These courses have concluded. To view the current list of courses offered, visit the Winter Online Course page.
“Your course was exactly what I have been looking for. It was well structured with a ton of good material. I like that fact that we were given tunes to learn but also tools that allows me expand the lessons beyond the course tunes to others that I already know.”—Todd M.
“I’m really enjoying the course. The first time I’ve actually practiced an instrument in my 60 years!”—Skip H.
Welcome to mattflinner.com. And welcome to the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 online lessons program!
This winter, beginning the week of January 4, the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 program continues with some bluegrass and “newgrass” mandolin courses for students of all ability levels. The Bluegrass Mandolin 101 and 102 courses will introduce students to essential techniques in bluegrass playing—addressing fundamentals of technique, learning positions on the fingerboard, playing backup and learning classic standard bluegrass songs along the way. Two courses are offered in bluegrass playing: Bluegrass Mandolin 101 (Beginner to Intermediate) and Bluegrass Mandolin 102 (Intermediate to Advanced).
New to the program is Newgrass Mandolin with Matt Flinner. This will pick up where Bluegrass Mandolin 102 leaves off, and will lead students through the modern world of bluegrass mandolin and into some other “newgrass” styles. Following the lead of players like Sam Bush and David Grisman, the course will explore ways of adding new elements to the students’ playing, from fiddle tunes to Rock & Roll to a bit of jazz and more.
Bluegrass Mandolin 101 Curriculum Registration
Bluegrass Mandolin 102 Curriculum Registration
Newgrass Mandolin with Matt Flinner Curriculum Registration
Here’s a description of the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 online experience that I hope will give you a good idea of what this exciting style of mandolin lessons is all about.
BLUEGRASS MANDOLIN 101 (and 102 and Newgrass!)
The Bluegrass Mandolin 101 program is a unique approach to online mandolin lessons that gives students the best of both worlds: access to live lessons as well as recorded mandolin instructional videos. These courses focus on helping mandolin students get to the next level in their playing and broaden their understanding of the bluegrass, old-time and fiddle tune traditions.
A UNIQUE APPROACH: LIVE INSTRUCTION PLUS INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS
Part of what makes Bluegrass Mandolin 101 unique is the fact that students follow a step-by-step program of live lessons over an eight-week course. The live lessons get a little more challenging each week, and students are encouraged to practice during the week in order to get comfortable with that week’s concepts and be prepared for the next week’s class session. Students also have unlimited access to several short instructional videos each week (usually about 6 to 8) but are also following a regular schedule which encourages them to actually practice the material regularly during the eight week period. The archive of short instructional videos plus the video recordings of each class session and practice session give the student plenty of material to work with during the course and on into their future mandolin endeavors!
THIS QUARTER’S COURSES
For Winter Quarter, there will be THREE courses offered:
1. Bluegrass Mandolin 101, which will start at a beginning/intermediate level and progress to a solidly intermediate level. This course will introduce students to the use of double stops and various positions on the neck, as well as various picking and fingerboard exercises to help develop good mandolin technique. View the curriculum here. Register here.
2. Bluegrass Mandolin 102, which will start at an intermediate level and progress to an intermediate/advanced level. This course will move take double stops and position playing to as well as transposing to various keys, moving toward improvisation, adding more licks, and playing in more challenging keys. View the curriculum here. Register here.
3. Newgrass Mandolin with Matt Flinner. This is intended for students at an intermediate to advanced level who want to broaden their musical horizons into modern “newgrass.” Students will learn some concepts covered in the 101 and 102 courses, but they’ll also learn to incorporate some ideas from rock & roll, blues and jazz as well as fiddle tunes to get a broader spectrum of sounds into their playing. Styles of Sam Bush and David Grisman will be discussed, along with some other modern players. The curriculum for this course can be viewed here. Register here.
THE SCHEDULE
The live lessons for the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 course take place every Monday night from 8-9 pm Central time from January 4 to February 29, and for the Bluegrass Mandolin 102 course every Tuesday from 8-9 pm Central time from January 5 to March 1. The Newgrass Mandolin course will take place every Wednesday night from 8-9 pm central time from January 6 to March 2. All three courses will also have Saturday practice/review sessions; 101 will be from 9-9:45 am central time, 102 will be from 10-10:45 am central time and the Newgrass Mandolin practice sessions will be from 11:15 am-12 pm central time each Saturday from January 9 through March 5 (101 and 102 will have the week of February 22 off, and Newgrass Mandolin will have the week of January 27th off, as the instructor has prior commitments during those weeks. There will still be eight class sessions and eight practice sessions in each course).
