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 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]

Sign up for two courses and get $50 off!  Use the discount code “bigmon” when you register for your second course for a course fee of just $150.

“After buying six mandolins and umpteen books…I am convinced your course is best $ 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.

“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.

Explore the wide and wonderful world of modern bluegrass mandolin with Grammy-nominated mandolinist Matt Flinner.  This course picks up where Bluegrass Mandolin 102 leaves off, and will lead students through advanced subjects including more difficult keys, using double stops and positions as well as melodic patterns, and getting a more thorough knowledge of the fretboard.  The styles of such players as Doyle Lawson, Adam Steffey, Sam Bush, David Grisman and Ricky Skaggs will be discussed, giving students more options in their approaches to soloing and playing backup.  Modern and older standards by the likes of Bill Monroe, J.D. Crowe and the New South, Del McCoury, Alison Krauss, Flatt and Scruggs and Tony Rice will be explored.  It’s a fun way to expand your chops and learn some new tunes!

The course fee is $200.  Sign up for two courses and get $50 off!  Use the discount code “bigmon” when you register for your second course for a course fee of just $150.

Register here.

Go back to the info page here.

BLUEGRASS MANDOLIN 103; ADVANCED BLUEGRASS CURRICULUM:

WEEK 1 (3/29)

Two approaches to the Key of G

Double stops in G and licks that arise from them

Moving between positions

A few melodic patterns

I’ve Endured

I Wonder Where You Are Tonight

WEEK 2 (4/5)

The Key of F

A few positions in F

Moving double stops from chord to chord in various positions

Double stops over a scale

Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down

Rock Salt and Nails

WEEK 3 (4/12)

The Key of B

Using various positions in B

Double Stop Exercise in B

Some licks using open strings in B

Blue Night

Born to Be With You

WEEK 4 (4/19)

A couple of more advanced instrumentals

Exercises using various forms of double stops

Creating melodies mixing double stops and lines

A few more melodic lines in G

Roanoke

Back Up and Push

WEEK 5 (4/26)

The Key of E

Using open strings in E

Various double stop positions in E and moving between them

Licks specific to the key of E

Dark As the Night, Blue As the Day

Every Time You Say Goodbye

WEEK 6 (5/4)

Cross Tunings

Playing chords in cross tunings

A few melodic patterns to try

Varying the melody in subtle ways

Get Up John

Black Mountain Rag

WEEK 7 (5/9)

Different Rhythms

Applying picking patterns to various rhythms

A bit of Cross-picking

Deep Elem Blues

Devil in Disguise

WEEK 8 (5/24)

The Key of Bb

Using open strings in Bb

Various closed positions in Bb, and moving between them

A few handy melodic runs

Big Spike Hammer

I’m Knockin’ on Your Door

Register for Bluegrass Mandolin 103: Advanced Bluegrass here.

Go back to the info page here.

Sign up for two courses and get $50 off!  Use the discount code “bigmon” when you register for your second course for a course fee of just $150.

“I was amazed at the time, feedback, and focus you gave us on chat questions, emails, and mp3s. I was very impressed and feel better about my confidence level, how I play and focus now. The course just worked for me and got me over a hump in terms of my motivation and focus.”—Donna O.

“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.

Here is the curriculum for the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 online course, which runs from March 27-May 27.  

Bluegrass Mandolin 101 will start at a beginning/intermediate level and progress to a solidly intermediate level.  This course will introduce students to the use of double stops and various positions on the neck, as well as various picking and fingerboard exercises to help develop good mandolin technique and knowledge of the fretboard.  Each week, students are given two standard bluegrass tunes (and encouraged to learn at least one of them); that weeks exercises are correlated to the tunes during the week’s practice session so that students find practical ways of using the exercises in their playing.

Classes take place Monday evenings at 9 pm eastern time, and review sessions take place on Saturday mornings at 10 am eastern time (note: the week of May 8th is off, due to Matt’s tour schedule).

NEW THIS SPRING: Mando Europe!  Class sessions are also taught at Europe-friendly times for the 101 course, so you don’t have to stay up until 3 am!  All Monday 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).  Students are welcome to join either of the Monday 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).  

The course fee is $200.  Sign up for two courses and get $50 off!  Use the discount code “bigmon” when you register for your second course for a course fee of just $150.

Register here.

Go back to the info page here.

BLUEGRASS MANDOLIN 101 WITH MATT FLINNER CURRICULUM: 

Week 1 (3/27)

Three warmup exercises
Intro to position playing
Intro to double stops
Will the Circle Be Unbroken
Bonus Material: Down to the Valley to Pray

WEEK 2 (4/3)

Moving to the key of A
Some tag licks to add to your solos
Backup playing and fills
I’ll Fly Away
Bonus Material: Long Black Veil

WEEK 3 (4/10)

Small position shifts
Adding some more licks to your solos
Double stop exercises in D
Banks of the Ohio
Bonus material: Keep on the Sunny Side of Life

WEEK 4 (4/17)

Position playing II
Three different kickoffs
Chord tones in position playing
Man of Constant Sorrow
Bonus Material: Evening Prayer Blues

WEEK 5 (4/24)

Shifting from Position I to Position II
Transposing to other keys
Bury Me Beneath the Willow
Bonus Material: You Are My Sunshine

WEEK 6 (5/1)

More position shifts
Turnarounds: I-V-I progressions
Double stop exercises in C
Sittin’ On Top of the World
Bonus material: Gold Watch and Chain

WEEK 7 (5/15)

Moving double stops around to create melody
An approach to improvising
Soldier’s Joy
Bonus material: Panhandle Country

Week 8 (5/22)

Tying it all together
Adding some licks and improvising
Combining double stops and licks
My Home’s Across the Blue Ridge Mountains
Bonus tune: Foggy Mountain Top

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See the Bluegrass Mandolin 102 with Matt Flinner curriculum.

See the Bluegrass Mandolin 103: Advanced Bluegrass with Matt Flinner curriculum.

Go to the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 online program information page.