Matt Flinner

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

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

Register for the Everything Jamming course with Matt Flinner

See the Mandolin Tune Studies Curriculum (August 21-September 23)
See the Monroe Mandolin Intensive Curriculum (August 22-September 23)

This course is intended to help students expand their musical horizons with familiar songs that
seem to work their way into jam sessions now and then (and you walk away thinking “I wish I
had learned that one”). Various styles of lead playing and rhythm playing will be explored,
including folk, rock and a bit of swing and blues. Students will be given the melodies and
chords to four songs each week, along with suggestions for creating their own solos, practical
guides to playing the chords and rhythmic exercises to help students feel comfortable with the
various grooves and rhythmic feels. Students will be encouraged to learn the chords to all four
songs and to especially focus on one song for the melody and soloing suggestions (whichever
song best suits their ability level, or whichever song they like best!). Songs by Bob Dylan,
 the Beatles, Bob Marley, Bo Diddley and many more will be explored.

It’s a great way to learn more about the fretboard while getting some practical guides to lead
and accompaniment—and most of all, to have fun playing music! The course is intended for
players of all ability levels (though absolute beginners will likely find it too difficult) who want to
expand their musical possibilities.

Class sessions meet on Wednesday evenings at 9 pm eastern time, and practice/review
sessions meet on Saturdays at 12:30 pm eastern time. Students are encouraged to attend the
live sessions (via Zoom), but all sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website so that
students can review them any time if they are unable to attend the sessions.
This course is a continuation of the Everything Mandolin Jamming I course which concludes on
July 15, but students do not to have taken that course in order to take the Everything Mandolin
Jamming II course.

The course fee is $125.  

Register for the Everything Jamming II course with Matt Flinner

EVERYTHING JAMMING II CURRICULUM:

WEEK 1 (August 23)
Folk rhythms II
Getting around the neck in G
Mixing rhythm into your lead playing II
What Goes On
You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
The Home of the Blues
Me and Bobby McGee

WEEK 2 (September 6)
Bo Diddley rhythms
Blues licks in various keys and positions
Not Fade Away
I Want Candy
Please Go Home
American Girl

WEEK 3 (September 13)
Songs with Reggae rhythms
Double stops in melody
Three Little Birds
I Shot the Sheriff
Pulling the Devil By the Tail
Mother and Child Reunion

WEEK 4 (September 20)
Tying it all together—blues, double stops, licks and rhythms in lead playing
More complex chord progressions
Mixing in various chord and rhythm styles
Here, There and Everywhere
House of the Rising Sun
Eight Miles High
Your Song

Register here

“I’ve participated in many online learning programs, but so far, your format is the best I’ve ever seen. I am so pleased I happened upon your courses.”—Gina M.

“I 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.

Register here for the Monroe Mandolin Intensive with Matt Flinner

See the Mandolin Tune Studies with Matt Flinner curriculum

See the Everything Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner curriculum

This course is intended for students at an intermediate to advanced level who want to focus more exclusively on the distinct mandolin style of Bill Monroe.  Students will learn many concepts in bluegrass style playing, but with a uniquely “Monroe” take on them.  Focus will be on rhythmic drive, the bluesy side of bluegrass, and learning the fretboard in various keys while learning many classic Monroe mandolin solos.

Class sessions take place on Tuesday evenings at 9 pm eastern time, with follow-up practice sessions on Saturdays at 11 am eastern time.  Students are welcome to attend the live sessions, but it is not required.  All class sessions are recorded and available to view on the class website at the students’ convenience.  

The course runs from August 22nd through September 23.  The week of August 29th will be off due to Matt’s touring schedule.  The are a total of eight live class sessions (four class sessions and four review sessions) during the course. 

The course fee is $125.  Register here

Here is the curriculum:

WEEK 1 (8/22)

Using open strings

Picking exercise I

Playing backup

Playing fills behind the vocal

I’m Going Back to Old Kentucky

Gotta Travel On

Midnight on the Stormy Deep

On and On

WEEK 2 (9/5)

The blues

Finding blue notes in position playing

Down picking exercise

A few bluesy licks and fills

Can’t You Hear Me Calling

Honky Tonk Swing 

Rocky Road Blues

Blue Night

WEEK 3 (9/12)

Some more bluesy licks

Down-picking exercise II

Triplet picking exercise

Little Maggie

Get Down on Your Knees and Pray

Close By

Brand New Shoes

WEEK 4 (9/19)

Playing out of the chop chord position

Double stops in the chop chord position

A few chop chord licks 

When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again

Sittin’ On Top of the World

Out in the Cold World

Virginia Darlin’

The course fee is $125.  

