Matt Flinner

Rhythm Mandolin Curriculum (1/6-3/21)

 

 

“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.”—Randy R.

 

 

“I have done some online courses, some one-on-one instruction and some camps.  The course I just finished with you has been the most useful by a pretty large margin.  Thanks for both the thought and effort that went into the design and material preparation and for the personal presence you bring to it.”—Steve F.

 

 

 

 

Register for Rhythm Mandolin with Matt Flinner

 

See the Advanced Swing Mandolin Soloing curriculum

See the American Roots Mandolin curriculum

 

 

 

 

New this winter is a course focusing solely on playing rhythm—something we do probably 90% of the time when we’re playing with other people in a jam session or other group setting!  So why not learn some new approaches?  This course will help students learn various styles of rhythm, from folk to bluegrass to swing to blues.  Basic chord forms will be given, and the course will gradually build on these into chord inversions, double stops and melodic “fills.”  Songs will be taught in several keys to help students get more comfortable with the fretboard and gain more confidence to be able to play more effectively in jam sessions.  Each week, students will be given chord exercises and rhythm exercises along with two or more songs to practice.  The goal will be to help students become more adept at playing rhythm in various keys and styles and develop a more solid sense of timing.  

The course is intended for beginning to intermediate-level students, or to any students wanting to explore various styles of backup playing.  

Classes meet every Monday at 9 pm eastern time, with practice/review sessions on Saturdays at 10 am eastern time.  The weeks of February 3 and 17 and March 9 are off due to Matt’s tour schedule.  There will be a total of eight class sessions and eight practice/review sessions over the course of 11 weeks.  

 

Here is the curriculum: 

 

WEEK 1 (1/6)

Basic open style rhythm

Open chords

Keys of D, G and A

Waltz rhythm & 4/4 rhythm

You Are My Sunshine

Morning Has Broken

 

WEEK 2 (1/13)

“Open” style chords in other keys

Playing in C, Bb and F

Minor keys

Adding some bass lines

Banks of the Ohio

Scarborough Fair

 

WEEK 3 (1/20)

Moving between chord inversions

Major scale and corresponding chords

Chord inversion exercises

Will the Circle Be Unbroken

Norwegian Wood

 

WEEK 4 (1/27)

Adding 7th chords

Two 7th chord inversions

Using bluegrass “chop” chords

Blues style rhythm and fills

I Am A Pilgrim

Lonesome Road Blues

 

WEEK 5 (2/10)

Bluegrass in eight different keys

Adding some more fills to your backup

Long Journey Home

Eight More Miles to Louisville

 

WEEK 6 (2/24)

Double stops in backup

Going between chords and double stops

Double stop exercises in two keys

Picking exercise I

Take This Hammer

Wichita Lineman

 

WEEK 7 (3/2)

Swing rhythm

Three-note 7th chords

Adding minor ii chords

Using ii and V inversions

I Want to Be Happy

Dinah

 

WEEK 8 (3/16)

Putting it all together

Trying various rhythm styles: folk, bluegrass, swing, blues and rock

Adding fills in various styles

Transposing to various keys

Sittin’ on Top of the World

Midnight Special

 

 

The course fee is $175.  Register here.