Matt Flinner

This course has concluded.  To view the current list of courses offered, visit the Winter Online Course page.

Explore the wonderful world of swing mandolin with Grammy-nominated mandolinist Matt Flinner.  Learn a new swing tune (or two) each week and get pointers on how to play chords and backup as well as approaches to improvising.  This course will be very much into chord voicings, scales, arpeggios and how they all relate to one another.  It’s a great way to expand your playing and musicianship (and learn some great tunes)!  The eight online lessons will take place every Monday or Tuesday night (your choice) from January 5th or 6th until March 3rd (with February 3rd off due to Matt’s touring schedule) and eight follow-up practice sessions will take place on Saturday mornings from January 10th to March 7th (again, with a week off on February 7th).

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.

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 andsave the recording in MP3 format.

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

The fee for the course is $200.  If you have questions about the course, email Matt at [email protected].

Register for Swing Mandolin with Matt Flinner on Mondays here.

Register for Swing Mandolin with Matt Flinner on Tuesdays here.

To view other online mandolin courses being offered this winter, click here.

CURRICULUM

Week 1: the Blues

finding the important notes (3rds and 7ths)

7th Chord Inversions

Playing a Blues Chord Progression Smoothly

Dominant 7 Arpeggios

Mixolydian scales

The Blues Scale

Route 66

Blues in the Closet

Week 2: the ii-V-I

Some ii-V-I licks

Getting our basic tools: Major 7 Arpeggios + Minor 7 Arpeggios

Major Scales + Dorian Scales

How High the Moon

When You’re Smiling

Week 3: Going Around the Circle of 5ths

Identifying notes in the circle

Playing a few musical lines around the circle

3-note Seventh Chords around the circle

The Bebop Scale

It’s Only a Paper Moon

Caravan

Week 4: More ii-V-I Progressions

ii-V-I chords in two different inversions

Some More ii-V-I Licks in Various Keys

Combining Major, Dorian and Mixolydian Scales

Honeysuckle Rose

Satin Doll

Week 5: The I-VI-ii-V-I Progession

More chord inversions

Finding Common Tones Between Chords

Arpeggiating Through a Chord Progression

Back Home in Indiana

Charleston

Week 6: Some Ballads

Navigating Ballads with Tremolo, Triplets and Sixteenth Notes

Triplet Exercises

Stormy Weather

Georgia on My Mind

Week 7: Minor Keys

Harmonic minor scales

The minor ii-V-i

Half-diminished arpeggios

Dark Eyes

I’ve Found a New Baby

Week 8: A Bit of Chord Melody

Adding ornaments to various chord inversions

Throwing some chord melody fragments into your solos

Swanee River

Tea For Two

Questions?  Email [email protected].

This course has concluded.  To view the current list of courses offered, visit the Winter Online Course page.

APPALACHIAN MANDOLIN TUNES AND TECHNIQUE WITH MATT FLINNER

Register here.

This course will focus on getting students more familiar with Appalachian fiddle music and old-time songs, and help them improve their mandolin tone and technique.  Students will get pointers on how to maximize their tone, various approaches to rhythm playing and chords, making use of open strings, bits of variations as well as learning a new tune (or two) each week.  The eight online lessons will take place every Wednesday evening from January 7th to March 5th (the last lesson will be on a Thursday evening), with February 4th off due to Matt’s touring schedule.  Eight follow-up practice sessions will be held every Saturday morning from January 10th to March 7th, with February 7th being a week off.

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.

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 andsave the recording in MP3 format.

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

The fee for the course is $200.  If you have questions about the course, email Matt at [email protected].

Register for Appalachian Mandolin Tunes and Technique with Matt Flinner here.

To view other mandolin courses offered this winter, click here.