Register here for the Monroe Mandolin Intensive with Matt Flinner

“I’ve participated in many online learning programs, but so far, your format is the best I’ve ever seen. I am so pleased I happened upon your courses.”—Gina M.

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

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

Register for Mandolin Tune Studies with Matt Flinner 

See the Monroe Mandolin Intensive with Matt Flinner curriculum

See the Everything Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner curriculum 

This course will get in-depth in helping students create variations and improvise on fiddle tunes and bluegrass songs—though the concepts will apply to any style of music.  Upon registering, students will receive PDFs in tablature and standard notation for two tunes:  and , along with mp3s of each tune and links to videos of the tunes played slowly.  During the four-week course, we’ll look at various ways of playing the melodies to both tunes as well as various ways of getting outside the melodies using double stops, positions up the neck, blues ideas and different rhythms and licks.  Each week, we’ll explore a different approach to soloing and talk about how to use these approaches on our two tunes and relate these concepts to other tunes and songs students may already know.  The goal is to create more possibilities in our soloing and to have more fun playing music with other people—and to learn two tunes REALLY well!

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

Class sessions will take place on Monday evenings at 9 pm eastern time from August 21 to September 18 (with the week of August 28 off due to Matt’s touring schedule), and practice/review sessions will take place on Saturdays at 10 am eastern time from August 26 to September 23 (again, with the week of August 28 off).  Students are encouraged to attend the live sessions, but they can also review the recordings of any and all sessions at their convenience.  

The course fee is $125.  

Register for Mandolin Tune Studies with Matt Flinner

TUNE STUDIES CURRICULUM

Big Sciota

Bluegrass Twist

WEEK 1 (August 21)

Octave Variations

Blue notes

Throwing in some blues licks

Picking Exercise I

WEEK 2 (September 4)

Double stops

Double Stop Exercise I

Double Stop Exercise II

Quarter note triplet rhythms

WEEK 3 (September 11)

Chord tones

Arpeggio Exercise I

Creating musical lines using chord tones

Eighth note triplet rhythms

WEEK 4 (September 18)

Getting up high on the neck

Positions II, III and IV in G

Licks in various positions

Combining blues, double stops and rhythms

Register here.

“This was the best online learning experience I’ve ever had.  And, for the time and money, the best music learning experience in any format:  DVD, video, group, or individual live lessons.”—Christine R. 

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

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

Mandolin Tune Studies with Matt Flinner          Curriculum         Registration

Monroe Mandolin Intensive with Matt Flinner                   Curriculum         Registration

Everything Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner         Curriculum         Registration 

The Mandolin Tune Studies course (August 21-September 23) is intended to help students create variations and improvise on fiddle tunes and bluegrass songs—though the concepts will apply to any style of music.  Upon registering, students will receive PDFs in tablature and standard notation for two tunes: Big Sciota and the Bluegrass Twist, along with mp3s of each tune and links to videos of the tunes played slowly.  During the four-week course, we’ll look at various ways of playing the melodies to both tunes as well as various ways of getting outside the melodies using double stops, positions up the neck, blues ideas and different rhythms and licks.  Each week, we’ll explore a different approach to soloing and talk about how to use these approaches on our two tunes and relate these concepts to other tunes and songs students may already know.  The goal is to create more possibilities in our soloing and to have more fun playing music with other people—and to learn two tunes REALLY well! 

Register here.  

The Monroe Mandolin Intensive course (August 22-September 23) is intended for students at an intermediate to advanced level who want to focus more exclusively on the distinct mandolin style of Bill Monroe.  Students will learn many concepts in bluegrass style playing, but with a uniquely “Monroe” take on them.  We’ll explore picking technique (down-picking, standard picking and tremolo) as well as positions on the neck (chop chord position, open position and more).  Focus will be on rhythmic drive, the bluesy side of bluegrass, and learning the fretboard in various keys while learning many classic Monroe songs and mandolin solos.  

Register here. 

