Matt Flinner

“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 got a lot out of it! Everyday I have a practice routine based on the summer intensive. You have helped me by leaps and bounds.”—Sandy N.

Register for Swing Mandolin 101 with Matt Flinner

See the Advanced Swing Mandolin Soloing: the Solos of Jethro Burns and Tiny Moore curriculum

See the Blues Mandolin curriculum

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 course takes place on Monday evenings at 9 pm eastern time, with practice/review sessions on Saturdays at 10 am eastern time.  The course is recommended for advanced beginner to intermediate students, and assumes some knowledge of chords and the ability to play some melodies.  Rudimentary knowledge of scales and arpeggios is also helpful. 

Register for Swing Mandolin 101 with Matt Flinner

SWING MANDOLIN 101 CURRICULUM:

Week 1 (10/4): Starting out simple

Major scales and patterns

Major 6 and 7 chords

Dominant 7 chords

Dinah

Bonus Tune: Believe It, Beloved

Week 2 (10/11): The ii-V-I progression

Two ways of playing ii-V-Is

Dorian scales and patterns

Mixolydian Scales and patterns

Undecided

Bonus tune: I Want to Be Happy

Week 3 (10/18): The Blues

Blues scales

A few blues licks

Dominant 7 chord inversions

Dominant 7 arpeggios

Route 66

Bonus tune: Blues Walk

Week 4 (10/25): Some more ii-V-Is

A couple of ii-V-I licks

Two more ii-V-I inversions

Minor 7 arpeggios

Dorian scales and patterns

When You’re Smiling

Bonus tune: Satin Doll

Week 5 (11/8): Going Around the Circle of 5ths

Patterns around the circle

Some Dominant 7 licks

Arpeggiating through chord progressions

Up a Lazy River

Bonus tune: The Sheik of Araby

Week 6 (11/15): Target notes

Some more ii-V-I licks and patterns

Using target notes over chord changes

Scale exercises and ii-V-Is

It Had to Be You

Bonus tune: Night and Day

Week 7 (11/29): The I-VI-ii-V-I progression

Different ways of playing the I-VI-ii-V-I progression

Finding smooth chord tones from chord to chord

Just You, Just Me

Bonus tune: Them There Eyes

Week 8 (12/6): Rhythm changes

Tying it all together: inversions, chord tones, arpeggios and scales

Two approaches to rhythm changes

Oleo

Bonus tune: Don’t Be That Way

The course fee is $225.   

Register here for Swing Mandolin 101 with Matt Flinner

“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 the fretboard, learn some tunes and help you have more fun playing the mandolin!  

Note that all three courses are follow-up courses to early summer courses (Bluegrass Jamming I, Scale and Arpeggio Intensive I and Mandolin Chord and Rhythm Intensive I), but students do not need to have taken the earlier course in order to take any of the follow-up courses.  Students are welcome to jump in any time!

Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner                           Curriculum         Registration

Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II with Matt Flinner                           Curriculum         Registration

Mandolin Chord and Rhythm Intensive II with Matt Flinner              Curriculum         Registration

The Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II course (August 9-September 4) is intended to help students play bluegrass music with other people.  Each week, students will receive four new tunes (from beginner to advanced level) along with ways of playing rhythm, approaches to creating variations on the tune, and some exercises to help with fundamental technique.  The goal is to help students learn more tunes, learn practical approaches to playing those tunes, and get out and play with other people!  Register here. 

The Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II course (August 1o-September 4) 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 Chord and Rhythm Intensive II course (August 11-September 4) is intended to help students with playing rhythm—something we do all the time when we play with other people, but tend to neglect in our practice!  Various styles of rhythm will be touched on, including folk, bluegrass, swing and blues.  Students will be given practical guides to playing in various keys using a variety of chord styles and shapes (open chords, chop chords, 7th chords, 3-note chords, etc.) to be able to approach playing rhythm in various styles and settings.  Chord progressions to four songs will be given each week, and students will explore applying the various styles of chords while looking at smooth chord movement, basslines and voice leading in various rhythms.  The course is intended for players of all ability levels (though absolute beginners will likely find it too difficult) who want to expand their possibilities in rhythm playing.  Register here. 

