Mandolin Lessons

Most of my students are interested in bluegrass and/or fiddle tunes, but I also can cover various swing, folk, and celtic styles. I’m pretty amenable to tailoring the lessons to the student’s wishes. I normally use my own books, Jack Tuttle’s Mandolin Primer and Jack Tuttle’s Mandolin Collection.

I cover techniques such as correct hand and finger posture, getting good tone, proper use of the pick, and reading tablature and music (depending on the student’s choice). I also work on playing by ear, both with chording and soloing. Developing improvising skills is also a major focus for those who are ready and willing. I often will play together with the student, sometimes on mandolin, but often accompanying on guitar. Students are encouraged to record the lesson.

Here are some helpful resources for mandolin:

• Go and see what I teach and emphasize on my All About Lessons page.
• I have two mandolin books at in my shop.
• Read my Recommended Mandolin Albums  on the About Bluegrass page.
• Here is a Mandolin Tab Paper.
• Here are some Fill Licks.
• Here are the Closed Chords.
• Go to the About Bluegrass page for some information on fitting into a band.
• View the transcriptions below for a few tunes to work on.

My list of practice suggestions has always included playing with others. Strum Machine is a great online tool for playing along with that can help you get there. It can also be a good “non-complaining” accompanist for when you want to go through your fiddle tunes for hours on end. It can also be your metronome as you try to play slow cleanly, or get faster. It’s also great for improvising over chord progressions.