The Everything Mandolin Jamming II course (August 23-September 23) is intended to help students expand their musical horizons with familiar songs that seem to work their way into jam sessions now and then (and you walk away thinking “I wish I had learned that one”).  Various styles of lead playing and rhythm playing will be explored, including folk, rock and a bit of swing and blues.  Students will be given the melodies and chords to four songs each week, along with suggestions for creating their own solos, practical guides to playing the chords and rhythmic exercises to help students feel comfortable with the various grooves and rhythmic feels. Students will be encouraged to learn the chords to all four songs and to especially focus on one song for the melody and soloing suggestions (whichever song best suits their ability level, or whichever song they like best!).  Songs by Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Tom Petty, Joni Mitchell and many more will be explored.  It’s a great way to learn more about the fretboard while getting some practical guides to lead and accompaniment—and most of all, to have fun playing music!  The course is intended for players of all ability levels (though absolute beginners will likely find it too difficult) who want to expand their musical possibilities.  NOTE: this course is a follow-up to the Everything Jamming I course, which finishes up in mid-July, but students do not need to have taken that course in order to take the Everything Jamming II course.

Register here,

Register for Mandolin Tune Studies with Matt Flinner

Register for the Monroe Mandolin Intensive with Matt Flinner

Register for Everything Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner

The Mandolin Tune Studies course (August 21-September 23) meets on Monday evenings at 9 pm eastern time, with follow-up practice sessions Saturday mornings at 11 am eastern time.  The week of August 28 is off due to Matt’s tour schedule; students will have four Monday class sessions (August 21, September 4, 11 and 18) and four Saturday follow-up practice sessions (August 26, September 9, 16 and 23).  All live sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website, where they are viewable generally by the following day. Register here.

The Monroe Mandolin Intensive course (August 22-September 23) meets on Tuesday evenings at 9 pm eastern time, with follow-up practice sessions Saturday mornings at 11 am eastern time.  The week of August 29 is off due to Matt’s tour schedule; students will have four  class sessions (August 22, September 5, 12 and 19) and four Saturday follow-up practice sessions (August 26, September 9, 16 and 23).  All live sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website, where they are viewable generally by the following day. Register here.

The Everything Mandolin Jamming II course (August 23-September 23) meets on Wednesdays at 2 pm and 9 pm eastern time, with follow-up practice sessions Saturday mornings at 12:30 pm eastern time.  NOTE: Wednesday afternoon sessions are set up as a more convenient time for our friends in the UK and Europe (and, actually for many in the U.S. as well)!  2 pm eastern time translates to 7 or 8 pm in the UK and most of Europe.   Students are welcome to join in on either or both of the Wednesday sessions each week (they will be essentially identical to one another in content).  The week of August 30 is off due to Matt’s tour schedule; students will have four class sessions (August 23, September 6, 13 and 20) and four Saturday follow-up practice sessions (August 26, September 9, 16 and 23).  All live sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website, where they are viewable generally by the following day. Register here.

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

The course fee for each course is $125.  Just register for the course(s) you want to take, and we’ll send you a confirmation along with an invoice for the course fee ($125 per course).  You’ll be all set!

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

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

BLUEGRASS MANDOLIN 101 

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

A UNIQUE APPROACH: LIVE INSTRUCTION AND INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS

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

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

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

HOW INTERACTIVE ARE THE COURSES?

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

HOW MUCH DO I NEED TO PRACTICE?

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

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

THE CLASS WEBPAGE

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

REGISTRATION FEE

Fees for the 4-week summer courses are $125 each. 

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

“I’ve participated in many online learning programs, but so far, your format is the best I’ve ever seen. I am so pleased I happened upon your courses.”—Gina M.

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

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

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

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

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

Register for Mandolin Tune Studies with Matt Flinner

Register for the Monroe Mandolin Intensive with Matt Flinner

Register for Everything Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner

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

“I’ve participated in many online learning programs, but so far, your format is the best I’ve ever seen. I am so pleased I happened upon your courses.”—Gina M.

“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. 

“I’m loving the instruction and all the materials, it’s got me playing my mandolin constantly!”—James M. 

Register for the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive with Matt Flinner

See the Double Stops Intensive curriculum (June 13-July 15)

See the Everything Mandolin Jamming curriculum (June 14-July 15)

The Scale and Arpeggio Intensive course is intended to give students a more solid understanding of the fretboard while getting ideas of the “tools” used in soloing and improvisation.  Each week, students will be given a handful of exercises using various types of scales and arpeggios in various keys, along with a tune from either the bluegrass, Celtic or swing/jazz repertoire as a vehicle for using ideas from that week’s exercises in creating solos.  The goal is to help students gain a better understanding of how music works, and to get ideas to help them advance more quickly and have more fun playing with others.  The course is intended for students at an intermediate to advanced level.  

