pm eastern time, as well as instructor performances Monday-Thursday nights and a virtual jam session Friday night at 7 pm eastern time. Students will also receive all written materials from each instructor in PDF form via email. It promises to be a great time!  

Registration for the Virtual Mandolin Camp is $200, which gives students access to all live sessions, written materials and streaming recordings of all sessions after-the-fact.  

Register here.

Here’s the schedule: 

Monday-Friday (June 29-July 3) schedule: 
11 am-12 noon: Matt Flinner Fiddle Tunes for Mandolin class
12:30 pm-1:30 pm: David Surette Celtic Mandolin class
2 pm-3 pm: Don Stiernberg Swing Mandolin class
3:30-4:30 pm: Alan Bibey Bluegrass Mandolin class

5-6 pm: All instructors collective workshop, question/answer period. 

Monday 7-7:30 pm: Alan Bibey solo performance
Tuesday 7-7:30 pm: David Surette solo performance
Wednesday 7-7:30 pm: Matt Flinner solo performance
Thursday 7-7:30 pm: Don Stiernberg solo performance
Friday 7 pm-whenever open jam session. All students are welcome to join this “jam” hosted by Matt Flinner in which we’ll play through all of the tunes taught over the course of the week! Students will not be able to hear each other (due to internet lags), but they’ll be able to play along with Matt and review all the tunes they learned over the last five days.  

All courses will be geared toward a general intermediate ability level; instructors will assume that students know basic chords and can play at least a few tunes.  

Students will only be able to see and hear the instructor(s) during the class sessions, but they can request to have their microphone unmuted and/or webcam turned on in order to ask questions via audio and video as well.  Questions will be entertained throughout each class session and especially during the afternoon workshop sessions.  Students are encouraged to make the sessions as interactive as they want to!  

Register for the Virtual Mandolin Camp

For more information, email [email protected]

“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. 

“After buying six mandolins and umpteen books…I am convinced your course is best $100 I have invested in my mandolin journey to date.  Finally, I’m getting the discpline I need with your exercises to learn scales, arpeggios, double stops, fingering techniques, learn the fretboard (the essential tools I need)…and most importantly to learn how those things fit into playing tunes.”—Rick D. 

Save $50 on summer courses when you register by May 31st! 

The Bluegrass Mandolin 101 online lessons program continues this summer with three four-week long intensive courses designed to help you improve your technique, learn some tunes and help you have more fun playing the mandolin!

Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner                           Curriculum         Registration 

Swing Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner                                Curriculum         Registration

Mandolin Picking Technique Intensive with Matt Flinner               Curriculum         Registration

The Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming course (July 6-August 1) is intended to help students play bluegrass music with other people.  Each week, students will receive four new tunes (from beginner to advanced level) along with ways of playing rhythm, approaches to creating variations on the tune, and some exercises to help with fundamental technique.  The goal is to help students learn more tunes, learn practical approaches to playing those tunes, and get out and play with other people!  Register here. 

The Swing Mandolin Jamming course (July 7-August 1) will help students learn the fundamental building blocks of melody, harmony and improvisation.  The course is intended for students at an intermediate to advanced level, and will use swing and well as bluegrass material as examples in conjunction with exercises in scales and patterns, modes and arpeggios.  Students will get a lot of material to help them learn the fretboard, and will learn one song per week with some suggestions on how to incorporate that week’s exercises and concepts into creating new solos and improvising over chord progressions.  Register here.  

The Mandolin Picking Technique Intensive course (July 8-August 1) is intended to help students with the fundamentals of tone and picking technique while learning the fretboard.  Various picking exercises will be looked at, along with double stop exercises (which will incorporate concepts from the picking exercises) to help improve efficiency and speed.  And we’ll focus quite a bit on improving our tone and getting the most sound out of our instruments that we can.  Each week, we’ll also learn a tune and focus on the various aspects of picking technique we’ve been looking at as applied to that tune.  The course is intended for players of all levels who want to go deeper into the fundamentals of playing the mandolin, especially tone, picking ability and double stops.  Register here. 

Register for Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner

Register for Swing Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner

Register for the Mandolin Picking Technique Intensive with Matt Flinner

The Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming course takes place on Monday afternoons and evenings at 2 and 9 pm eastern time.  We’ll also have practice/review sessions on Saturdays at 10 am eastern time.  NOTE: Monday afternoon sessions take place at 2 pm eastern time—a more convenient time for our friends in the UK and Europe!  2 pm eastern time translates to 7 or 8 pm in the UK and most of Europe.   Students are welcome to join in on either or both of the Monday sessions each week (they will be essentially identical to one another in content).  Monday class sessions will take place July 6, 13 20 and 27, and Saturday follow-up practice sessions will take place July 11, 18, 25 and August 1.  All live sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website, where they are viewable generally by the following day (in the case of Saturday practice sessions, they’re usually available to view later that day). Register here.