Register for Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner

Register for the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II with Matt Flinner

Register for the Mandolin Chord and Rhythm Intensive II with Matt Flinner

The Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II course (August 9-September 4) course takes place on Monday afternoons and evenings at 2 and 9 pm eastern time.  We’ll also have practice/review sessions on Saturdays at 10 am eastern time.  NOTE: Monday afternoon sessions take place at 2 pm eastern time—a more convenient time for our friends in the UK and Europe!  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 Monday sessions each week (they will be essentially identical to one another in content).  Monday class sessions will take place August 9, 16, 23 and 30, and Saturday follow-up practice sessions will take place August 14, 21, 28 and September 4.  All live sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website, where they are viewable generally by the following day (in the case of Saturday practice sessions, they’re usually available to view later that day). Register here.

The Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II course (August 10-September 4) meets on Tuesday evenings at 9 pm eastern time, with follow-up practice sessions Saturday mornings at 11 am eastern time.  Students will have four Tuesday class sessions (August 10, 17, 24 and 31) and four Saturday follow-up practice sessions (August 14, 21, 28 and September 4).  All live sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website, where they are viewable generally by the following day (in the case of Saturday practice sessions, they’re usually available to view later that day). Register here.

The Mandolin Chord and Rhythm Intensive II course (August 11-September 4) meets on Wednesday evenings at 9 pm eastern time, with follow-up practice sessions Saturdays at 12:30 pm eastern time.  Students will have four Wednesday class sessions (August 11, 18, 25 and September 1) and four Saturday follow-up practice sessions (August 14, 21, 28 and September 4).  All live sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website, where they are viewable generally by the following day (in the case of Saturday practice sessions, they’re usually available to view later that 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. 

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 Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner

Register for the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II with Matt Flinner

Register for the Mandolin Chord and Rhythm Intensive II with Matt Flinner

“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.

“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 a 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 the Mandolin Chord & Rhythm Intensive II course with Matt Flinner

This course is intended to help students with playing rhythm—something we do all the time when we play with other people, but tend to neglect in our practice!  Various styles of rhythm will be touched on, including folk, bluegrass, swing and blues.  Students will be given practical guides to playing in various keys using a variety of chord styles and shapes (open chords, chop chords, 7th chords, 3-note chords, etc.) to be able to approach playing rhythm in various styles and settings.  Chord progressions to four songs will be given each week, and students will explore applying the various styles of chords while looking at smooth chord movement, basslines and voice leading in various rhythms.  It’s a great way to learn more about the fretboard while getting some practical guides to accompaniment.  The course is intended for players of all ability levels (though absolute beginners will likely find it too difficult) who want to expand their possibilities in rhythm playing.  

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 Mandolin Chord & Rhythm Intensive I course which just finished up, but students do not to have taken that course in order to take the Mandolin Chord & Rhythm Intensive II course. 

Register for the Mandolin Chord and Rhythm Intensive II with Matt Flinner

See the Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II curriculum

See the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II curriculum

WEEK 1 (8/11)

Playing rhythm in D, E and F

Open chords & basslines in E and F

Adding some fills

Brown’s Ferry Blues

Solid Gone

Blackjack Davey

Trouble in Mind

WEEK 2 (8/18)

Waltzes

Chord movement and baselines in waltz time

Adding some fills in 3/4

Looking at chord tones as bass notes

Short Life of Trouble

Are You Lonesome Tonight

Black Waters

Blue-Eyed Boston Boy

WEEK 3 (8/25)

Revisiting minor keys

Basslines in Minor keys II

Moving between inversions

The L & N Don’t Stop Here Anymore 

Jackaroo 

Wade in the Water

House Carpenter

WEEK 4 (9/1)

More Complex Chord Progressions

Adding more 7th chords

Moving smoothly between chord inversions

Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor

Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out

Travelin’ Man

Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)

The course fee is $125. 

Register for the Mandolin Chord & Rhythm Intensive II course with Matt Flinner

See the Bluegrass Jamming II (August 9-September 4) curriculum

See the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II (August 10-September 4) curriculum

Questions?  Email [email protected]

“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.

“This is the best learning format ever and I like your approach very much.”—Marty C.

Register for the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II with Matt Flinner course

See the Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II curriculum

See the Mandolin Chord and Rhythm Intensive II curriculum

The Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II 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 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.  

The course is a continuation of the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive I course, which concludes in July, but students are not required to have taken the first course in order to enroll in (and benefit from) the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II course.  