CURRICULUM

WEEK 1: Getting the groove

Rhythm playing Using Open Chords

Maximizing Your Tone

Picking Exercise I

Adding Open Strings in D

Chilly Winds

Bonus Tune: Bonaparte’s Retreat

WEEK 2: Making the most of open strings in A

Picking Exercise II

Adding Some Notes in Backup Playing

Tater Patch

Bonus Tune: The Falls of Richmond

WEEK 3: Some Double Stops

Rhythm playing using double stops

Incorporating Double Stops into Your Solos

Double Stop Exercise in G

Roustabout

Bonus Tune: Double File

WEEK 4: Waltz Time

Tremolo Exercises

Double Stops in A

Drunkard’s Hiccups

Bonus Tune: All the Good Times Are Past and Gone

WEEK 5: Using open strings in G

Picking Exercise III

A Few Licks Thrown In

Adding Some Runs and Licks to Backup Playing

Fly Around My Pretty Little MIss

Bonus Tune: Elk River Blues

WEEK 6: Early Monroe Style

More Double Stops

“Open Style” Double Stop Exercise

My Long Journey Home

Bonus Tune: New River Train

WEEK 7: A Little Norman Blake

Adding Extra Notes to Open Chords

Minor chords and Double Stops

Walnut River

Bonus Tune: Peezlewister

WEEK 8: Tying it all together: Octaves, Double Stops, Licks and Backup

Hell Among the Yearlings

Bonus Tunes: Half Past Four

Hangman’s Reel

Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine

Questions?  Email [email protected].

These courses have concluded.  To view the current list of courses offered, visit the Winter Online Course page.

We’ll be adding some exciting new things to the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 online lessons program as 2015 gets rolling.  Beginning January 5th and 6th, Swing and Jazz Mandolin with Matt Flinner starts up!  Learn a new swing tune (or two) each week and get pointers on how to play chords and backup as well as approaches to improvising.  This course will be very much into chord voicings, scales, arpeggios and how they all relate to one another.  It’s a great way to expand your playing and musicianship (and learn some great tunes)!  The eight online lessons will take place every Monday or Tuesday night (your choice) from January 5th or 6th until March 3rd (with February 3rd off due to Matt’s touring schedule) and eight follow-up practice sessions will take place on Saturday mornings from January 10th to March 7th (again, with a week off on February 7th).

Tunes for the Swing and Jazz Mandolin course will include: Charleston, Georgia on My Mind, Stormy Weather, Route 66, Dark Eyes, Swanee River, Caravan and How High the Moon (among others!).

To register for the Swing & Jazz Mandolin with Matt Flinner course on Mondays, visit the registration page.

To register for the Swing & Jazz Mandolin with Matt Flinner course on Tuesdays, visit the registration page.

View the curriculum for the course (Monday or Tuesday classes) here.

Another new course, Appalachian Mandolin Tunes and Technique with Matt Flinner, is also being added to the program.  This course will focus on getting deep into Appalachian fiddle music and deep into mandolin tone and technique.  Students will get pointers on how to maximize their tone, various approaches to rhythm playing and chords, making use of open strings, bits of variations as well as learning a new tune (or two) each week.  The eight online lessons will take place every Wednesday evening from January 7th to March 5th (the last lesson will be on a Thursday evening), with February 4th off due to Matt’s touring schedule.  Eight follow-up practice sessions will be held every Saturday morning from January 10th to March 7th, with February 7th being a week off.

Tunes for the Appalachian Mandolin course will include Chilly Winds, Wolves a-Howlin’, Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine, Drunkard’s Hiccups, Elk River Blues, Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss, All the Good Times Are Past and Gone and Tater Patch (among others!).

To register for the Appalachian Mandolin Tunes and Technique with Matt Flinner course, visit the registration page.

View the curriculum here.

Bluegrass Mandolin 101 turns one year old this week!  It’s been a wonderful year, with eight courses covering a wide spectrum of the wonderful world of mandolin playing.  Thanks to all the students who’ve been part of it and have helped it grow and improve.  Here’s a little video that got a little more violent than I had hoped, but I hope you enjoy it.

Three new courses are starting up this week, including a new course for beginners starting up tonight.  For more info on that, visit the Beginning Mandolin page.

Bluegrass Mandolin 101: Tunes, Technique and Improvisation I starts up Tuesday, and Bluegrass Mandolin 102: Tunes, Technique and Improvisation II starts up on Wednesday.  Hope to see you in class!

This course has concluded.  To view the current list of courses offered, visit the Winter Online Course page.

The next Bluegrass Mandolin 102 course, “Tunes, Technique and Improvisation II,” begins October 8th and run through December 13, 2014.  Each week, Matt will demonstrate new concepts and exercises along with a new tune (plus a bonus tune for the more ambitious student) to help you improve your mandolin technique, make better use of practice time, get more familiar with bluegrass and old-time music and have more fun playing music on your own and with others.