The Swing Mandolin Jamming course (July 7-August 1) meets on Tuesday evenings at 9 pm eastern time, with follow-up practice sessions Saturday mornings at 11 am eastern time.  Students will have four Tuesday class sessions (July 7, 14, 21 and 28) and four Saturday follow-up practice sessions (July 11, 18, 25 and August 1).  All live sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website, where they are viewable generally by the following day (in the case of Saturday practice sessions, they’re usually available to view later that day). Register here.

The Mandolin Picking Technique Intensive course (July 8-August 1) meets on Wednesday evenings at 9 pm eastern time, with follow-up practice sessions Saturdays at 12:15 pm eastern time.  Students will have four Wednesday class sessions (July 8, 15, 22 and 29) and four Saturday follow-up practice sessions (July 11, 18, 25 and August 1).  All live sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website, where they are viewable generally by the following day (in the case of Saturday practice sessions, they’re usually available to view later that day). Register here.

ALL class materials (PDFs, practice mp3s, short practice videos and class session videos) are available for students to download and keep for future use.  

The course fee for each course is $125.  Sign up for any course(s) by May 31st for just $75!

All students access to the live sessions as well as all materials (PDFs, mp3s, practice videos and class session videos), which they can download for future use.  

Here’s a little more info about the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 online experience that I hope will give you a good idea of how the program works.

BLUEGRASS MANDOLIN 101 

Matt Flinner started the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 program in the fall of 2013.  Along the way, the program has helped hundreds of students improve their mandolin playing in a wide variety of styles.  The program offers a unique approach to online mandolin lessons that gives students the best of both live lessons as well as recorded mandolin instructional videos, audio recordings and written materials.  The courses focus on helping mandolin students get to the next level in their playing and broaden their understanding of a variety of American musical traditions. 

A UNIQUE APPROACH: LIVE INSTRUCTION AND INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS

Part of what makes the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 program unique is the fact that students follow a step-by-step program of live lessons over a four or eight week course.  The courses follow a carefully planned curriculum in the given style or area of technique, and the live lessons get a little more challenging each week as the course progresses.  Classes meet twice per week: on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evening, depending on the course, and on Saturday morning/afternoon, when students can join a follow-up practice session to review that week’s material.  Students can view the live lessons via their computer, iPad or smart phone.  Students are encouraged to ask questions during the class sessions via a chat window and/or their external or built-in microphone (this microphone is muted unless the student requests to use it).  And students do not need a webcam.  

All live sessions are also recorded so that students can review them any time if they are unable to make it to the live sessions; this also gives students the added convenience of going through the material as many times as they want to.  Students are given access to a private class website where they can find these recorded sessions and they can also view and download all PDFs of the materials and several practice mp3s of that week’s song(s) recorded at various tempos.  Students will also be given download links for all class videos so that they can view them offline at their convenience on into the future.  In essence, all materials from the course are for the students to keep.  

One aspect of the live class schedule that makes the program so effective is that students are generally more encouraged to practice in order to keep up with the schedule.  Students are given a list of suggested priorities each week, depending on their ability level and amount of practice time, and all material is then reviewed in the Saturday practice session so that students get another chance to run through it with the instructor.  Just by showing up, students will run through the material twice each week—for many of us, that’s already an improvement!  

HOW INTERACTIVE ARE THE COURSES?

All live sessions are interactive; students can ask questions and/or demonstrate tunes or exercises via live microphone or telephone, or via a chat window (most students opt for this approach).  The instructor is able to immediately respond and demonstrate the answers for the whole class.  Another form of interaction comes via mp3 recordings; students can record mp3s on their own time of themselves playing the material (or anything else they want to send in) and send it to the instructor for feedback, which is also recorded in mp3 form and sent back to the student.  Students can post their mp3s on the class site (and likely get encouraging feedback from other students in addition to the instructor) or email them privately to the instructor.

HOW MUCH DO I NEED TO PRACTICE?

