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

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

In the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II with Matt Flinner course, we’ll get into scales and arpeggios—the building blocks of music and the basic tools of improvisation.  Each week, we’ll look at certain types of scales and learn various patterns based on those scales to help students learn the fretboard.  We’ll also look at certain types of arpeggios each week and get a thorough workout in playing those arpeggios around the fretboard.  Students will also be given a picking exercise each week to help with fundamental technique, and a double stop exercise to further reinforce the students’ knowledge of chord tones—plus students will receive a new tune each week along with suggestions on how to incorporate that week’s exercises into creating variations on the tune.

The Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner course 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!

The Swing Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner course is intended to help students play swing and jazz standards with other people.  Each week, students will receive four new tunes (at various levels of diffculty), along with ways of playing rhythm, exercises to help with elements of improvisation and learning the fretboard, and suggestions in how to create solos and/or improvise on the tunes for that week.  The goal is to help students learn more tunes, learn practical approaches to improvisation and soloing, and get out and play with other people!

All three courses are continuations of previous courses which finish up at the end of July; however, it is not necessary for students to have taken the previous summer courses in order to register for and learn from the current courses.

Register for Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II with Matt Flinner

Register for Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner

Register for Swing Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner

The Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II course, which takes place on Monday evenings (except for Session 2, which is on a Tuesday evening), is intended for intermediate to advanced level students.  Students will learn one swing or bluegrass tune in conjunction with the exercises.  This course will address fundamentals which should be beneficial to players of all ability levels.  The course will also have practice/review sessions on Saturday mornings.

The Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming course, which takes place on Wednesday afternoons and evenings for the first two sessions and Tuesday afternoons and evenings for the last two sessions, is intended for players of all ability levels, but will lean toward the intermediate level.  The course is intended to help students build repertoire and get practical experience in playing tunes and creating and trying out variations.   This course will also have practice/review sessions on Saturdays.

The Swing Mandolin Jamming course, which takes place on Thursday evenings for the first two sessions and Wednesday evenings for the last two sessions, is intended for intermediate to advanced players.  The course is intended to help students build repertoire and get practical experience in playing tunes and creating and trying out variations and improvising.   This course will also have practice/review sessions on Saturdays.

Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II with Matt Flinner Curriculum

Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner Curriculum

Swing Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner Curriculum

Here’s a description of the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 online experience that I hope will give you a good idea of what this exciting style of mandolin lessons is all about.

BLUEGRASS MANDOLIN 101 (and Scales and Arpeggios, and Jamming!)

The Bluegrass Mandolin 101 program is a unique approach to online mandolin lessons that gives students the best of both worlds: access to live lessons as well as recorded mandolin instructional videos.  These courses focus on helping mandolin students get to the next level in their playing and broaden their understanding of the bluegrass, old-time and fiddle tune traditions.

A UNIQUE APPROACH: LIVE INSTRUCTION PLUS 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-week course.  The live lessons get a little more challenging each week, and students are encouraged to practice during the week in order to get comfortable with that week’s concepts in order to be more prepared for the next class session.  Students also have unlimited access to several short instructional videos each week (usually about 8 or 9) but are also following a regular schedule which encourages them to actually practice the material regularly during the eight week period.  The archive of short instructional videos plus the video recordings of each class session and practice session give the student plenty of material to work with during the course and on into their future mandolin endeavors!

THIS QUARTER’S COURSES

For Summer Quarter, there will be THREE 4-week courses offered from August 14-September 9.  The Scale and Arpeggio Intensive course will focus on various aspects of technique.  Each week, students will receive six or seven exercises and a tune to learn.   Scale exercises, scale pattern exercises, arpeggios and double stop exercises will be given each week.  Students will also be given some ideas on how to apply that week’s exercises to that week’s tune in order to create variations.  The Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming and Swing Mandolin Jamming courses will focus more on building repertoire, playing lead and rhythm and creating variations in a jam-like setting.  Four tunes will be given each week, along with a few exercises and suggestions for incorporating those exercises into solos and/or improvisation.  

1. Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II with Matt Flinner, which is geared toward intermediate to advanced students.  Students will receive six scale and arpeggio-focused exercises plus a swing or bluegrass tune, along with suggestions on how to relate the exercises to that week’s tune.

2. Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner, which is open to players of all ability levels, but will lean toward the intermediate level.  Students will be given four tunes each week along with a few exercises and suggestions on how to play lead and rhythm as well as create variations for that week’s tunes.

3. Swing Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner which is geared toward upper intermediate to advanced students.  Students will be given four swing tunes per week plus a few exerices and suggestions for ways of playing rhythm, along with suggestions on how to relate the exercises to the tunes in order to create variations and/or imprvise.  

THE SCHEDULE

The live lessons for the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II with Matt Flinner course take place every Monday night at 9 pm eastern time from August 14th to September 4th (except week 2, when the class takes place August 22nd due to the solar eclipse!), with practice review sessions on Saturdays from 10-10:45 am eastern time.  

The Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II course will take place on Wednesday afternoons and evenings for the first two sessions (August 16 and 23) and Tuesday afternoons and evenings for the last two sessions (August 29 and September 5).  Afternoon sessions are intended for the convenience of our friends overseas!  7 or 8 pm in the UK and most of Europe is likely more convenient than 2 or 3 am!  There will also be Saturday practice/review sessions from 11-11:45 am eastern time.

The Swing Mandolin Jamming II course will take place Thursday evenings for the first two sessions (August 17 and 24) and Wednesday evenings for the last two sessions (August 30 and September 7).    There will also be Saturday practice/review sessions from 12:15-1 pm eastern time.

It is NOT imperative that students be able to attend the live mandolin class sessions.  As all sessions will be recorded, students can revisit the recorded sessions during the week to catch up on that week’s material at their own leisure.  Students attending the live lessons will be able to ask questions on the spot (and get immediate answers and interaction), while those watching the recorded sessions will be able to ask questions via email or on the class forum page.

VIDEOS, WRITTEN MATERIALS AND RECOMMENDED LISTENING

Students have access to video recordings of all of the class sessions and practice sessions as well (generally by the following morning, or, in the case of the Saturday practice sessions, later that afternoon).  In addition, shorter practice videos of the material are immediately available for viewing after each class session, along with PDFs of the all of the material in standard notation and tablature.  All of these videos (about eight or so per week) are available to view as many times as the student would like.  Students can also download all materials (including videos and PDFs) to keep as long as they wish.

Students will also be given a list of recommended recordings for each week’s tunes.  A variety of mp3 recordings will be suggested in the hope that students will broaden their musical horizons and get a better idea of how the tunes are played by the masters!

HOW INTERACTIVE IS THE COURSE?

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 in the 102 class), 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 Summer Intensive 101 and 201  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.  

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

“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:

Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II with Matt Flinner Registration

Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner Registration

Swing Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner Registration

You can always ask questions about the courses via email ([email protected]), and I’ll get back to you as quickly as possible.  I hope to see you this summer!

All the best,

Matt

Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II with Matt Flinner Curriculum

Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner Curriculum

Swing Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner Curriculum

“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 for Swing Mandolin Jamming

See other courses offered this summer.

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

The course is a continuation of the Swing Jamming course which takes place from July 6-29.  However, it is not necessary for students to have taken the Swing Jamming I course to participate in the Swing Jamming II course.  

Each week, we’ll look at four swing/jazz standard tunes with a particular concept in mind—the blues, 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).

Sessions 1 and 2 will take place Thursday, August 17 and Thursday, August 24 at 9 pm eastern time.  Sessions 3 and 4 will take place Wednesday, August 30 and Wednesday, September 6 at 9 pm eastern time.  There will also be 45-minute review sessions every Saturday morning at 12:15 pm eastern time.

The course fee is $125.

WEEK 1  (August 17)

Back to the Blues

Blues Patterns

Moving 7th Chords Around

Ba-lue Bolivar Ba-lues Are

All Blues

Blues By Five

St. James Infirmary

WEEK 2  (August 24)

Minor Keys

Choosing Minor Scales

Minor Chord Inversions

Blue Skies

I Got It Bad (and That Ain’t Good)

Summertime

My Funny Valentine

My Favorite Things

WEEK 3  (August 30)

Modulation

Further adventures in ii-V-Is

Finding Common Tones Between Chords

Polka Dots and Moonbeams

Blue Moon

Sweet Lorraine

Love for Sale

This Can’t Be Love

WEEK 4  (September 7)

More Complex Progressions

I-VI-II-V-I Progressions

Some Chord and Scale Substitutions

I’m Getting Sentimental Over You

Back Home Again in Indiana

Just You, Just Me

Lester Leaps In

The course fee is $125.  