Classes meet every Tuesday from August 10th to 31st at 9 pm eastern time, with practice/review sessions every Saturday from August 14 to September 4 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 (8/10)

Major Scales in Seven Positions

Major Scale Patterns in 3rds II

Major 7 Arpeggios from the 3rd, 5th and 7th

Major Arpeggio Exercise I

Leather Britches as Improv Landscape 

WEEK 2 (8/17)

Natural Minor (Aeolian) Scales in All Keys

Aeolian Scale Pattern I

Diminished Scales

Diminished Scales and Arpeggios as Substitutions

Minor 7 Arpeggios from the 3rd, 5th and 7th

Minor Swing as Improv Landscape

WEEK 3 (8/24)

Mixolydian Scales in Various Positions on the Neck

Mixolydian Scale Pattern I

Dominant 7 Arpeggios in Various Positions

Dominant 7 Arpeggios from the 3rd, 5th and 7th

Diminshed 7 Arpeggios

Salty Dog Blues as Improv Landscape

WEEK 4 (8/31)

Harmonic Minor Scales in All Keys

Harmonic Minor Scale Pattern I

Finding Chord Tones in Minor Tunes

Augmented Arpeggios

Augmented Chords as V Chords

Caravan as Improv Landscape

The course fee is $125.  

Register for the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II with Matt Flinner

See the Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II curriculum

See the Mandolin Chord & Rhythm Intensive II curriculum

“I started playing the mandolin a little over two years ago. I played the piano as a child, but having never played a stringed instrument before, my intention was to study as much as I could about technique, theory, improvisation and the various genres of music for the mandolin.

To that end, I have taken nearly every course Matt has offered, even three at a time! Matt is a brilliant teacher. Every course is deep and rich with information. The material is thoughtfully explained, allowing a student to slowly transform the class material into music. I can’t imagine this journey without Matt Flinner.  His courses are a true life changing musical experience!”—Lisa S.

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

Register for Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner

See the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II Curriculum

See the Mandolin Chord and Rhythm Intensive II Curriculum

This course is intended to help the aspiring mandolinist build up repertoire and find ways of creating new solos over commonly played bluegrass standards; it’s also designed in the hope that it will encourage students to get out and jam with other players!  

Each week, we’ll look at four bluegrass standard tunes.  Students will be given lead sheets (in standard notation and tablature) for each song, as well as a few exercises to help them learn more about the fretboard and start incorporating new ideas into their solos.  Concepts and tunes will be taught during the class session, and all tunes will be revisited during Saturday practice sessions in a “jam session” format, where each song is played several times though, and students have the opportunity to try out some of the week’s concepts on the tunes (with guidance and suggestions from Matt).  

This course is a continuation of the Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming I course which will conclude in late July, but students do not need to have taken that course in order to take the Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II course.  

Here is the curriculum: 

WEEK 1 (8/9)

Starting off in the key of A 

Open position and positions up the neck

Double stops in A

Someone Took My Place with You

Sunny Side of the Mountain

Way Downtown

The Road to Columbus

WEEK 2 (8/16)

Keys of E and F

Adding the blues in E and F

Moving double stop exercises

Nellie Kane

Footprints in the Snow

Traveling Down This Lonesome Road

Lonesome Wind Blues

WEEK 3 (8/23)

Keys of B and Bb

More moving double stops

Some Monroe-style ideas

Blue Moon of Kentucky

Roving Gambler

Blue Night

Drifting with the Tide

WEEK 4 (8/30)

Some “modern” classics

More difficult chord progressions

Finding chord tones and double stops

Combining double stops and licks

One More Dollar

Thirsty in the Rain

Colleen Malone

Wait a Minute

The course fee is $125.

Register for Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming II with Matt Flinner

See the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive II curriculum

See the Mandolin Chord & Rhythm Intensive II curriculum

“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 the fretboard, learn some tunes and help you have more fun playing the mandolin!

Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner                           Curriculum         Registration

Scale and Arpeggio Intensive with Matt Flinner                           Curriculum         Registration

Mandolin Chord and Rhythm Intensive with Matt Flinner              Curriculum         Registration

The Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming course (June 21-July 24) is intended to help students play bluegrass music with other people.  Each week, students will receive four new tunes (from beginner to advanced level) along with ways of playing rhythm, approaches to creating variations on the tune, and some exercises to help with fundamental technique.  The goal is to help students learn more tunes, learn practical approaches to playing those tunes, and get out and play with other people!  Register here. 

The Scale and Arpeggio Intensive course (June 22-July 24) 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 Chord and Rhythm Intensive course (June 23-July 24) is intended to help students with playing rhythm—something we do all the time when we play with other people, but tend to neglect in our practice!  Various styles of rhythm will be touched on, including folk, bluegrass, swing and blues.  Students will be given practical guides to playing in various keys using a variety of chord styles and shapes (open chords, chop chords, 7th chords, 3-note chords, etc.) to be able to approach playing rhythm in various styles and settings.  Chord progressions to four songs will be given each week, and students will explore applying the various styles of chords while looking at smooth chord movement, basslines and voice leading in various rhythms.  The course is intended for players of all ability levels (though absolute beginners will likely find it too difficult) who want to expand their possibilities in rhythm playing.  Register here. 