That is completely up to the student.  While, say, 30 minutes per day might be a good recommendation for practice time, students can make whatever they choose of this course based on their own schedule and aspirations.  Practicing week to week (again, say 30 minutes per day) will help students keep up with the week’s lessons and concepts, but the instructor knows that people have busy lives!  This is why all instructional material is archived and available for download so that students can learn on their own time after the course has finished as well as during the eight weeks of classes.  However, one advantage to the four-week scheduled course is that by practicing at least somewhat regularly, students are more able to be prepared for the following week’s lessons and therefore take full advantage of the live and recorded mix of lesson material.

Students can decide whether to practice along with the class session or with the shorter individual videos (or both), depending on what they want to focus on for that week.  Material is given each week that is targeted toward various ability levels; a song is given which is playable for beginning to intermediate players (or intermediate to advanced, depending on the course), and various concepts relating to that song are also given to educate and challenge players at beginning, intermediate and even advanced levels.  The student essentially decides how much they want to take on for the week (and the course) based on their ability level and how much practice time they have.  Any material they were unable to get to during the week and want to revisit later will be available in the archived videos and PDFs.  The instructor will also give students a recommended list of priorities each week to help students take the best advantage of their practice time.

THE CLASS WEBPAGE

This is the virtual gathering place for the courses, where students can view the instructional videos, view and/or download all written materials, listen to mp3s of Matt playing the tunes, get listening recommendations, ask questions, submit their own mp3s for feedback and generate forum discussions.  It’s a great place to drop by any time and explore, learn and discuss.  

REGISTRATION FEE

Fees for the 4-week summer courses are $125 each.   Register by May 31st for just $75!

Here are a few quotes from some past students about their experiences in the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 program:

“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.

“The level was perfect. Mentally I understand many things that have opened up the fingerboard a lot; now I need some quality time to get it under my hands. I found things challenging without feeling out of reach.”—Stan M.

“I’m really enjoying the course. The first time I’ve actually practiced an instrument in my 60 years!”—Skip H.

To visit the registration pages, click one of these links:

Register for Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner

Register for Swing Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner

Register for the Mandolin Picking Technique Intensive with Matt Flinner

“I started playing the mandolin a little over two years ago. I played the piano as a child, but having never played a stringed instrument before, my intention was to study as much as I could about technique, theory, improvisation and the various genres of music for the mandolin.

To that end, I have taken nearly every course Matt has offered, even three at a time! Matt is a brilliant teacher. Every course is deep and rich with information. The material is thoughtfully explained, allowing a student to slowly transform the class material into music. I can’t imagine this journey without Matt Flinner.  His courses are a true life changing musical experience!”—Lisa S.

“Your courses have opened my musical mind, focused my practice and expanded my skill far beyond expectation.”—-Steve F.

Register by May 31st and save $50!

Register for Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner

See the Swing Mandolin Jamming Curriculum

See the Mandolin Picking Technique Intensive Curriculum

This course is intended to help the aspiring mandolinist build up repertoire and find ways of creating new solos over commonly played standards; it’s also designed in the hope that it will encourage students to get out and jam with other players!  

Each week, we’ll look at four bluegrass standard tunes in a particular key.  Students will be given lead sheets (in standard notation and tablature) for each song, as well as a few exercises to help them learn more about the fretboard and start incorporating new ideas into their solos.  Concepts and tunes will be taught during the class session, and all tunes will be revisited during Saturday practice sessions in a “jam session” format, where each song is played several times though, and students have the opportunity to try out some of the week’s concepts on the tunes (with guidance and suggestions from Matt).  

Register by May 31st for just $75!  That’s $50 off the normal course fee of $125. 

Register here

Here is the curriculum: 

WEEK 1 (7/6)

Tunes in the Key of G

A few positions in G

Using double stops

Basic backup pattern I

Keep on the Sunny Side

Can’t You Hear Me Calling

Before I Met You

Big Sciota

WEEK 2 (7/13)

Tunes in A

A few positions in A

Connecting positions with double stops

Backup pattern II

Are You Tired of Me, My Darling?

How Mountain Girls Can Love

Cripple Creek 

Beautiful Beautiful Brown Eyes

WEEK 3 (7/20) 

Tunes in D

Three positions in D 

Using chord tones

East Virginia Blues

Cora Is Gone

Childish Love

Bluegrass Stomp

WEEK 4 (7/27) 

The key of C

Using open strings

Two positions in C

Dark Hollow

Jimmy Brown, the Newsboy

A Beautiful Life

Back Up and Push

Live class sessions take place Mondays at 2 pm eastern and 9 pm eastern time from July 6 to July 27.  Both class sessions are the same, and are offered at two different times to accomodate students in other time zones (including Europe, the UK, Australia etc.).  Follow-up practice sessions occur on Saturdays at 10 am eastern time from July 11 to August 1.   All of the live sessions are recorded so that students who are unable to attend a live session (or two, or all!) can view them later on the class website.  