The course is fiddle tune-based, and will use various fiddle tunes as vehicles for improving technique, learning the fretboard and working toward creating variations and improvising.

The 102 level course is designed for mandolinists at an intermediate to advanced level to help them expand on improvisational concepts, learn more about the fretboard and push their playing to the next level.  Register for 102 here.

The course will focus on a few main areas:

1. Improving picking technique to improve tone, rhythm, volume and speed.
2. Improving knowledge of the fingerboard through scales, arpeggios, licks, double stops, modes and exercises.
3. Creating variations on common tunes through various methods: using different octaves & registers, using chord tones and “target” notes, using various ornaments, incorporating double stops, and listening to recorded examples.
4. Working toward improvisation using all of the above tools.
5. Expanding your repertoire of bluegrass and fiddle tunes.

102 level classes will meet every Wednesday from 8-9 pm central time, and practice sessions will be held every Saturday from 11:15-noon central time.

All sessions (class and practice) will be video recorded, so that students may revisit the sessions as often as they would like, and students who were unable to attend the live sessions will be able to view them at their own convenience.  (NOTE: Matt will be taking off the weeks of Oct 27 and Nov 24 due to his touring schedule and the Thanksgiving holiday.  Lessons will resume each of the following weeks; in total, there will be eight class sessions and eight practice sessions over a period of ten weeks.)
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.
Students are also encouraged to submit mp3 recordings at any time during the course, 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.

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 andsave the recording in MP3 format.

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

The fee for the course is $200.   Questions about the 101 and 102 level courses (as well as the Bluegrass Mandolin for Beginners course) can also be emailed to [email protected].

FALL 2014 CURRICULUM

BLUEGRASS MANDOLIN 102: TUNES, TECHNIQUE AND IMPROVISATION II

Register here.

WEEK 1 (Oct 8): Creating octave variations & transitions between octaves

Warmup exercises

Adding some ornaments (hammer-ons, pull-offs, etc.)

Ear training exercise I

Cattle in the Cane

Bonus material: East Tennessee Blues

WEEK 2 (Oct 15): Adding some runs to your solos

Some V to I Licks

Ear Training Exercise II

Cherokee Shuffle

Bonus material: Stoney Creek

WEEK 3 (Oct 22): Using Some Bluesy licks

Blues scales in D and A

Blues licks in two positions

I to IV Licks

Elzic’s Farewell

Bonus Material: Old Daingerfield

WEEK 4 (Nov 5): Key of E

E Major Scale & Pattern

E Mixolydian Scale & Pattern

Ear training exercise III

Glory at the Meeting House

Bonus material: Crosseyed Fiddler

WEEK 5 (Nov 12): Adding Some Double Stops to Your Playing

D Double Stops (I, IV and V chords)

D minor Double Stops (I, IV and V chords)

Lonesome Fiddle Blues

Bonus material: Down Yonder

WEEK 6 (Nov 19):

Playing Up the Neck

Diatonic patterns up the neck

Pentatonic patterns up the neck

Sally Gooden

Bonus tune: Road to Columbus

WEEK 7 (Dec 3): Playing rags

Circle of fifths exercises

7th Chord Inversions & Diminished Chords

Complex Chord Patterns—how to smooth them out

Some More V-I Licks

Beaumont Rag

Bonus material: I Don’t Love Nobody

WEEK 8 (Dec 10): Tying it all together: using octaves, licks, patterns, target notes and double stops to create variations

Exercises for speed

Exercises for the fingering hand

The Gold Rush

Bonus material: Paddy on the Turnpike

This course has concluded.  To view the current list of courses offered, visit the Winter Online Course page.

The next Bluegrass Mandolin 101 course, “Tunes, Technique and Improvisation I,” begins October 7th and run through December 13, 2014.  Each week, Matt will demonstrate new concepts and exercises along with a new tune (plus a bonus tune for the more ambitious student) to help you improve your mandolin technique, make better use of practice time, get more familiar with bluegrass and old-time music and have more fun playing music on your own and with others.

This course is fiddle tune-based, and will use various fiddle tunes as vehicles for improving technique, learning the fretboard and working toward creating variations and improvising.

The 101 level course is designed to help the mandolinist at a beginning to intermediate level improve the fundamentals of his or her playing and his or her ability to improvise, while expanding repertoire along the way.  Register for 101 here.

