# Technique, Theory, Playing Tips and Tricks > Theory, Technique, Tips and Tricks >  On Line Lessons

## Gregooch

Any recommendations where to find on lines lessons for beginner to intermediate players?

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## mritter

www.artistworks.com

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CathyL, 

Elliot Luber, 

lorrainehornig

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## J Mangio

http://www.petimarpress.com/

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CathyL

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## JRcohan

Lots of great online instructors!  Only problem is that most are very busy being in such high demand.  Pete Martin is great, as is Don Julin.  Not sure if they are currently taking students.  I am currently taking Skype students and even offering the first 30 minute lesson for *free* to see if it is something you are interested in pursing.

Let me know and we can set up a time.  Also, let me know what style music, and or song you want to work on.

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CathyL

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## granite

I just finished Matt Flinner's Bluegrass Mandolin 101.  I have to say I was a little skeptical about the whole online thing but I have always liked Matt's stuff and what he tried to do with Bluegrass College.  From the first lesson I was thoroughly impressed.  It was presented in a webinar format with two sessions a week(recorded and posted for those that missed one).  Every lesson was extremely well organized and thoughtful with a ton of written material that I will be working on for months.   While it was online, Matt made himself very accessible to the participants.  I really can't say enough about it.  I look forward to his next session in January and hope it lives up to my now high expectations.  

Todd

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CathyL, 

Jim Mullins, 

Larry S Sherman

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## bigskygirl

I've been taking Skype lessons for awhile.  I think it works best for someone already familiar with music and the instrument.  The delay in the signal does not allow both to play at the same time but other than that I have found it very helpful.  The instructor will go over something - either I have asked or he has a plan - we work on it a bit and then he sends me PDFs to use for practice.  I can email him anytime and send recordings for him to listen to for feedback.

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## Mandobar

Matt made the entire experience so productive and enjoyable.  I signed up for the second session as well.

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Larry S Sherman

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## Elliot Luber

Taking the lessons from Mike Marshall at Artistworks. It's a really good program, and Mike is great, both in terms of his knowledge and his personal encouragement.

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BinkWms, 

Birtie Dean, 

CathyL

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## julyorchid

I agree with Todd.  I took Matt Flinner's class and finally found what I was looking for as far as playing bluegrass mandolin.  I don't consider myself an advanced player, but Matt breaks things down into steps that are easy to understand.  As Todd said, I have access to tons of material which will keep me busy for months.  I would highly recommend this class to anyone.  I'm looking forward to his next class in January!  :Grin:

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CathyL, 

Larry S Sherman, 

SplitMelt

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## Larry S Sherman

I am another happy student of Matt Flinner's Bluegrass 101 class. Highly recommended.

Larry

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## Ken Lucas

Agreed.  Matt Flinner's class was great.  With 8 lessons, and 8 practices you get lots of opportunity to work with Matt and really learn the techniques.  Looking forward to the nest session!

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Larry S Sherman

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## yankees1

petimarpress.com  Pete Martin !

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## grassrootphilosopher

Has anybody got any experience with these guys (http://www.bluegrasscollege.org)? As far as it reads Matt Flinner and Mike Compton are on for mandolin.

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## auteq

Check out http://www.banjobenclark.com as well. Very well done videos and tabs which come as tef files as well.

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## Jim Mullins

Here's another vote for Matt Flinner's course. Matt's a great teacher

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## Larry S Sherman

If anyone is interested Matt Flinner's next course begins Tuesday, January 7, 2014.

Quote from the course description:

_"The course will focus on a few main areas:

1. Improving picking technique to improve tone, rhythm, volume and speed.
2. Improving knowledge of the fingerboard through scales, arpeggios, licks, double stops, modes and exercises.
3. Creating variations on common tunes through various methods: using different octaves & registers, using chord tones and “target” notes, using various ornaments, incorporating double stops, and listening to recorded examples.
4. Working toward improvisation using all of the above tools.
5. Expanding your repertoire of bluegrass and fiddle tunes._"

I have NFI, but will be attending this session series.

Larry

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## dubblestop

I have been playing (ok...trying to learn to play) mandolin for two years. I started with private lessons from a solid local instructor for 6 months and learned the basics? I now own numerous books and DVDs (and access to YouTube videos) from which I have taken bits and pieces of advice. I even attended the Monroe Style Mandolin Camp last year.......basically learned that I didn't really know enough to be there...........was fun and encouraging just the same. My two younger brothers are very accomplished musicians (one plays bluegrass guitar and......well......one is a banjo player but I am gonna count that!) and when we get together holidays and 2-3 other times a year we play (ok, I mostly CHOP!. Other than that I really have no one locally to play with and progress in my song playing or improvisation ability. I have tried to progress on my own but frankly I don't think I have given fair time to practice (I am a busy Doc and basically play when I can and have "the mood" to do so). However, I now recognize that I, once again, am seeking more "structured learning". The Matt Fliner on-line course interests me very much and I am wonderng if you would recommend it for a "novice" mandoliner? Your thoughts. Thanks.