Classes meet every Monday from June 12 to July 10 (with the week of June 26 off due to Matt’s tour schedule) at 9 pm eastern time, with practice/review sessions every Saturday from June 17 to July 15 (with July 1 off) 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.  

WEEK 1 (June 12)

The Circle of Fifths

Major Scales in All Keys

Major Scale Pattern I

Major Arpeggio Exercise I

Major Arpeggio Exercise II

Music for a Found Harmonium as Improv Landscape

WEEK 2 (June 19)

Mixolydian Scales in All Keys

Mixolydian Scale Exercise I

Major Scale Pattern II

Dominant 7 Arpeggio Exercise I

Dominant 7 Arpeggio Exercise II

Alabama Jubilee as Improv Landscape

WEEK 3 (July 3)

The Modes

Dorian Scales in All Keys

Dorian Scale Pattern I

Minor 7 Arpeggio Exercise I

Using Alternate Chord Tones

So What as Improv Landscape

WEEK 4 (July 10)

The ii-V-I

Dorian, Mixolydian and Major Scales in a Chord Progression

ii-V-I Arpeggio Exercises

Some More Scale Patterns

Chord Tones as Target Notes in ii-V-Is

Sweet Sue as Improv Landscape 

The course fee is $125.  

Register for the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive course 

Questions?  Email Matt Flinner at [email protected]

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

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

Register for the Double Stops Intensive course with Matt Flinner

See the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive Curriculum (June 12-July 15)

See the Everything Mandolin Jamming Curriculum (June 14-July 15)

This course is intended to help students with fundamentals while learning the fretboard.  Double stops in various keys will be looked at, along with picking exercises (which will sometimes incorporate those double stops) to help improve efficiency and speed.  And we’ll focus quite a bit on improving our tone and getting the most sound out of our instruments that we can.  Each week, we’ll also learn a tune (sometimes bluegrass or folk, sometimes Beatles, sometimes Johnny Cash or Hank Williams) and look at various ways of using double stops either as part of the melody or as a way of varying the melody.  

The course is intended for players of all levels who want to go deeper into the fundamentals of playing the mandolin, especially tone, picking ability and, of course, double stops.  

Classes meet every Tuesday from June 13 to July 11 (with the week of June 27 off due to Matt’s tour schedule) at 9 pm eastern time, with practice/review sessions every Saturday from June 17 to July 15 (with July 1 off) at 11 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.  

Here is the curriculum:

WEEK 1 (June 13)

Picking Exercise I

Double Stop Exercise in G

Double Stop Exercise in A

Moving Smoothly Between Double Stops

Chord Forms in G and A

Act Naturally

WEEK 2 (June 20)

Picking Exercise II

Moving Between Double Stops on a Chord Progression

Double Stop Exercise in C

Chord Forms in C and D

Your Cheatin’ Heart

WEEK 3 (July 5)

Picking Exercise III

Tremolo and Double Stops

Diatonic Double Stops in G

Double Stop Exercise in D

Three Chord Inversions 

Eight More Miles to Louisville

WEEK 4 (July 11)

Picking Exercise IV

More with Tremolo

Open Style Double Stops

Using the b7 in Double Stops

7th Chord Inversions

I Still Miss Someone

The course fee is $125.  

Register for the Double Stops Intensive course with Matt Flinner

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

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

Register for the Everything Mandolin Jamming course with Matt Flinner

See the Scales and Arpeggio Intensive Curriculum (June 13-July 15)

See the Double Stops Intensive Curriculum (June 14-July 15)

This course is intended to help students expand their musical horizons with familiar songs that seem to work their way into jam sessions now and then (and you walk away thinking “I wish I had learned that one”).  Various styles of lead playing and rhythm playing will be explored, including folk, rock and a bit of swing and blues.  Students will be given the melodies and chords to four songs each week, along with suggestions for creating their own solos, practical guides to playing the chords and rhythmic exercises to help students feel comfortable with the various grooves and rhythmic feels. Students will be encouraged to learn the chords to all four songs and to especially focus on one song for the melody and soloing suggestions (whichever song best suits their ability level, or whichever song they like best!).  Songs by Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Tom Petty, the Grateful Dead and many more will be explored.  It’s a great way to learn more about the fretboard while getting some practical guides to lead and accompaniment—and most of all, to have fun playing music!  The course is intended for players of all ability levels (though absolute beginners will likely find it too difficult) who want to expand their musical possibilities.  

