There was a time where I heard this tune called at every jam in San Diego without fail. My good friend Bill Frisbee used to play this song almost every jam. I only realized I hadn’t heard it at jam for a while when I moved up to Seattle and started hearing it again. Today’s […]
Today’s mandolin sheet music song breakdown covers the standard fiddle tune, Old Joe Clark. The simple melody and chord progression make this great tune for beginners and more advanced players alike. Today I’ll be focusing more on the basics of this song and providing a few different melody options. In a future post, I’ll provide […]
I thought I’d take a slightly different route with this weeks song breakdown and use it to answer a question I get a lot – “how do I practice“? Honestly, that exact question isn’t really what I get asked but it’s the heart of most of the “how do I get better at X” questions. […]
I heard Chinquapin Hunting for the first time around 2015, then didn’t hear it again until maybe a month ago. I forgot how much fun this tune is and it’s a shame how under called it is at jams – so today I’m going to cover Chinquapin (pronounced Chick A Pin) Hunting. In case you’re […]
It’s a breakdown of a breakdown!! Today I’m going to be looking at the great Bill Monroe fiddle tune Brown County Breakdown. Specifically, I’m looking at the Kenny Baker plays Bill Monroe recording for this breakdown – but there’s so many great version. Here’s mandolin sheet music for this breakdown – Brown County Breakdown Listen […]
Goats. They get stuck sometimes in high mountain tops – but this Billy, well he got stuck in the lowground. Anyway, bad jokes aside, Billy in the Lowground is a great fiddle tune that I love to play. This is a great jam standard that I’ve heard in just about every place I’ve ever jammed […]
My buddy Orion introduced me to June Apple tune a while back but I honestly forgot about it for a while. Lately I’ve been hearing this song pop up in jams again though, so I figured I’d break it down. While the progression and melody are pretty easy to grasp, there’s a lot you can […]
Cherokee Shuffle is a great jam standard tune that seems to be called at jams all over so it’s a great one to get down. It’s sort of unique in that the chord progression contains a minor 6th chord which isn’t too strange – but definitely less common. Sheet Music for Cherokee Shuffle Here’s a […]
Bluegrass music is filled with songs borrowed from other genres – especially Irish folk. Red Haired Boy, also know as Little Beggar Boy, is a great example of an Irish tune that made its way into the bluegrass cannon. As a standard of many bluegrass jams, it’s a great tune to work on. Sheet Music […]
This week’s Mandolin Song Breakdown focuses on “Southern Flavor,” a song the author grew fond of after hearing it at the Summergrass festival. The breakdown includes listening recommendations, chord charts, song format, and tips for mastering the melody with double stops. Donations to support the site are encouraged.