The course fee is $125.  Register by May 31st and save $50!

Register for Bluegrass Jamming with Matt Flinner

“After buying six mandolins and umpteen books…I am convinced your course is best $100 I have invested in my mandolin journey to date.  Finally, I’m getting the discpline I need with your exercises to learn scales, arpeggios, double stops, fingering techniques, learn the fretboard (the essential tools I need)…and most importantly to learn how those things fit into playing tunes.”—Rick D., Bluegrass Mandolin 101 student

“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 a 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., Bluegrass Mandolin 101 student

Register by May 31st and save $50!

Register for Swing Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner

This course is intended to help the aspiring mandolinist build up repertoire and find ways of creating new solos over swing tunes; it’s also designed in the hope that it will encourage students to get out and jam with other players!

Each week, we’ll look at four  swing standard tunes with a particular concept in mind—Dominant 7 chords, ii/V/Is etc.  Students will be given lead sheets (in standard notation and tablature) for each song, as well as a few exercises to help them learn more about the fretboard and start incorporating new ideas into their solos.  Concepts and tunes will be taught during the class session, and all tunes will be revisited during Saturday practice sessions in a “jam session” format, where each song is played several times though, and students have the opportunity to try out some of the week’s concepts on the tunes (with guidance from Matt).  Ways of playing the chord progressions will also be suggested, so students will have a guide for playing backup as well as lead and improv on all four tunes.  

Classes meet Tuesday evenings from July 7 to July 28 at 9 pm eastern time.  There will also be 45-minute review sessions every Saturday morning from July 11 to August 1 at 11 am eastern time.

Register for Swing Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner

See the Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming curriculum

See the Mandolin Picking Technique Intensive curriculum

SWING MANDOLIN JAMMING CURRICULUM:

WEEK 1 (7/7)

Using 7th chords

Scales and arpeggios for 7th chords

Moving from chord to chord in soloing

It Had to Be You

Sweet Georgia Brown

Lady Be Good

Up a Lazy River

WEEK 2 (7/14) 

ii-V-I Progressions

A couple of ii-V-I lines

Chord inversions on ii-V-Is

Sweet Sue

Take the “A” Train

Three Little Words

Honeysuckle Rose

WEEK 3 (7/21) 

Modulations

Some more ii-V lines

Chord tones as target notes

How High the Moon

Blue Moon

Have You Met Miss Jones

I Can’t Give You Anything but Love

WEEK 4 (7/28) 

Minor keys

Scales and arpeggios for minor chords

Minor ii-V progressions

Summertime

I’ve Found a New Baby

It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing

Topsy

The course fee is $125.  Register by May 31st for just $75!  

Register here.

See the Bluegrass Jamming (July 6-August 1) curriculum 

See the Mandolin Picking Technique Intensive (July 8-August 1) curriculum

Questions?  Email [email protected]

“Thanks for the terrific class! I had my mandolin lurking in the corner for 9 months before I took this class. I played with it now and then but felt out of my depth, having only played piano in the past. A few weeks into your class, I couldn’t put down my mandolin, practicing far more than my kids want me to. In addition to the wonderful tunes we learned in class, I started to pick out other melodies like Christmas carols, simple gifts, harry potter, star wars; anything I hear I want to find it on the mandolin.”—Randy R.

“Your classes are the best and most successful learning approach for me, Thank you.”—-Eric B.  

Register by May 31st and save $50!

Register for the Mandolin Picking Technique Intensive course with Matt Flinner

See the Bluegrass Jamming Curriculum (July 6-August 1)

See the Swing Jamming Curriculum (July 7-August 1)

This course is intended to help students with the fundamentals of tone and picking technique while learning the fretboard.  Various picking exercises will be looked at, along with double stop exercises (which will incorporate concepts from the picking exercises) to help improve efficiency and speed.  And we’ll focus quite a bit on improving our tone and getting the most sound out of our instruments that we can.  Each week, we’ll also learn a tune and focus on the various aspects of picking technique we’ve been looking at as applied to that tune.  The course is intended for players of all levels who want to go deeper into the fundamentals of playing the mandolin, especially tone, picking ability and double stops.  Register here. 

Register by May 31st for just $75!  That’s $50 off the normal course fee of $125.  