The course will focus on a few main areas:

1. Improving picking technique to improve tone, rhythm, volume and speed.
2. Improving knowledge of the fingerboard through scales, arpeggios, licks, double stops, modes and exercises.
3. Creating variations on common tunes through various methods: using different octaves & registers, using chord tones and “target” notes, using various ornaments, incorporating double stops, and listening to recorded examples.
4. Working toward improvisation using all of the above tools.
5. Expanding your repertoire of bluegrass and fiddle tunes.

101 level classes will meet every Tuesday from 8-9 pm CST, and practice sessions will be held every Saturday from 10-10:45 am central time.

All sessions (class and practice) will be video recorded, so that students may revisit the sessions as often as they would like, and students who were unable to attend the live sessions will be able to view them at their own convenience.  (NOTE: Matt will be taking off the weeks of Oct 27 and Nov 24 due to his touring schedule and the Thanksgiving holiday.  Lessons will resume each of the following weeks; in total, there will be eight class sessions and eight practice sessions over a period of ten weeks.)
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.
Students are also encouraged to submit mp3 recordings at any time during the course, 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.

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 andsave the recording in MP3 format.

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

The fee for the course is $200.   Questions about the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 and 102 (as well as Bluegrass Mandolin for Beginners) can also be emailed to [email protected].

FALL 2014 CURRICULUM:

BLUEGRASS MANDOLIN 101: TUNES, TECHNIQUE AND IMPROVISATION I

Register here.

WEEK 1 (Oct 7): Picking and rhythm

Picking Exercises I

Fingering Exercises I

Scales: D Major and G Major

Open style chords

Eighth of January

Bonus material: The Speed of the Plow

WEEK 2 (Oct 14): Getting a fuller sound using open strings

Picking Exercises II

Fingering Exercises II

Open style backup in G

Arkansas Traveler

Bonus material: Cotton Eyed Joe

WEEK 3 (Oct 21): Octave variations

Picking Exercises III (three and four string exercises)

Fingering Exercises III

Scale Patterns: thirds in D and G

Open style backup in D

Whiskey Before Breakfast

Bonus material: Leather Britches

WEEK 4 (Nov 4): Transitions between octaves

Learning Chord Tones

Major Arpeggios

3 Chord Inversions

Playing backup using basslines and moving chords

Liberty

Bonus material: June Apple

WEEK 5 (Nov 11): Throwing in some licks

Scales: A Major and A Mixolydian; D Major and D Mixolydian

Open style chords in A and C

Dominant Arpeggios

Salt Creek

Bonus Material: Weave and Way

WEEK 6 (Nov 18): Creating variations using target notes

Minor Arpeggios

Using Bluegrass “Chop” Chords

Cuckoo’s Nest

Bonus Material: Flowers of Edinburgh

WEEK 7 (Dec 2): Incorporating Double Stops into Your Solos

Double Stop Exercise in A

Scales: A Dorian, D Dorian

Pike County Breakdown

Bonus material: Shove the Pig’s Foot a Little Closer to the Fire

WEEK 8 (Dec 9): Various approaches to improvising

Pulling it all together: octave changes, chord tones, licks and double stops as part of your solos

Bonaparte’s Retreat

Bonus material: Liza Jane

This course has concluded.  To view the current list of courses offered, visit the Winter Online Course page.

Bluegrass 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 here.

The eight-week course begins on October 6th and runs until December 13th.  Class sessions will take place every Monday evening from 8-8:45 pm central time, and follow-up practice sessions will take place every Saturday morning from 9-9:45 am central time (Matt will be taking off the weeks of October 27 and November 24 off due to his tour schedule and the Thanksgiving holiday; there will be eight class sessions and eight practice sessions over a ten-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.

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 andsave the recording in MP3 format.

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

The fee for the course is $150.  If you have questions about the course, email Matt at [email protected].

Register for Mandolin for Beginners here.

MANDOLIN FOR BEGINNERS CURRICULUM

WEEK 1

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

Playing melodies

Picking Pattern 2

Chords in A

A Major scale

BIle Them Cabbage Down

Bonus material: Woody’s Rag

WEEK 3

Picking pattern 3

Fingering Exercise I

D major scale

Angeline the Baker

Bonus material: Wildwood Flower

WEEK 4

Picking pattern 4

A few minor chords

Rhythm patterns

G major scale

Old Joe Clark

Bonus material: Shady Grove

WEEK 5

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

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

Intro to position playing

A few double stops

Bluegrass “Chop Chords”

Will the Circle Be Unbroken

Bonus material: I’ll Fly Away

WEEK 8

Transitions between lead and rhythm

Trying other keys (with tunes from week 7)

Soldier’s Joy

Bonus material: Blackberry Blossom

Questions?  Email Matt: [email protected].