Register here.

See the Bluegrass Jamming II Curriculum

See the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II Curriculum

Go to the Home Page

“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 for Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner

See other courses offered this summer.

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: two instrumentals and two vocal songs 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 from Matt).

While this course is a continuation of the Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming course which completed in late July, it is not necessary for students to have taken the first course to be able to take the second course.  The Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II course is intended to reinforce many of the concepts taught in the previous course, while expanding the student’s knowledge of the fretboard beyond where the first course left off.

The course begins August 16 and runs through September 9.  The first two class sessions will meet on Wednesdays at 2 pm eastern time (7 or 8 pm in the UK and most of Europe) and 9 pm eastern time.  The last two class sessions meet Tuesday afternoons and evenings at the same times.  Practice/review sessions meet every Saturday from 11-11:45 am eastern time.  

Students are encouraged to attend the live sessions to be able to interact more directly with the instructor, but live attendance is not required.  Students will be able to view the recordings of all of the sessions any time afterward as often as they want through the class website.

The course fee is $125.  

Register here.

Here is the curriculum:

WEEK 1 (August 16)

Key of E 

Position Playing in E 

E Chord Tones and Double Stops

Octave Changes

You Won’t Be Satisfied That Way

In the Pines

Footprints in the Snow

Glory in the Meeting House

WEEK 2 (August 23)

Some Minor Key Tunes

A Variety of Minor Chords

E Minor Scales and Patterns

Throwing in Some Minor Double Stops

Shady Grove

Pretty Polly

Rain and Snow

Jerusalem Ridge

WEEK 3 (August 29)

Key of B

Positions in B

B Chord Tones and Double Stops

Chop Chords and “Open” Style Chords in B

My Walking Shoes

Molly and Tenbrooks

Sophronie

I Cried Again

WEEK 4 (September 5)

Key of Bb

Using Open Strings in Bb

Position playing in Bb

Bb Chord Tones and Double Stops

Roving Gambler

Dream of a Miner’s Child

Shackles and Chains

Done Gone

The course fee is $125.  

Register for Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner

See the Swing Mandolin Jamming II curriculum

See the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II curriculum

Go to the home page

“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 for Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II with Matt Flinner

View other courses offered this summer

The Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II course begins August 14 and runs through September 9.  Class sessions meet every Monday evening from 9 to 10 pm eastern time (except the week of August 21st, when it will be on a Tuesday due to the solar eclipse!), and practice/review sessions meet every Saturday from 10-10:45 am eastern time.

Students are encouraged to attend the live sessions to be able to interact more directly with the instructor, but live attendance is not required.  Students will be able to view the recordings of all of the sessions any time afterward as often as they want through the class website.

The Summer Intensive Scale and Arpeggio course is intended for students at an intermediate to advanced level, and will use swing and well as bluegrass material as examples and exercises.  Some material may be more easy or more challenging for individual students.  Students are encouraged to prioritize certain exercises according to their ability level, and are given the option of adding to many of the exercises in order to further challenge themselves if they wish to.  Part of the intent of the course is to challenge students at a variety of levels, and to help students advance their playing, learn new musical ideas and have more fun playing the mandolin regardless of their ability level.  While this course is a continuation of the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive course which completed in late July, it is not necessary for students to have taken the first course to be able to take the second course.  The Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II course is intended to reinforce many of the concepts taught in the previous course, while pushing the student’s technique further than the first one did.

The course fee is $125.  

Register here.