Here is the curriculum:

WEEK 1 (7/8)

Picking Exercise I on single strings

Picking Exercise I on double strings

Double Stop Exercise I in G

Double Stop Exercise II in G

Practicing with a metronome

Leather Britches

WEEK 2 (7/15) 

Picking Exercise II on single strings

Picking Exercise II on double strings

Double Stop Exercise I in D

Double Stop Exercise II in D

Moving between double stops to create solos

Soldier’s Joy

WEEK 3 (7/22)

Tremolo Exercise I 

Tremolo Exercise II

Picking Exercise III on double strings

Double Stop Exercise I in A

Double Stop Exercise II in A

Maiden’s Prayer

WEEK 4 (7/29)

Speed exercise I 

Picking Exercise III on single strings

Moving double stops to change positions

Double Stop Exercise I in C

Double Stop Exercise II in C 

Billy in the Lowground

The course fee is $125.  Register by May 31st for just $75!

Register for the Mandolin Picking Technique Intensive course with Matt Flinner

Hi everyone,

Here are the tunes we’ll be playing in our Drink Up and Stay Home Bluegrass Jam on Thursday, May 14th.  

Facebook Jam 9

The jam will take place on Facebook Live at 8 pm eastern time.  Feel free to bring a mandolin, or guitar, or banjo, or accordion, spoons, autoharp.  Or just hang out and listen.  

Here’s the link where you’ll find it: 

https://www.facebook.com/events/631257157425786/?event_time_id=631257170759118

We’ll play for about an hour.  Bring a beverage, a comfy chair and we’ll try to ease our sense of isolation at least for a bit.  

And donations are welcome!  

Paypal: [email protected]  or  

Venmo: @Matt-Flinner-Mando 

Hope to see you on Thursday!

Thanks,
Matt

Need more mandolin?  Try out a 4-week summer course in Bluegrass Jamming, Swing Jamming or Picking Technique.  Save $50 through the end of May!  More info: https://www.mattflinner.com/2020/05/save-50-on-summer-courses-through-5-31-bluegrass-jamming-swing-jamming-and-mandolin-picking-intensive-start-7-6/

Hi everyone,

Here are the tunes we’ll be playing in our Social Distancing Bluegrass Jam on Thursday, April 23rd.  

Facebook Jam 5

The jam will take place on Facebook Live at 8 pm eastern time.  Feel free to bring a mandolin, or guitar, or banjo, or accordion, spoons, autoharp.  Or just hang out and listen.  

Here’s the link where you’ll find it: https://www.facebook.com/events/1034649983599194/

We’ll play for about an hour.  Bring a beverage, a comfy chair and we’ll try to ease our sense of isolation at least for a bit.  

And donations are welcome!  

Paypal: [email protected]  or  

Venmo: @Matt-Flinner-Mando 

Hope to see you on Thursday!

Thanks,
Matt

“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.

In light of current events, all spring courses will remain $50 off through the sign-up period (and after!).  Let’s play some tunes and help each other get through these difficult times!

Mandolin for Beginners                                               Curriculum               Registration

Advanced Bluegrass Mandolin Soloing                          Curriculum               Registration

Rock and Roll Mandolin                                              Curriculum               Registration

The Bluegrass Mandolin 101 program is pleased to offer three courses this spring focusing on bluegrass, basics and rock and roll!  Courses are offered for a variety of ability levels and interests, and are intended to help students improve their technique and learn the fretboard while learning some great tunes.   Mandolin for Beginners, Advanced Bluegrass Mandolin Soloing and Rock and Roll Mandolin will start up March 30th and 31st and April 1st.

Each course lasts eight weeks, with class sessions on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evenings (depending on which course it is) and follow-up practice/review sessions on Saturday mornings or afternoons to help you solidify the material while learning practice techniques and getting tips on practice routines. 

Students DO NOT need to tune in to the live online sessions, as all class sessions and practice/review sessions are recorded and posted to the class website by the next day for viewing at the students’ convenience.  Students are encouraged to attend the live sessions whenever possible, as they can ask questions during the session—plus we’ve found that many students are more likely to practice when they show up for the live sessions!  

Mandolin for Beginners (March 30-May 30): This eight-week online program is designed to give the beginning mandolin student a solid foundation in basic mandolin technique, and help students start playing actual songs and tunes from the start. Chords, picking exercises, fingering exercises, rhythm exercises as well as tunes and songs will be taught each week in a progressive curriculum to help students establish good habits and enable them to advance more quickly in their mandolin playing..  Register here.  

