Today’s mandolin song breakdown focuses on another classic, Soldier’s Joy. While this is a bluegrass staple, it’s roots are mostly Scottish from around 1760 or so. Like a lot of older fiddle tunes, there are lyrics that have been added – but we’ll be ignoring those for this review. As with many old standards, it’s […]
The breakdown of “Garfield’s Blackberry Blossom,” a tune rooted in Civil War history, explores its origin linked to General James A. Garfield. The song’s melody, distinguished by a raised 4th (C#), poses challenges for players. Practice methods, scales, and soloing strategies are discussed, aiding in mastering this unique composition.
Pop quiz hot shot – you’re at a friendly bluegrass jam and the leader just called a song you don’t know and only said “it’s in G” before they started playing. You’re at the end of the jam circle. Do you take the easy out and get a drink, or take the opportunity to get […]
As part of my Mandolin Technique series, this week we’ll be diving into picking hand exercises. You’ll need a metronome for all of these, so make sure you have one available. I’ve been using the Matrix MR-500 for about 20 years – nothing fancy, but works and is small. If you don’t have a physical […]
Today’s mandolin technique focuses on the versatile Pentatonic Scales. These 5 note scales are used often in the melodies of many fiddle tunes and can be incredibly helpful for soloing. What is a Pentatonic Scale? A pentatonic scale is simply a scale with 5 notes. While there are a few types of pentatonic scales, the […]
Thanks for attending my Double Stops Workshop. If you like this content, please post a comment below and let me know. In this workshop, I’ll review: You can find the sheet music parts of the lesson materials here. And some graphics here. In addition, I recommending using a physical (non-digital) metronome when practicing. Here’s the […]
Today’s Mandolin Sheet Music Breakdown focuses on one of my favorite jam songs, Old Home Place. The progression is pretty simple but includes the dominant 3rd (III7) which makes it a little more interesting without being too complex. I like playing this song in A so this breakdown will be using that key. It’s a […]
Changing chords can be difficult at first but there’s a few tricks that you can learn to make it a lot easier. In this mandolin technique, we’ll focus on how to use Guide Fingers to speed chord changes to help your playing. If you have any questions on this topic, please post them in the […]
This weeks mandolin sheet music breakdown is going back to the classics with Rocky Top. A great tune easy enough for beginner mandolin players to get quickly and a jam favorite at many festivals. Here’s the sheet music for this week’s mandolin sheet music breakdown – Rocky Top sheet music. Listen As always, playing starts […]
