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 […]
Rhythm Changes is (are?) a really popular chord progression referring to the I7 VI7 | ii7 V7 progression derived from George Gershwin’s song “I Got Rhythm”. This is a really popular progression in a variety of styles and has a lot of cool variations to explore. If you want to play jazz, this is a […]
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 […]
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Django tunes are tons of fun to play and a great way to stretch your chord knowledge. Today I’ll be reviewing Swing 42. This song uses “Rhythm Changes” which is simply a nickname for a I VI | ii V progression or similar variation (like in this case, a I vi | ii V). In […]
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For some reason, Clinch Mountain Backstep is a tune that I sort of ignored for a while because it wasn’t being called at my local San Diego too often. When I moved to Seattle however, it was played everywhere. The first festival I went to in Seattle, that tune got called at least 5 different […]