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## padawan

*Adam Steffey* teaches via Skype. His hourly rate is higher than most (that I've found)  but for the bluegrass failthful it will _certainly_ be money well spent.
 Adam's website:  http://www.adamsteffey.com/#

 I'm currently working through Mike Marshall's lessons at Artistworks.  Good stuff and not very hard on the wallet.
http://artistworks.com/mandolin-lessons-mike-marshall

 Its pretty interesting to be doing that at the same time as taking traditional lessons.  I have all of Mike's material to dig through which/when/however I want balanced by the structure of weekly in-person lessons from a local teacher along with completely different material.   
 Good stuff.

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## Larry S Sherman

> The Matt Fliner on-line course interests me very much and I am wonderng if you would recommend it for a "novice" mandoliner? Your thoughts. Thanks.


The Matt Flinner class is intended for all levels. Ask him about the next session. He is quite approachable.

Larry

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## Richard Eskite

Marla Fibish has been teaching a class series at my studio in San Francisco.  We have one student from Southern California who is attending the class via Skype.  We just put Marla's iPad on a music stand so the camera can see her and I think it's worked out quite well.

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## dubblestop

Thanks Larry.

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## wsugai

I bought a couple of packages from BG College and concluded that they are the highest quality ensemble-oriented stuff of any of the online materials out there.  Not really focused on theory or technique, but very solid if you enjoy learning by working out song arrangements (like I do).  Given the product and the musicians, I'd say BG College is very reasonably priced.





> Has anybody got any experience with these guys (http://www.bluegrasscollege.org)? As far as it reads Matt Flinner and Mike Compton are on for mandolin.

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## Dobe

Found this one today; I was pretty much beginner when I bought Sams 1st Homespun tape. It launched me way forward; this workshop has a lot of similar stuff in it, just not as comprehensive as the Homespun tape (well worth the money !)  : 

.

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SincereCorgi

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## dubblestop

Dobe, My brother and I were at ROMPfest and were sitting right behind and to the left of the videographer. This session was amazing and most memorable. I was amazed at the talent of both but Domenick blew me away! How can that be sitting next to Sam Bush? My impression was that Sam was likewise impressed.  I wonder if Domenick has taken lessons from Sam?

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## Gregooch

Thanks for the links. I have been viewing some of the you tube videos as well as working from some books and will also check out all of these and decide which one to sign up for.

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## dubblestop

> The Matt Flinner class is intended for all levels. Ask him about the next session. He is quite approachable.
> 
> Larry


s

Larry, I just signed up for Matt Flinner's on-line class. I contacted him (you were correct in that he is "quite approachable" and seemingly quite the gentleman!)). For those interested he has made some changes to the posted time frames (for the Saturday sessions). Also, he informed me that it is not "expected" (just encouraged) that one attend all sessions. Some of the mid-morning Saturday sessions were a problem for me. The lessons will be made available on-line to all participants within a few hours of the conclusion of each lesson. Wish me luck. I need "structured" ( and accountable) learning to make progress at this time.

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## Larry S Sherman

> s
> 
> Larry, I just signed up for Matt Flinner's on-line class. I contacted him (you were correct in that he is "quite approachable" and seemingly quite the gentleman!)). For those interested he has made some changes to the posted time frames (for the Saturday sessions). Also, he informed me that it is not "expected" (just encouraged) that one attend all sessions. Some of the mid-morning Saturday sessions were a problem for me. The lessons will be made available on-line to all participants within a few hours of the conclusion of each lesson. Wish me luck. I need "structured" ( and accountable) learning to make progress at this time.


Very cool!

Matt just put this video together to help explain the process:



Larry

_NFI, but my name (as a student) is mentioned._

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## Gregooch

As i am not to keen on the skype or on line method of learning I have decided to go with the Progressive Mandolin book by Peter GFelling. It seems to cover all the basics with notation and tab however I am trying to stick with notation using tab as a backup if I need it. Also using Mel Bay's Mandolin Chords and Traditional Southern Italian Mando & Fiddle Tunes which is a little more involved but also presents some great Italian/Classical techniques - I hope to use more of it after I get through the Progressive Mandolin book. I have covered all the strings, notes, up and down strokes etc. so far and it's going pretty good. I think I've timed ,my tremolo to four down and up strokes per quarter note. Not sure what that translates to?

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## Fernando Duarte

I have several Skype students. As a brazilian mandolinist I teach the theory, the classic stuff and, of course, brazilian music.
If someone is interested just drop a line. I offer a free trial class.

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## lorrainehornig

I signed up for a year of Mike Marshall lessons on the Artistworks site. They come highly recommended although I would back it up with some music theory with an emphasis on mandolin...the book "Mandolin for Dummies" would be a great start.

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## dubblestop

If the first on-line lesson was any indication of what is to come I (and the other 37 participants) am in for a real treat. Matt Flinner's "Bluegrass Mandolin 101: Tunes, Technique and Improvisation" class (first of 16 sessions) was better than expected (actually I had no idea what to expect!). The one-hour (actually 80 minutes) interactive lesson was extremely well organized, the printed (PDF format) materials were clear and helpful, and Matt stayed on track to cover everything promised. Not sure if it its too late to join (probably not) but it seems if one is looking to go from Basic to Intermedaite level mandolin playing skills this may be the course to choose. Plus, the cost per lesson ($13 or so) is cheaper than my local teacher (and twice as long!).

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