Here is the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II curriculum:

WEEK 1 (August 14)

Chord Tone Exercise: ii-V-I Chord Tones

Arpeggio Exercise I: Major Arpeggios from the 3rd

Arpeggio Exercise II: Major Triads going in Minor 3rds

Scale Exercise I: Lydian Scales in All Keys

Scale Exercise II: Major Scales in Fourths

Picking Double Stop Exercise: 2-bar Picking Pattern with C Double Stops

Miss Molly

WEEK 2 (August 22)

Chord Tone Exercise: Minor Chord Tone Exercise

Arpeggio Exercise I: Major Arpeggios from the 5th

Arpeggio Exercise II: Diatonic 7th Arpeggios

Scale Exercise I: Phrygian Scales in All Keys

Scale Exercise II: Major Scales in Fifths

Double Stop Picking Exercise: 2-bar Picking Pattern with A Double Stops

Alabama Jubilee

WEEK 3 (August 28)

Chord Tone Exercise: Finding Chord Tones Over a Chord Progression

Arpeggio Exercise I: Diminished Arpeggios

Arpeggio Exercise II: 1-2-3-5 and 5-3-2-1 in All Keys

Scale Exercise I: Diminished Scale and Patterns

Scale Exercise II: Major Scales in Sixths

Double Stop Picking Exercise: Picking Pattern with Open Style G Double Stops

Black and White Rag

WEEK 4 (September 4)

Chord Tone Exercise: Chord Tones Over a Chord Progression II

Arpeggio Exercise I: Augmented 7 Arpeggios

Arpeggio Exercise II: Dominant 7 Arpeggio Exercises in Chord Progressions

Scale Exercise I: Whole Tone Scale and Patterns

Scale Exercise II: Major Scales in Sevenths

Double Stop Picking Exercise: Picking Pattern with Open Style C Double Stops

Take the “A” Train

The course fee is $125.  

Register for the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II course 

See the Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II curriculum

See the Swing Mandolin Jamming II curriculum

Go back to the home page.

Summer is here!  And a plethora of courses are being offered to help the aspiring mandolinist.  

“Your course was exactly what I have been looking for.  It was well structured with a ton of good material.  I like that fact that we were given tunes to learn but also tools that allows me expand the lessons beyond the course tunes to others that I already know.”—Todd M.

“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.

July brings some more extensive 4-week courses in Swing, Bluegrass and Scales and Arpeggios.  

The Scales and Arpeggios Intensive Course (July 3-29) is a four-week course which meets on Monday evenings and Saturday mornings. 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, arpeggios, picking exercises and double stops.  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.  Register here.

The Bluegrass Jamming Course (July 5-29) is a four-week course which meets on Tuesday afternoons and evenings (except the first week, which meets on Wednesday due to the July 4th holiday) and Saturday mornings. This course is intended for students at all levels (again, absolute beginners may find it too difficult), and is intended to help students build repertoire and confidence to encourage them to get out and play with other musicians. Each week students are given four bluegrass standard tunes along with a few exercises to help them learn more about the fretboard and start incorporating new ideas into their solos. This is offered twice on Tuesdays for those in far away time zones!  Register here.

The Swing Jamming Course (July 6-29) is a four-week course which meets on Wednesday evenings (except the first week, which meets on Thursday due to the July 4th holiday) and Saturday mornings. This course is intended for students at intermediate to advanced levels, and is also intended to help students build repertoire and confidence to encourage them to get out and play with other musicians. Each week students are given four swing/jazz standard tunes along with a few exercises to help them learn more about the fretboard and start incorporating new ideas into their solos.  Register here.

The course fees for the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive, Bluegrass Jamming and Swing Jamming courses are $125 each. 

For more information on these courses, visit these pages: 

Scales and Arpeggios Intensive  (July 3-29)

Bluegrass Jamming  (July 5-29)

Swing Jamming  (July 6-29)

To register, visit these links: 

Scales and Arpeggios Intensive ($125)

Bluegrass Jamming ($125)

Swing Jamming ($125)

Register here.

“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

This course is intended to help the aspiring mandolinist build up repertoire and find ways of creating new solos over commonly played swing and jazz 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 swing/jazz standard tunes with a particular concept in mind—the blues, 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).

Classes meet every Wednesday in July (except for the first session, which will be Thursday, July 6, to avoid the July 4th holiday) at 9 pm eastern time.  There will also be 45-minute review sessions every Saturday morning at 12:15 pm eastern time.

The course fee is $125.  