Class sessions meet on Wednesdays at 2 pm and 9 pm eastern time, and practice/review sessions meet on Saturdays at 12:30 pm eastern time.  NOTE: Wednesday afternoon sessions are set up as a more convenient time for our friends in the UK and Europe (and, actually for many in the U.S. as well)!  2 pm eastern time translates to 7 or 8 pm in the UK and most of Europe.   Students are welcome to join in on either or both of the Wednesday sessions each week (they will be essentially identical to one another in content).  All sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website so that students can review them any time if they are unable to attend the sessions.  

The course fee is $125.  

Register for the Everything Mandolin Jamming course with Matt Flinner

EVERYTHING JAMMING CURRICULUM

WEEK 1 (June 15)

Folk rhythms

Playing basic rhythm in four keys

Mixing rhythm into your lead playing

A few blues ideas

You Ain’t Going Nowhere

Bad Moon Rising

The Weight

Paradise

WEEK 2 (June 22)

Rock rhythms

Closed position chords

Adding some double stops

Are You Ready for the Country

I Got a Woman

Mystery Train 

Truckin’ 

WEEK 3 (July 7)

More complex chord progressions

Chord inversions

More double stops

Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay

Yesterday

If You Could Read My Mind

White Bird

WEEK 4 (July 13)

Mixing in various chord and rhythm styles

Some more rock & blues rhythms

Pump It Up (Elvis Costello)

Somewhere Under Heaven (Tom Petty)

Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)

This Boy (Beatles)

Register here.

“This was the best online learning experience I’ve ever had.  And, for the time and money, the best music learning experience in any format:  DVD, video, group, or individual live lessons.”—Christine R. 

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

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

Scale and Arpeggio Intensive with Matt Flinner          Curriculum         Registration

Double Stops Intensive with Matt Flinner                   Curriculum         Registration

Everything Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner         Curriculum         Registration 

The Scales and Arpeggios Intensive course (June 12-July 15) will help students learn the fundamental building blocks of melody, harmony and improvisation.  The course is intended for students at an intermediate to advanced level, and will use swing and well as bluegrass material as examples in conjunction with exercises in scales and patterns, modes and arpeggios.  Students will get a lot of material to help them learn the fretboard, and will learn one song per week with some suggestions on how to incorporate that week’s exercises and concepts into creating new solos and improvising over chord progressions.  Register here.  

The Mandolin Double Stops Intensive course (June 13-July 15) is intended to help students with the fundamentals of tone and picking technique while learning the fretboard.  Double stops in various keys will be looked at, along with picking exercises (which will sometimes incorporate those double stops) to help improve efficiency and speed.  And we’ll focus quite a bit on improving our tone and getting the most sound out of our instruments that we can.  Each week, we’ll also learn a tune (sometimes bluegrass or folk, sometimes Beatles, sometimes Johnny Cash or Hank Williams) and look at various ways of using double stops either as part of the melody or as a way of varying the melody.  The course is intended for players of all levels who want to go deeper into the fundamentals of playing the mandolin, especially tone, picking ability and, of course, double stops.  Register here. 

The Everything Mandolin Jamming course (June 14-July 15) is intended to help students expand their musical horizons with familiar songs that seem to work their way into jam sessions now and then (and you walk away thinking “I wish I had learned that one”).  Various styles of lead playing and rhythm playing will be explored, including folk, rock and a bit of swing and blues.  Students will be given the melodies and chords to four songs each week, along with suggestions for creating their own solos, practical guides to playing the chords and rhythmic exercises to help students feel comfortable with the various grooves and rhythmic feels. Students will be encouraged to learn the chords to all four songs and to especially focus on one song for the melody and soloing suggestions (whichever song best suits their ability level, or whichever song they like best!).  Songs by Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Tom Petty, Joni Mitchell and many more will be explored.  It’s a great way to learn more about the fretboard while getting some practical guides to lead and accompaniment—and most of all, to have fun playing music!  The course is intended for players of all ability levels (though absolute beginners will likely find it too difficult) who want to expand their musical possibilities.  Register here.