Advanced Bluegrass Mandolin Soloing (March 31-June 6): This course is intended to help students learn some more advanced concepts in bluegrass mandolin.  Solos by bluegrass mandolin masters Bill Monroe, Sam Bush, Bobby Osborne, Jesse McReynolds and many others will be taught each week.  Students will be given two transcribed solos on bluegrass standards to choose from, along with some analyses of the solos and supplementary exercises to help them learn more of the fretboard and apply various musical concepts in their own playing.  This course is intended for intermediate to advanced level students.  Register here.

Rock and Roll Mandolin (April 1-June 6): This course will explore the wide and wonderful world of Rock & Roll, enabling students to learn more about mandolin technique, be more versatile in various styles of playing, and have a whole lot of fun along the way.  The course will focus on a few main areas: learning various rhythms with a consistent picking hand technique, learning new ways of playing chords, strengthening fundamentals such as picking and fingering, and getting to know the fretboard better in various keys—as well as learning some great tunes along the way.  Songs by the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Led Zeppelin, Elvis Presley and the Rolling Stones (to name a few) will be part of the curriculum.  Register here. 

SCHEDULE:

60-minute classes take place online every Monday (Mandolin for Beginners), Tuesday (Advanced Bluegrass Mandolin Soloing) or Wednesday (Rock and Roll Mandolin) evening from January 6, 7 or 8 to March 10, 11 or 16 at 9 pm eastern time, and 45-minute practice/review sessions take place every Saturday morning/afternoon from April 3 to Ma7 30 (for Rhythm Mandolin) or June 6 (Advanced Bluegrass and Rock and Roll).  The shcedule will vary a bit due to Matt’s tour schedule; each course will have eight class sessions and eight practice sessions over the course of 9-10 weeks.  

NOTE: It is helpful, but not essential, to be present for the live sessions.  All class sessions are recorded and available to view on the class website by the following day.

WHAT STUDENTS GET FROM THE COURSE

All students will also have unlimited access to short recorded videos of all of the material played at a slow tempo, PDFs of all material in both standard notation and mandolin tablature, and mp3s of all of the tunes at slow and medium speeds that they can practice along with.  Students can access all of this material at any time through the class website, and can also download all materials (videos and class session videos included) to keep them permanently.  All class sessions and practice/review sessions are recorded and posted on the class website (usually by the following day) so that students who were unable to attend the live sessions may view them at their own convenience, and all students may review the class videos as often as they wish.

Students will also be given a Recommended Listening list each week for the material covered.  A variety of versions of each tune will be provided in the hopes that students will listen to recordings and further explore the wide world of recorded old-time and bluegrass music.

HOW INTERACTIVE IS THE COURSE?

During the live sessions, students can ask questions and/or play examples via their microphone (built-in or external plug-in), or they can ask questions via a built-in chat window.  The instructor responds to all questions immediately (or between teaching exercises, etc.) on the spot.

Students are also encouraged to submit mp3 recordings at any time during the course if they would like to, and the instructor will respond in an mp3 recording with constructive criticism.  Students can submit these mp3s either privately via email or publicly via the class website, where all students can listen and respond if they choose to.  Mp3 submissions are encouraged but not required, and there is no limit on how many mp3 submissions a student can send in.

There is also a class website where registered students can find all class materials (videos, PDFs, mp3s) anytime.  The site also has a Forum section, where students can ask questions, bring up topics for discussion, etc., in an open forum where the instructor and other students can respond.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO PARTICIPATE:

1. A desktop or laptop Mac or PC computer, iPad or Internet-connected mobile device (such as iPhone) in order to view the sessions, plus a good internet connection.

2. An internal microphone and speakers on your laptop or desktop computer, or a phone to listen and speak (if desired) during the sessions.  Instructions for participating by phone are included when you register for the course (long distance charges may apply).

3. During the course, you have the option of submitting recorded examples of your playing to the instructor (and to the group, if desired). In order to do this, you will need your computer’s built-in microphone or an external microphone plugged directly into your computer (via built-in ports or an external audio interface), in addition to basic audio recording software, such as Audacity or Garage Band, that will allow you to record yourself playing and save the recording in MP3 format.

4. A mandolin (actually maybe that should have been #1).

The course fee is $225 for the Advanced Bluegrass Mandolin Soloing and Rock and Roll courses, and $200 for the Mandolin for Beginners course.   

In light of current events, all courses will be discounted at $50 off.  

