Everything Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner Curriculum (6/14-7/15)

“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.

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.

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)