It is NOT imperative that students be able to attend the live mandolin bluegrass sessions. All sessions will be recorded, so students can revisit the recorded sessions during the week to catch up on that week’s material at their own leisure. Students attending the live lessons will be able to ask questions on the spot (and get immediate answers and interaction), while those watching the recorded sessions will be able to ask questions via email or on the class forum page.
VIDEOS, WRITTEN MATERIALS AND RECOMMENDED LISTENING
Students have access to video recordings of all of the class sessions and practice sessions as well (generally by the following morning, or, in the case of the Saturday practice sessions, later that afternoon). In addition, shorter practice videos of the material are immediately available for viewing after each class session, along with PDFs of the all of the material in standard notation and tablature. All of these videos (about eight or so per week) are available to view as many times as the student would like. Students can also download all materials (including videos and PDFs) to keep as long as they wish.
Students will also be given a list of recommended recordings for each week’s tunes. A variety of mp3 recordings will be suggested in the hope that students will broaden their musical horizons and get a better idea of how the tunes are played by the masters!
HOW INTERACTIVE IS THE COURSE?
All live sessions are interactive; students can ask questions and/or demonstrate tunes or exercises via live microphone or telephone, or via a chat window (most students opt for this approach). The instructor is able to immediately respond and demonstrate the answers for the whole class. Another form of interaction comes via mp3 recordings; students can record mp3s on their own time of themselves playing the material (or anything else they want to send in) and send it to the instructor for feedback, which is also recorded in mp3 form and sent back to the student. Students can post their mp3s on the class site (and likely get encouraging feedback from other students in addition to the instructor) or email them privately to the instructor.
HOW MUCH DO I NEED TO PRACTICE?
That is completely up to the student. While, say, 30 minutes per day might be a good recommendation for practice time, students can make whatever they choose of this course based on their own schedule and aspirations. Practicing week to week (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 eight-week scheduled course is that by practicing at least somewhat regularly, students are more able to be prepared for the following week’s lessons and therefore take full advantage of the live and recorded mix of lesson material.
Students can decide whether to practice along with the class session or with the shorter individual videos (or both), depending on what they want to focus on for that week. Material is given each week that is targeted toward various ability levels; a song is given which is playable for beginning to intermediate players (or intermediate to advanced in the 102 class), and various concepts relating to that song are also given to educate and challenge players at beginning, intermediate and even advanced levels. The student essentially decides how much they want to take on for the week (and the course) based on their ability level and how much practice time they have. Any material they were unable to get to during the week and want to revisit later will be available in the archived videos and PDFs. The instructor will also give students a recommended list of priorities each week to help students take the best advantage of their practice time.
THE CLASS WEBPAGE
This is the virtual gathering place for Bluegrass Mandolin 101 and 102 as well as the Newgrass Mandolin with Matt Flinner 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
The fee for each eight-week course is $175 until December 15th (normal fee: $200). This gives you access to all live online lessons and practice sessions as well as access to all recorded videos, written materials and mp3s (which are yours to keep).
Here are a few quotes from some past students about their experiences in the Bluegrass Mandolin 101 program:
“I was amazed at the time, feedback, and focus you gave us on chat questions, emails, and mp3s. I was very impressed and feel better about my confidence level, how I play and focus now. The course just worked for me and got me over a hump in terms of my motivation and focus.”—Donna O.
“I 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.
“You thoroughly answered the email questions and the recorded .mp3 feedback to the sample I posted was SUPER helpful. Very detailed and specific to what you heard on my recording. Very helpful to hear you play examples of what your were talking about and get recommendations of specific exercises to do.”—Barb N.
To visit the registration pages, click one of these links:
Register for Bluegrass Mandolin 101 with Matt Flinner.
Register for Bluegrass Mandolin 102 with Matt Flinner.
Register for Newgrass Mandolin 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 winter!
All the best,
Matt
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I am a very basic beginner with the instrument. I don’t even know the various basic cords. Do I need to learn some basic things before starting this course?
Hi Allen,
Try it out for the first week or two and see what you think. You should focus on chords and some picking exercises to start with, which we’ll do in the beginning of the first class. The picking exercises are especially important and will help you get a good start. We’ll look at some other things as well; see how it goes for you on “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” If it makes sense and you find you’re able to play it pretty well after a few days, you should be fine for the rest of the course. If not and it just doesn’t seem to work for you, you’re welcome to a full refund for the course. I want to make sure it works for you!
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks,
Matt