These courses have concluded.  To view the current list of courses offered, visit the Winter Online Course page.

Bluegrass Mandolin 101 and 102 are back!  Registration is now open for the Fall 2014 101 and 102 courses.

Join Matt Flinner for online mandolin lessons each week from the convenience of your own home.  The next Bluegrass Mandolin 101 and 102 courses, “Tunes, Technique and Improvisation,” begin October 7th and 8th and run through December 13, 2014.  Each week, Matt will demonstrate new concepts and exercises along with a new tune (plus a bonus tune for the more ambitious student) to help you improve your mandolin technique, make better use of practice time, get more familiar with bluegrass and old-time music and have more fun playing music on your own and with others.

Both of the fall courses are fiddle tune-based, and will use various fiddle tunes as vehicles for improving technique, learning the fretboard and working toward creating variations and improvising.

The 101 level course is designed to help the mandolinist at a beginning to intermediate level improve the fundamentals of his or her playing and his or her ability to improvise, while expanding repertoire along the way.  Register for 101 here.

The 102 level course is designed for mandolinists at an intermediate to advanced level to help them expand on improvisational concepts, learn more about the fretboard and push their playing to the next level.  Register for 102 here.

Both courses will focus on a few main areas:

1. Improving picking technique to improve tone, rhythm, volume and speed.
2. Improving knowledge of the fingerboard through scales, arpeggios, licks, double stops, modes and exercises.
3. Creating variations on common tunes through various methods: using different octaves & registers, using chord tones and “target” notes, using various ornaments, incorporating double stops, and listening to recorded examples.
4. Working toward improvisation using all of the above tools.
5. Expanding your repertoire of bluegrass and fiddle tunes.

101 level classes will meet every Tuesday from 8-9 pm CST, and practice sessions will be held every Saturday from 10-10:45 am central time.

102 level classes will meet every Wednesday from 8-9 pm CST, and practice sessions will be held every Saturday from 11:15-noon central time.

All sessions (class and practice) will be video recorded, so that students may revisit the sessions as often as they would like, and students who were unable to attend the live sessions will be able to view them at their own convenience.  (NOTE: Matt will be taking off the weeks of Oct 27 and Nov 24 due to his touring schedule and the Thanksgiving holiday.  Lessons will resume each of the following weeks; in total, there will be eight class sessions and eight practice sessions over a period of ten weeks.)
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.
Students are also encouraged to submit mp3 recordings at any time during the course, 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.

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 andsave the recording in MP3 format.

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

The fee for each course is $200.  Students taking both courses simultaneously receive a 10% discount ($40 off total) and suggestions on where to obtain strong doses of caffeine and/or psychological counseling.  If you are interested in taking both courses, email [email protected] to make sure you get the discount.  Questions about the courses can also be emailed to [email protected].

FALL 2014 CURRICULA:

BLUEGRASS MANDOLIN 101: TUNES, TECHNIQUE AND IMPROVISATION I

Register here.

WEEK 1 (Oct 7): Picking and rhythm

Picking Exercises I

Fingering Exercises I

Scales: D Major and G Major

Open style chords

Eighth of January

Bonus material: The Speed of the Plow

WEEK 2 (Oct 14): Getting a fuller sound using open strings

Picking Exercises II

Fingering Exercises II

Open style backup in G

Arkansas Traveler

Bonus material: Cotton Eyed Joe

WEEK 3 (Oct 21): Octave variations

Picking Exercises III (three and four string exercises)

