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.
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 […]
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 […]
This week’s Mandolin Sheet Music and Song Breakdown focuses on the standard I Saw the Light. For many new bluegrass and folk players, this will probably one of (if not the) first songs you’ll learn. It’s a pretty straight forward gospel tune with a basic melody – so nothing too complex at first. The idea […]
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 […]
It’s Only a Paper Moon has been one of my favorite jazz tunes for a while. I first heard it performed, with lyrics, by Erin McKewon on her wonderful album Sign You Sinners (listen to it here). While that version will always have a place in my heart, I think Aaron Weinstein’s mandolin chord melody […]
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 […]
This week we’re going to cover a standard song and a standard progression with Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms by Flatt & Scruggs. Aside from being a very standard bluegrass jam tune, the progression is used in a wide variety of other tunes making it a useful tune to get down. If you have […]