WEEK 1  (July 6)

Fairly Simple Progressions

Using Chord Tones

A Few Scales and Patterns 

Careless Love

Lady Be Good

All of Me

On the Sunny Side of the Street

WEEK 2  (July 12)

Blues

Blues Scales & Licks

Moving Chords Over Blues Progressions

Blues in the Closet

Now’s the Time

Don’t Get Around Much Anymore

Do Nothing ’Til You Hear from Me

WEEK 3  (July 19)

ii-V-Is

Mixolydian and Dorian Scales

More Melodic Patterns

How High the Moon

Stompin’ at the Savoy

Broadway

But Not For Me

WEEK 4  (July 26)

More complex progressions

Chord Tone Exercises

Hello Dolly

Night and Day

I’ll See You in My Dreams

It Had to Be You

Register here.
See the Bluegrass Jamming Curriculum

See the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive Curriculum

Go to the Home Page

SCALE AND ARPEGGIO INTENSIVE COURSE WITH MATT FLINNER (JULY 3-29)

Register here.

“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

The Summer Intensive Scale and Arpeggio course is intended for students at an intermediate to advanced level, and will use swing and well as bluegrass material as examples and exercises.  Some material may be more easy or more challenging for individual students.  Students are encouraged to prioritize certain exercises according to their ability level, and are given the option of adding to many of the exercises in order to further challenge themselves if they wish to.  Part of the intent of the course is to challenge students at a variety of levels, and to help students advance their playing, learn new musical ideas and have more fun playing the mandolin regardless of their ability level.

Classes meet every Monday from July 3-24 at 9 pm eastern time, with practice/review sessions every Saturday from July 8-29 at 10 am eastern time.  Students are encouraged to attend the live sessions, but will be able to view the sessions afterwards on the class website in the event they cannot attend live.  

The course fee is $125.  

Here is the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive Curriculum:

WEEK 1 (6/28)

Picking Exercise: Picking Exercise on One String

Scale Exercise: G Major Scale in 7 Positions

Pattern Exercise: G Major in Thirds Four Different Ways

Modes: Ionian in All Keys

Arpeggio Exercise: Major Arpeggios around the Circle of 5ths, and in 3rds

Double Stop Exercise: G Double Stops Across the Strings

Tune: San Antonio Rose

WEEK 2 (7/6)

Picking Exercise: Picking Exercise on Two Strings

Scale Exercise: D Major scale in 7 Positions

Pattern Exercise: D Major in Thirds and Fourths

Modes: Mixolydian in All Keys

Arpeggio Exercise I: Major 7 Arpeggios, 3 inversions

Double Stop Exercise: Moving D Double Stops

Tune: Salt Creek

WEEK 3 (7/12)

Picking Exercise: 3 string picking/chord exercise

Scale Exercise: A Major Scale in 7 Positions

Pattern Exercise: A Major Pattern with Neighbor Tones

Modes: Dorian in All Keys

Arpeggio Exercise: Dominant 7th Arpeggios, 3 Inversions

Double Stop Exercise: Going Between A and D Double Stops

Tune: Roly Poly

WEEK 4 (7/19)

Picking Exercise: Picking Exercises for Speed

Scale Exercise: C Major Scale in 7 Positions

Pattern Exercise: C Major Scale Pattern with Different Neighbor Tones

Modes: Aeolian in All Keys

Arpeggio Exercise: Minor 7 Arpeggios, 3 Inversions

Double Stop Exercise: Double Stops Between C, G and D

Tune: Billy in the Lowground

The course fee is $125.  

You can register for the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive with Matt Flinner course here.

See the Bluegrass Jamming Curriculum

See the Swing Jamming Curriculum

Go to the Home Page

BLUEGRASS MANDOLIN JAMMING WITH MATT FLINNER (July 5-29)

Register here.

“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

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!

Now offered at Europe-friendly times!  Class sessions take place 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.  

Each week, we’ll look at four bluegrass standard tunes: usually two instrumentals and two vocal songs 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 from Matt).

Classes meet every Tuesday in July (except for the first session, which will be Wednesday, July 5, to avoid the July 4th holiday) at 2 pm eastern time as well as 9 pm eastern time.  We hope this will be convenient for folks in various time zones, including Europe and around the world!  There will also be 45-minute review sessions every Saturday morning at 11 am eastern time.

The course fee is $125.  