Fingering Exercises III

Scale Patterns: thirds in D and G

Open style backup in D

Whiskey Before Breakfast

Bonus material: Leather Britches

WEEK 4 (Nov 4): Transitions between octaves

Learning Chord Tones

Major Arpeggios

3 Chord Inversions

Playing backup using basslines and moving chords

Liberty

Bonus material: June Apple

WEEK 5 (Nov 11): Throwing in some licks

Scales: A Major and A Mixolydian; D Major and D Mixolydian

Open style chords in A and C

Dominant Arpeggios

Salt Creek

Bonus Material: Weave and Way

WEEK 6 (Nov 18): Creating variations using target notes

Minor Arpeggios

Using Bluegrass “Chop” Chords

Cuckoo’s Nest

Bonus Material: Flowers of Edinburgh

WEEK 7 (Dec 2): Incorporating Double Stops into Your Solos

Double Stop Exercise in A

Scales: A Dorian, D Dorian

Pike County Breakdown

Bonus material: Shove the Pig’s Foot a Little Closer to the Fire

WEEK 8 (Dec 9): Various approaches to improvising

Pulling it all together: octave changes, chord tones, licks and double stops as part of your solos

Bonaparte’s Retreat

Bonus material: Liza Jane

FALL 2014 CURRICULA

BLUEGRASS MANDOLIN 102: TUNES, TECHNIQUE AND IMPROVISATION II

Register here.

WEEK 1 (Oct 8): Creating octave variations & transitions between octaves

Warmup exercises

Adding some ornaments (hammer-ons, pull-offs, etc.)

Ear training exercise I

East Tennessee Blues

Bonus material: Cripple Creek variations

WEEK 2 (Oct 15): Adding some runs to your solos

Some V to I Licks

Ear Training Exercise II

Cherokee Shuffle

Bonus material: Stoney Creek

WEEK 3 (Oct 22): Using Some Bluesy licks

Blues scales in D and A

Blues licks in two positions

I to IV Licks

Elzic’s Farewell

Bonus Material: Old Daingerfield

WEEK 4 (Nov 5): Key of E

E Major Scale & Pattern

E Mixolydian Scale & Pattern

Ear training exercise III

Glory at the Meeting House

Bonus material: Crosseyed Fiddler

WEEK 5 (Nov 12): Adding Some Double Stops to Your Playing

D Double Stops (I, IV and V chords)

D minor Double Stops (I, IV and V chords)

Lonesome Fiddle Blues

Bonus material: Down Yonder

WEEK 6 (Nov 19):

Playing Up the Neck

Diatonic patterns up the neck

Pentatonic patterns up the neck

Sally Gooden

Bonus tune: Road to Columbus

WEEK 7 (Dec 3): Playing rags

Circle of fifths exercises

7th Chord Inversions & Diminished Chords

Complex Chord Patterns—how to smooth them out

Some More V-I Licks

Beaumont Rag

Bonus material: I Don’t Love Nobody

WEEK 8 (Dec 10): Tying it all together: using octaves, licks, patterns, target notes and double stops to create variations

Exercises for speed

Exercises for the fingering hand

The Gold Rush

Bonus material: Paddy on the Turnpike

This course has concluded.  To view the current list of courses offered, visit the Winter Online Course page.

The Bluegrass Mandolin 101 online lessons program continues this summer with two more four-week long intensive courses designed to help your overall mandolin playing technique.  Each week, we’ll look at seven exercises intended to increase your knowledge of the fretboard and help your picking hand control as we look at seven different areas: picking exercises, fingering exercises, scale exercises, arpeggios, chord exercises, double stops, and licks.  We’ll also learn a new tune each week and apply the ideas from each of the exercises to that week’s tune; by practicing these exercises in this context, students get some practical applications for the exercises as well as some ideas for variations on tunes.

The 104 level course begins August 13th and runs through September 17th.  Class sessions meet every Wednesday evening from 8 to 9 pm Central time, and practice/review sessions meet every Saturday from 11:15 am-noon Central time.  (Matt will be taking the week of September 3 off due to his touring schedule, so the final lesson will take place Sept 10 rather than Sept 3).  There will also be a final review session on September 17 at 8 pm central to go over many of the concepts and all of the tunes learned during the course.

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 104 level course is intended for players at an intermediate/advanced level.  While this course is a continuation of the Bluegrass Mandolin Intensive 102 course which concluded in early July, it is not necessary for students to have taken the 102 course to be able to take the 104 course.  104 is intended to reinforce many of the concepts taught in 102 while pushing the student’s technique further than the 102 level did.

Register for the 104 course here.

To view the curriculum for the 103 level course, click here.