If you have questions about any of the courses, email Matt at [email protected]

Register here:

Register for Mandolin for Beginners with Matt Flinner

Register for Advanced Bluegrass Mandolin Soloing with Matt Flinner

Register for Rock and Roll Mandolin with Matt Flinner

View curricula for each course here:

Mandolin for Beginners with Matt Flinner Curriculum 

Advanced Bluegrass Mandolin Soloing with Matt Flinner Curriculum 

Rock and Roll Mandolin with Matt Flinner Curriculum 

“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.

“I really enjoy your courses and your teaching style. It works for me nicely.  You obviously put a great deal of effort and thought in to the classes.”—Mike B.

Register for $50 off any time.  Let’s get through these tough times together!

See the Advanced Bluegrass Mandolin Soloing curriculum

See the Rock and Roll Mandolin curriculum

Mandolin for Beginners is an eight-week online program designed to give the beginning mandolin student a solid foundation in basic mandolin technique, and help students start playing actual songs and tunes from the start. Chords, picking exercises, fingering exercises, rhythm exercises as well as tunes and songs will be taught each week in a progressive curriculum to help students establish good habits and enable them to advance more quickly in their mandolin playing.

Register for Mandolin for Beginners

The eight-week course begins on March 30th and runs until May 30th.  Class sessions will take place every Monday evening from 9-9:45 pm eastern time, and follow-up practice sessions will take place every Saturday morning from 10-10:45 am eastern time (Matt will be taking off the weeks of May 11 for the Ghost Ranch Bluegrass Camp) there will be eight class sessions and eight practice sessions over a nine-week period.  All class sessions and practice sessions will be recorded so that students can revisit the lessons as often as they’d like to, and students who are unable to attend any of the live sessions can view the lessons at their own convenience.

During the live sessions, students can ask questions and/or play examples via their microphone (built-in or external plug-in), or they can ask questions via a built-in chat window.

All students will also have unlimited access to short recorded videos of all of the material played at a slow tempo, PDFs of all material in both standard notation and mandolin tablature, and mp3s of all of the tunes at slow and medium speeds that they can practice along with.  Students can access all of this material at any time through the class website, and can also download all materials (videos and class session videos included) to keep them permanently.

Students are also encouraged to submit mp3 recordings at any time during the course if they would like to, and the instructor will respond in an mp3 recording with constructive criticism.  Students can submit these mp3s either privately via email or publicly via the class website, where all students can listen and respond if they choose to.  Mp3 submissions are encouraged but not required, and there is no limit on how many mp3 submissions a student can send in.

Students will also be given a “Recommended Listening” list each week for the material covered.  A variety of versions of each tune will be provided in the hopes that students will listen to recordings and further explore the wide world of recorded bluegrass and old-time music.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO PARTICIPATE:

1. A desktop or laptop Mac or PC computer, iPad or Internet-connected mobile device in order to view the sessions, plus a good internet connection.  If you’re on a Mac, you’ll need to be using OS 10.8 or later in order to see Matt’s webcam (which is central to the lessons).  It’s also a good idea to update your browser to the most recent version in order for the live lessons to run smoothly.

2. An internal microphone and speakers on your laptop or desktop computer, or a phone to listen and speak (if desired) during the sessions.  Instructions for participating by phone are included when you register for the course (long distance charges may apply).

3. During the course, you have the option of submitting recorded examples of your playing to the instructor (and to the group, if desired). In order to do this, you will need your computer’s built-in microphone or an external microphone plugged directly into your computer (via built-in ports or an external audio interface), in addition to basic audio recording software, such as Audacity or Garage Band, that will allow you to record yourself playing and save the recording in MP3 format.

4. A mandolin (actually maybe that should have been #1).

The fee for the course is $200.  But in light of current events, we’re keeping the fee at $150.  

If you have questions about the course, email Matt at [email protected]

Register for Mandolin for Beginners

MANDOLIN FOR BEGINNERS CURRICULUM

WEEK 1 (3/30/20)

Getting familiar with the mandolin

How to choose a pick, mandolin set-up and tuning

A Few Chords

A Few Picking Patterns

Fingering Position

Playing chords on Will the Circle Be Unbroken

Bonus material: This Land is Your Land

WEEK 2 (4/6)

Playing melodies

Picking Pattern 2

Chords in A

A Major scale

Bile Them Cabbage Down

Bonus material: Woody’s Rag

WEEK 3 (4/13)

Picking pattern 3

Fingering Exercise I

D major scale

Angeline the Baker

Bonus material: Wildwood Flower

WEEK 4 (4/20)