Register for Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner

Register for the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive with Matt Flinner

Register for the Mandolin Chord and Rhythm Intensive with Matt Flinner

The Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming course (June 21-July 24) course takes place on Monday afternoons and evenings at 2 and 9 pm eastern time.  We’ll also have practice/review sessions on Saturdays at 10 am eastern time.  NOTE: Monday afternoon sessions take place at 2 pm eastern time—a more convenient time for our friends in the UK and Europe!  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 Monday sessions each week (they will be essentially identical to one another in content).  Monday class sessions will take place June 21, 28, July 12 and 19, and Saturday follow-up practice sessions will take place June 26,  July 3, 17 and 24.  All live sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website, where they are viewable generally by the following day (in the case of Saturday practice sessions, they’re usually available to view later that day). Register here.

The Scale and Arpeggio Intensive course (June 22-July 24) meets on Tuesday evenings at 9 pm eastern time, with follow-up practice sessions Saturday mornings at 11 am eastern time.  Students will have four Tuesday class sessions (June 22, 29, July 13 and 20) and four Saturday follow-up practice sessions (June 26,  July 3, 17 and 24).  All live sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website, where they are viewable generally by the following day (in the case of Saturday practice sessions, they’re usually available to view later that day). Register here.

The Mandolin Chord and Rhythm Intensive course (June 23-July 24) meets on Wednesday evenings at 9 pm eastern time, with follow-up practice sessions Saturdays at 12:30 pm eastern time.  Students will have four Wednesday class sessions (June 23, 30, July 14 and 21) and four Saturday follow-up practice sessions (June 26,  July 3, 17 and 24).  All live sessions are recorded and uploaded to a class website, where they are viewable generally by the following day (in the case of Saturday practice sessions, they’re usually available to view later that 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. 

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 Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner

Register for Swing Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner

Register for the Mandolin Chord and Rhythm 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 the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive with Matt Flinner

See the Bluegrass Jamming curriculum (June 21-July 24)

See the Mandolin Chord and Rhythm Intensive curriculum (June 23-July 24)

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 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 Tuesday from June 22 to July 20 (with the week of July 7 off due to Matt’s tour schedule) at 9 pm eastern time, with practice/review sessions every Saturday from June 26 to July 24 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.  

WEEK 1 (June 22)

The Circle of Fifths

Major Scales in All Keys

Major Scale and Pattern in Thirds I

Major Arpeggio Exercise I

Major Arpeggio Exercise II

Sally Gooden as Improv Landscape

WEEK 2 (June 29)

Mixolydian Scales in All Keys

Mixolydian Scale Exercise I

Major Scales in Thirds II

Dominant 7 Arpeggio Exercise I

Dominant 7 Arpeggios from the 3rd

Alabama Jubilee as Improv Landscape

WEEK 3 (July 13)

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 20)

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 

“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 Chord and Rhythm Intensive course with Matt Flinner

See the Bluegrass Jamming Curriculum (June 21-July 24)

See the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive Curriculum (June 22-July 24)

This course is intended to help students with playing rhythm—something we do all the time when we play with other people, but tend to neglect in our practice!  Various styles of rhythm will be touched on, including folk, bluegrass, swing and blues.  Students will be given practical guides to playing in various keys using a variety of chord styles and shapes (open chords, chop chords, 7th chords, 3-note chords, etc.) to be able to approach playing rhythm in various styles and settings.  Chord progressions to four songs will be given each week, and students will explore applying the various styles of chords while looking at smooth chord movement, basslines and voice leading in various rhythms.  It’s a great way to learn more about the fretboard while getting some practical guides to accompaniment.  The course is intended for players of all ability levels (though absolute beginners will likely find it too difficult)  who want to expand their possibilities in rhythm playing.  

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.  

Register for the Mandolin Chord and Rhythm Intensive course

Here is the curriculum:

WEEK 1 (June 23)

Working in the keys of G and A

Open Chords

Chop Chords

Basslines

3-Note 7th Chords

Moving between chord inversions

Nine Pound Hammer

My Creole Belle

I’m Troubled

I Am a Pilgrim

WEEK 2  (June 30)

Keys of D and C

Diatonic Chord Progressions

Adding some blues rhythm

Sittin’ on Top of the World

Broken Hearted Lover (Delmore Brothers)

Corrina, Corrina

Dark Hollow

WEEK 3 (July 14)

Minor Keys

Open Minor Chords

3-Note Minor Chords

Minor basslines

Summertime

Motherless Children

Wayfaring Stranger

Walking Boss

WEEK 4 (July 21)

More Complex Chord Progressions

More chord inversion movement

Using a variety of chord styles in a progression

Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone

Freight Train

I Don’t Love Nobody

I Miss the Mississippi and You

The course fee is $125. 