Register for the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive with Matt Flinner

Register for the Double Stops Intensive with Matt Flinner

Register for Everything Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner

The Scale and Arpeggio Intensive course (June 12-July 15) meets on Monday evenings at 9 pm eastern time, with follow-up practice sessions Saturday mornings at 11 am eastern time.  The week of June 26 is off due to Matt’s tour schedule; students will have four Monday class sessions (June 12, 19, July 3 and 10) and four Saturday follow-up practice sessions (June 17, 24, July 8 and 15).  All live sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website, where they are viewable generally by the following day. Register here.

The Double Stops Intensive course (June 13-July 15) meets on Tuesday evenings at 9 pm eastern time, with follow-up practice sessions Saturday mornings at 11 am eastern time.  The week of June 27 is off due to Matt’s tour schedule; students will have four  class sessions (June 13, 20, July 5 and 11) and four Saturday follow-up practice sessions (June 17, 24, July 8 and 15).  All live sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website, where they are viewable generally by the following day. Register here.

The Everything Mandolin Jamming course (June 14-July 15) meets on Wednesdays at 2 pm and 9 pm eastern time, with follow-up practice sessions Saturday mornings at 12:30 pm eastern time.  NOTE: Wednesday afternoon sessions are set up as a more convenient time for our friends in the UK and Europe (and, actually for many in the U.S. as well)!  2 pm eastern time translates to 7 or 8 pm in the UK and most of Europe.   Students are welcome to join in on either or both of the Wednesday sessions each week (they will be essentially identical to one another in content).  The week of June 28 is off due to Matt’s tour schedule; students will have four class sessions (June 14, 21, July 6 and 12) and four Saturday follow-up practice sessions (June 17, 24, July 8 and 15).  All live sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website, where they are viewable generally by the following day. Register here.

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

The course fee for each course is $125.  Sign up by May 21st and save $25!  Just register for the course(s) you want to take, and we’ll send you a confirmation along with an invoice for the course fee ($100 per course).  You’ll be all set!

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

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

BLUEGRASS MANDOLIN 101 

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

A UNIQUE APPROACH: LIVE INSTRUCTION AND INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS

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

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

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

HOW INTERACTIVE ARE THE COURSES?

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

HOW MUCH DO I NEED TO PRACTICE?

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

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

THE CLASS WEBPAGE

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

REGISTRATION FEE

Fees for the 4-week summer courses are $125 each.  

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

“I’ve participated in many online learning programs, but so far, your format is the best I’ve ever seen. I am so pleased I happened upon your courses.”—Gina M.

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

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

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

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

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

Register for the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive with Matt Flinner

Register for the Double Stops Intensive with Matt Flinner

Register for Everything Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner

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

“This was the best online learning experience I’ve ever had.  And, for the time and money, the best music learning experience in any format:  DVD, video, group, or individual live lessons.”—Christine R. 

“I’ve learned so much from your courses and have improved greatly due to learning some basic skills and music theory.”—Jamie J.

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

Register for Building Mandolin Technique with Matt Flinner

See the Fiddle Tunes 101 for Mandolin curriculum (3/27-6/3)

See the Advanced Fiddle Tunes for Mandolin curriculum (3/28-6/3)

The Building Mandolin Technique course is intended to help students improve their technique in both the right and left hand, and to give students a more solid understanding of the fretboard while getting ideas of the “tools” used in soloing and rhythm playing.  Each week, students will be given a handful of exercises in the areas of picking technique, fingering technique, scales, arpeggios, chords, double stops and tremolo.  We’ll also look at a tune each week—from old-time, bluegrass, swing, classical or the Beatles—and try applying concepts from the exercises to them.  The goal is to help students play with more ease and better tone, and to get ideas to help them advance more quickly and have more fun playing with others.  The course is intended for students at any level who want to improve their skills, though absolute beginners will likely find it too difficult.  Knowledge of some fiddle tunes and basic chords and rhythm playing is a must!

Classes meet every Wednesday from March 29th to May 31st at 9 pm eastern time, with practice/review sessions every Saturday from April 1st to June 3rd at 12:30 pm 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. 

Register here.