Here is the curriculum:

WEEK 1 (July 5)

Key of G

Warmup Picking Exercise

Positions in G

G Scale Exercises

Mountain Dew

I’ll Stay Around

Sally Ann

Stony Point

WEEK 2 (July 11)

Key of D

Moving Between Positions in D

D Scale and Patterns

Changing Octaves in a Tune

Dig a Hole in the Meadow 

You Won’t Be Satisfied That Way

Forked Deer

St. Anne’s Reel

WEEK 3 (July 18)

KEY of C

Positions in C

C Chord Tones and Double Stops

Toy Heart

Teardrops in My Eyes

Farewell Blues

Goodbye Old Pal

WEEK 4 (July 25)

Key of A

Some Positions in A

Using Open Strings

A Major Scale and Patterns

Mixing in Licks and Double Stops

Sunny Side of the Mountain

Sittin’ Alone in the Moonlight

Sally Gooden

Stoney Creek

Register here.

See the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive Curriculum

See the Swing Jamming Curriculum

Go to the Home Page

“All your courses are really good, very well designed, and you have a great teaching style and a relaxed, open, while also serious, approach – which really comes across with the live lessons – thank you for being so encouraging always!”–-Penny J.

“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.

Register here for Week 1 (June 5-9) 

Register here for Week 2 (June 12-16)

Join Matt Flinner for a series of 5-day courses this summer which are geared toward helping the aspiring mandolin student practice more efficiently and improve their playing skills more quickly.  Every day for five days, students will run through a series of exercises and one tune, with Matt guiding them in a live 30-minute online practice session.  Students who are unable to make the live sessions can view them later that day or evening on the class website, as all sessions will be recorded.  

Students will be given exercises in the following areas: picking exercises, arpeggios, scales, fingering exercises, double stops, and a tune for the week.  Students will receive the materials in PDF form four weeks ahead of time (or whenever they sign up) so that they have a chance to learn them before the course begins.  Matt will then guide them through daily practice sessions for five straight days, giving them tips on how to improve and how to practice more effectively.  

The first course begins June 5 and runs through June 9, with class sessions taking place from 10-10:30 am eastern time.  

The registration fee is $40.  

Students can view all materials (videos and PDFs) on a class website any time, and they can also download and keep all PDFs and videos (including recordings of the class sessions) to practice with on their own time if they wish to.  

Register here for Week 1 (June 5-9) 

Register here for Week 2 (June 12-16)

For more information, email Matt Flinner at [email protected].

Mando Europe continues!

Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming class sessions will also be taught at Europe-friendly times, so you don’t have to stay up until 3 am!  All Bluegrass Jamming class sessions are offered at 7 pm in the UK and Ireland, or 8 pm for most of Europe (2 pm U.S. East Coast time) in addition to the regular 9 pm eastern US time.  Students are welcome to join either of the class sessions—the U.S./Canada or European class times (or both!).  Saturday practice sessions take place with the entire group of students at 3 pm (UK and Ireland) and 4 pm (Europe).  

Here’s the schedule for the Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II course: 

Wednesday, August 16 @ 2 pm eastern US time: Session 1 

Wednesday, August 16 @ 9 pm eastern US time: Session 1 (all the same material will be covered as in the earlier session)

Saturday, August 19 @ 11 am eastern US time: Practice Session

Wednesday, August 23 @ 2 pm eastern US time: Session 2 

Wednesday, August 23 @ 9 pm eastern US time: Session 2

Saturday, August 26 @ 11 am eastern US time: Practice Session

Tuesday, August 29 @ 2 pm eastern US time: Session 3

Tuesday, August 29 @ 9 pm eastern US time: Session 3

Saturday, September 2 @ 11 am eastern US time: Practice Session

Tuesday, September 5 @ 2 pm eastern US time: Session 4 

Tuesday, September 5 @ 9 pm eastern US time: Session 4

Saturday, September 9 @ 11 am eastern US time: Practice Session

Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming is open to players of all ability levels, but is probably best for players at an advanced beginner to intermediate level.  This course will introduce students to playing tunes in the keys of E, B, Bb and a few minor keys.  We’ll learn four tunes each week, and will encourage students to learn the chords to all four tunes, the melody to at least one, and then encourage the use of double stops and various positions on the neck to create solos on one or two of the tunes.  

The registration fee is $125.  

Register here.

Go to the Summer Courses info page here.

Questions?  Email [email protected]