Here is the curriculum:

WEEK 1:

Two string picking exercise: building speed

Fingering exercise I: across the strings

Chord exercise: ways of playing ii-V-I chord progressions

G Major scale in seven positions

Major 7 arpeggios in root position, 1st inversion and 2nd inversion

Diatonic double stops in three keys

Hammer-on pull-off triplet lick

Tune of the week: Sweet Sue

WEEK 2:

Four string picking exercise

Fingering exercise: position shifts on one string

Chord exercise: using open major and minor chords and getting a big sound

Scale exercise: major scale patterns using 3rds, 4ths and 6ths

Arpeggio exercise: G and F ascending arpeggios

E minor double stop exercise

Two hammer-on and pull-off licks

Tune of the week: John Riley the Shepherd

WEEK 3:

Crosspicking exercise

Fingering exercise on two strings

Chord exercise: finding neighboring chords on trickier progressions

Scale exercise: D Major scale in seven positions

Arpeggio exercise: diatonic 7th arpeggios in three keys

Double stop exercise: smooth double stops on trickier chord progressions

A Chuck Berry-style lick

Tune of the week: Salty Dog Blues

WEEK 4:

Reverse picking exercise

Fingering exercise across the strings

Chord exercise: VI-ii-V-I progressions

Scale exercise: diminished scales

Arpeggio with neighbor tones exercise

Double stop exercise: alternating between “open” and “closed” style double stops

ii-V-I lick

Tune of the week: Blue Moon

The fee for the course is $100.

Register for 104 here.

This course has concluded.  To view the current list of courses offered, visit the Winter Online Course page.

The Bluegrass Mandolin 101 online lessons program continues this summer with two more four-week long intensive courses designed to help your overall mandolin playing technique.  Each week, we’ll look at seven exercises intended to increase your knowledge of the fretboard and help your picking hand control as we look at seven different areas: picking exercises, fingering exercises, scale exercises, arpeggios, chord exercises, double stops, and licks.  We’ll also learn a new tune each week and apply the ideas from several of the exercises to that week’s tune; by practicing these exercises in this context, students get some practical applications for the exercises as well as some ideas for variations on tunes.

The 103 level course begins August 12 and runs through September 16.  Class sessions meet every Tuesday evening from 8 to 9 pm central time, and practice/review sessions meet every Saturday from 10-10:45 am central time.  (Matt will be taking the week of September 2 off due to his touring schedule, so the final lesson will take place Sept 9 rather than Sept 2).  There will also be a final review session on September 16 at 8 pm central to go over many of the concepts and all of the tunes learned during the course.

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.

You can register for the 103 course here.

To view the curriculum for the 104 level course, click here.

The 103 level course is intended for players at a beginner/intermediate level.  While this course is a continuation of the Bluegrass Mandolin Intensive 101 course which completed in early July, it is not necessary for students to have taken the 101 course to be able to take the 103 course.  103 is intended to reinforce many of the concepts taught in 101 while pushing the student’s technique further than the 101 level did.

Here is the curriculum:

WEEK 1 (August 12):

Picking exercise using three rhythms

Hammer-on and pull-off fingering exercise

Chord Inversions

Major scales in six keys with a new pattern

Arpeggio exercise: going from I-IV, I-V and I-bVII using chord tones

Double Stop Exercise: Bile Them Cabbage Down Exercise in Six Keys

Hammer-on and pull-off licks

Tune of the week: Cluck Old Hen

WEEK 2 (August 19):

Tremolo exercise

Closed position fingering exercise across the strings

Chord exercise: waltz time using open style chords

Closed position scales and patterns in G, D, and A

Arpeggio exercise: closed position major arpeggios in seven keys

Double Stop Exercise: open style double stops

Monroe-style tag lick in six keys

Tune of the week: Tennessee Waltz

WEEK 3 (August 26):

Three string picking exercise

Chromatic fingering exercise I

Chord exercise: throwing some melodic runs into chord progressions

Scale exercise: major scales starting on 1, 3 and 5 in six keys

Arpeggio exercise: major arpeggios (1353) around the circle of fifths

Double stop exercise: double stops around the circle of fifths

Cool C and F licks

Tune of the week: Alabama Jubilee

WEEK 4 (September 9):

Four string picking exercise

Chromatic fingering exercise II

Blues chord progression using shuffle rhythm

Major scales in Bb, Eb, Ab, C#, F#, B

Arpeggio exercise: arpeggiating chord changes on tunes

Double stop exercise: double stops with neighbor tones

Blues lick in six keys

Tune of the week: T for Texas

The fee for the course is $100.

Register for 103 here.