Picking pattern 4

A few minor chords

Rhythm patterns

G major scale

Old Joe Clark

Bonus material: Shady Grove

WEEK 5 (4/27)

Adding ornaments, Slides and Hammer-ons

Fingering Exercise II

Playing rhythm in Waltz time

Rhythm on Goodnight Irene

Muddy Roads

Bonus material: Eighth of January

WEEK 6 (5/4)

Getting to know the neck a little better

Closed position A major scale

Three Closed position chords

Red Haired Boy

Bonus material: Over the Waterfall

WEEK 7 (5/18)

Intro to position playing

A few double stops

Bluegrass “Chop Chords”

Will the Circle Be Unbroken

Bonus material: I’ll Fly Away

WEEK 8 (5/25)

Transitions between lead and rhythm

Trying other keys (with tunes from week 7)

Soldier’s Joy

Bonus material: Blackberry Blossom

The course fee is $200.  Register any time for $150, as we’re living in some strange times!

Register for Mandolin for Beginners

Questions?  Email Matt: [email protected]

“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. 

“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.

Rock and Roll Mandolin will begin on April 8th! 

Register any time for $50 off.  In light of current events, we’re keeping the discount in place. 

Register for Rock and Roll Mandolin with Matt Flinner

See the Mandolin for Beginners Curriculum (3/30-6/6)

See the Advanced Bluegrass Mandolin Soloing Curriculum (3/31-6/6)

Welcome to Rock & Roll Mandolin with Matt Flinner!  This course will explore the wide and wonderful world of Rock & Roll, enabling students to learn more about mandolin technique, be more versatile in various styles of playing, and have a whole lot of fun along the way.  The course will focus on a few main areas: learning various rhythms with a consistent picking hand technique, learning new ways of playing chords, strengthening fundamentals such as picking and fingering, and getting to know the fretboard better in various keys—as well as learning some great tunes along the way.  Songs by the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Led Zeppelin, Elvis Presley and the Rolling Stones (to name a few) will be part of the curriculum.

Each week, students will be given exercises related to picking technique, chords, licks or double stops, along with a couple of standard Rock & Roll songs.  Students will also be given a simple “riff” tune each week (though they’ll gradually get more complicated over the 8-week course) to explore the fingerboard with.  The goal is to get students to strengthen their fundamental technique, learn more about the fretboard, get better at playing by ear—and do all of the above in a fun way.

The course will run from March 20 to June 6, with class sessions on Wdnesday evenings at 9 pm eastern time and follow-up practice/review sessions on Saturdays at 12:30 pm eastern time.  

Register for $50 off.  Let’s get through these difficult times together!

Here is the schedule:

Week 1 (4/8):

Chuck Berry

Some Basic Blues-Rock Rhythms

A Few Chuck Berry Riffs

Monroe-style Playing in Rock & Roll

Rock and Roll Music

Bonus tune: Memphis

Riffs: Satisfaction

Week 2 (4/15)

More rhythms

Rhythm exercise II

Picking Exercise II

Down on the Corner

Bonus Tune: Going to California

Riffs: Sunshine of Your Love

Week 3 (4/22):

More Blues in Rock and Rockabiily

Some Scotty Moore Solos

Using Picking Patterns Over Various Rhythms

Ways of Playing Chords in A and E

Good Rockin’ Tonight

Bonus Tune: Hound Dog

Riffs: Day Tripper

Week 4 (5/6):

Rhythm II—Bo Diddley Rhythm

More Chord Forms

Creating a Groove

Who Do You Love

Bonus tune: Hey Bo Diddley

Riffs: Voodoo Child

Week 5 (5/13):

Using Some Double Stops

Typical Double Stop Forms

Some Pentatonic Licks

Time Is On My Side

Bonus tune: Revolution

Riffs: E-Pro (Beck)

Week 6 (5/20):

Complex Picking Patterns

Picking Exercises Across the Strings

Message in a Bottle

Bonus tune: Clocks (Coldplay)

Riffs: Heartbreaker

Week 7 (5/27):

The Blues in Rock II

Blues Scales

Blues Licks

Jimi Henrdix and Stevie Ray Vaughan

Pride and Joy

Bonus tune: Purple Haze

Riffs: Money (Pink Floyd)

Week 8 (6/3):

More Complex Chord Progressions

Bringing Blues Licks, Double Stops and Various Rhythms into Your Playing

Little Wing

Bonus tune: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Riffs: Layla

The course fee is $225.  Register for $175 any time.  Strange times call for lower prices!