Here is the curriculum: 

Week 1 (3/29)

Picking exercises

Picking Exercise on One String

Picking Exercise II 

Major Scale Exercise I

Lick #1

Musette (Bach)

Week 2 (4/5)

Fingering exercises

Fingering Exercise I (one string)

Fingering Exercise II (across the strings)

Major Arpeggio Exercise I 

Chord Exercise I

Jitterbug Waltz (Fats Waller)

Week 3 (4/12)

Double stop exercises

Double Stop Exercise II

Double Stop Exercise III

Major Scale Exercise II

Lick #2

Two of Us (Beatles)

Week 4 (4/19)

Picking exercises—tremolo

Tremolo Picking Exercise I

Tremolo Picking Exercise II

Minor Arpeggio Exercise I

Minor Scale Exercise I

Star of the County Down

Week 5 (5/3)

Chord exercises

Chord Exercise II

Chord Exercise III (diatonic chords)

Diatonic Double Stop Exercise

Lick #3

Blackbird (Beatles)

Week 6 (5/17)

Scale exercises

Major Scale Exercise III (various positions)

Minor Scale Exercise II (low position)

Picking Exercise III

Position shifts

Eleanor Rigby (Beatles)

Week 7 (5/24)

Arpeggio exercises

Major Arpeggio Exercise II

Minor Arpeggio Exercise II

Double Stop Exercise IV

Lick #4

Sonatine in C (Beethoven)

Week 8 (5/31)

Position shifts II

Picking Exercise IV

Fingering Exercise III

Minor Scale Exercise III

Russian Rag

The course fee is $225.  Register here

“I’ve participated in many online learning programs, but so far, your format is the best I’ve ever seen. I am so pleased I happened upon your courses.”—Gina M.

“Your classes are moving me forward so very much. Thank you.” —Jean C.

“It was nice there were various assignments which pushed my ability. Never felt I had “mastered” ALL the homework so never got bored. Always something to work on or do next.”—Joe S.

Register for the Advanced Fiddle Tunes and Improvisation for Mandolin with Matt Flinner course

See the Fiddle Tunes for Mandolin 101 with Matt Flinner curriculum (3/27-6-3)

See the Building Mandolin Technique with Matt Flinner curriculum (3/29-6/3)

This course is intended to help the intermediate to advanced mandolinist learn some new tunes while exploring various ways of learning the fretboard and improving their improvisational skills.  Fiddle tunes in various keys will be taught each week, and students will be given suggestions on how to improvise and/or create variations on these tunes.  Special attention will be given to lesser-known (but great!) fiddle tunes by the likes of John Hartford, Norman Blake, Kenny Baker, Gary Harrison and others.  Scale and arpeggio exercises, picking exercises and fingering exercises will also be given to help students increase their improvisation skills.

The course is intended for intermediate to advanced level students.  

Class sessions will take place on Tuesday afternoons at 2 pm (for those in the UK and Europe!) as well as 9 pm eastern time, with follow-up practice/review sessions on Saturdays at 11 am eastern time.  The weeks of  April 25th and May 9th will be off due to Matt’s travel schedule.  There will be eight class sessions (or 16, if you count the extra afternoon sessions) and eight practice sessions over the course of 10 weeks.  

Register for Advanced Fiddle Tunes and Improvisation

Here is the curriculum: 

WEEK 1 (3/28)

Picking Exercise I

Octave changes

Moving between octaves

A few positions in common keys

Big Sandy River

Goodbye Girls I’m Going to Boston

WEEK 2 (4/4)

Improv with chord tones

Arpeggio Exercise I

Changing octaves with chord tones

Coming Down from Rising Fawn (Norman Blake)

Rickett’s Hornpipe

WEEK 3 (4/11)

Double stops in improv

A and D double stops

Moving between positions using double stops

Chord tones in improvisation

Long White Road (John Hartford)

Road to Westfield (Gary Harrison)

WEEK 4 (4/18)

Minor keys

Improv lines in minor keys

Adding minor double stops

Some blues ideas

The Old Mountaineer (Bill Monroe)

Peezlewhister (Norman Blake) 

WEEK 5 (5/3)

Some Texas style tunes

A few licks in A

Getting up the neck

More chord tones in improv

Position shifts

A and E Reel 

Road to Jenkins

WEEK 6 (5/16)

Waltzes

Tremolo Exercise I

Double stops and tremolo

More position shifts

Midnight (Kenny Baker)

Home of the Soul (Norman Blake)

WEEK 7 (5/23)

Playing over difficult chord progressions

Chord tones II

Arpeggio exercise II

Using double stops to navigate chord progressions

Crazy Creek

Wild Fiddler’s Rag

WEEK 8 (5/30)

Tying it all together

Chord tones, octave changes, double stops and the blues

Over at the Side of the Road (John Hartford)

Up and Around the Bend (Bela Fleck)

The course fee is $225.  Register here