Register for the Chord and Rhythm Intensive course with Matt Flinner

“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., Bluegrass Mandolin 101 student

“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 a 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., Bluegrass Mandolin 101 student

Register for Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner

See the Scale and Arpeggio Intensive Curriculum (June 22-July 24)

See the Chord and Rhythm Intensive Curriculum (June 23-July 24)

This course is intended to help the aspiring mandolinist build up repertoire and find ways of creating new solos over commonly played standards; it’s also designed in the hope that it will encourage students to get out and jam with other players!

Now offered at Europe-friendly times!  Class sessions take place at 2 pm eastern time (7 or 8 pm in most of Europe) and 9 pm eastern time.  Students are welcome to join whichever session is more convenient for them…or they can join both!  Students who cannot make it to the live sessions are able to view the sessions afterwards on the class website—generally by the following day.  

Each week, we’ll look at four bluegrass standard tunes.  Students will be given lead sheets (in standard notation and tablature) for each song, as well as a few exercises to help them learn more about the fretboard and start incorporating new ideas into their solos.  Concepts and tunes will be taught during the class session, and all tunes will be revisited during Saturday practice sessions in a “jam session” format, where each song is played several times though, and students have the opportunity to try out some of the week’s concepts on the tunes (with guidance from Matt).

Classes meet every Monday from June 21 to July 19 (the week of July 5 is off due to Matt’s touring schedule) at 2 pm eastern time (7 or 8 pm in the UK and Europe) as well as 9 pm eastern time.  We hope this will be convenient for folks in various time zones, including Europe and around the world!  There will also be 45-minute review sessions every Saturday at 12:15 pm eastern time (5:15 or 6:15 pm in the UK and Europe).

The course fee is $125.  

Register for Bluegrass Mandolin Jamming with Matt Flinner

Here is the curriculum:

WEEK 1 (June 21)

Key of G

Positions in G

Double stops in G

Going between single notes and double stops

Don’t This Road Look Rough and Rocky

Love, Please Come Home

Columbus Stockade Blues

Bluegrass Breakdown

WEEK 2 (June 28)

Adding some blues

Using bluesy double stops

A few bluesy licks

I Am a Pilgrim

The Old Crossroads

Watson Blues

Dig a Hole in the Meadow

WEEK 3 (July 12)

Tunes Using Minor Chords

A Variety of Minor Chord shapes

E Minor Scales and Patterns

Throwing in Some Minor Double Stops

Red Rocking Chair

A Good Woman’s Love

Steam Powered Aereoplane

Billy in the Lowground

WEEK 4 (July 19)

Some more challenging chord progressions

Finding double stops in chord progressions (r-3 as a starting point)

Using chord tones in soloing

I Wonder How the Old Folks Are at Home

Mississippi Waltz

Blue Virginia Blues

One Way Track

Hi everyone,

Tunes are up for our weekly Drink Up and Stay Home Virtual Bluegrass Jam, which happens FRIDAY, May 14th.

Click here to download the zip file of PDFs for this week: Facebook Jam 58

As always, we’ll play some Norman Blake, John Hartford, Hazel Dickens, Hylo Brown, Tony Rice and the Blue Sky Boys….plus a little something from the psychedelic rock era.  And plenty of bluegrass classics.  

The jam will take place on Facebook Live at 8 pm eastern time.  Feel free to bring a mandolin, or guitar, or banjo, or accordion, spoons, autoharp.  Or just hang out and listen.  

Here’s where you can find the event: https://www.facebook.com/events/527638968235942

We’ll play for about an hour or so.  Bring a beverage and comfy chair and we’ll try to ease our sense of isolation at least for a bit.  

And donations are welcome!  

Paypal: [email protected]  or  

Venmo: @Matt-Flinner-Mando 

Hope to see you on Friday!

Thanks,
Matt

Need more mandolin?  Summer online courses are $50 off through Sunday, May 16th!  Check them out here: https://www.mattflinner.com/2021/05/save-50-on-summer-courses-through-5-9-bluegrass-jamming-scale-arpeggio-intensive-and-picking-intensive-courses-start-6-21-23/