# Music by Genre > Jazz/Blues Variants, Bossa, Choro, Klezmer >  Swing chords and progressions for mandolin by Don Stiernberg

## John Soper

Don Stierberg put together this course for Soundslice, and I've been having a blast with it over the past week...  

http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/91925#91925

I've been working through the sessions after a blitz through all of the lessons- really valuable in terms of centering study on chord forms and relationships that are common to swing and jazz.  Very few "chop" chords here, but all are movable forms that can be used in all keys, presented in a logical progression throughout the progress of the lessons.   I've found great cadences and progressions that I hadn't thought of for tunes that I already play and the course has already opened my ears up to some chord forms I haven't used.

Soundslice uses an interface that presents video, standard notation and tab.  I haven't explored all the options, but you can print the lessons, slow them down and even change keys for the music that is presented.

I have NFI.  

I strongly recommend this course for anybody who is interested in dipping a toe into this genre or even those who have experience playing this style of music.  Can't ask for a better instructor than Donnie!

 :Mandosmiley:

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40bpm, 

CHASAX, 

Drew Egerton, 

Hubs, 

Phil Vinyard, 

Roman Pekar, 

stevedenver, 

StuartE, 

Tommcgtx

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## Rick Jones

Enjoying it here, also. Have gone quickly through the first half, mostly just to listen, get a feel for what is coming. Now I'm working my way through at a studied pace (no pun intended). What I really need to do is deconstruct all of these, learn the notes, intervals, etc. - which is something I have been avoiding for quite some period of time. What I wouldn't give for a little self-discipline! This course is a great offering by a great player, and I sincerely hope there is a follow-up in the works that gets to the soloing part of things. Thanks, Don!

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## Grommet

I have only looked at the intro and bit of the early portions as I am taking another class right now. I am rally looking forward to getting into this one. I called Soundslice to make sure I would have access after my current class ends  (no problem). They mentioned Don was recording a follow-up at that time.

Scott

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## colorado_al

This is great stuff! Totally worth the $20!
In the first 5 minutes I've learned more about swing chording then I have from most books in days.

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## Drew Egerton

I think this is exactly what I've been looking for for a while. I am lost when these kinds of chords and songs come up and have been wanting to learn more. Thanks for sharing.

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## DSDarr

> They mentioned Don was recording a follow-up at that time.
> 
> Scott


Scott,

Any clue as to what the follow-up is going to cover?

thanks, David

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## Grommet

David- I didn't get any further details. They were psyched that he was recording the follow on. The intro to the first one was enough to hook me. Pretty snappy stuff.

Scott

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DSDarr

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## Pasha Alden

Alcohol a solution? <smile>

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Rick Jones

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## John Soper

Best $20 I've spent in a long while!

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## montana

Looked at it. Not sure how it works. Do you download it to your computer?

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## John Soper

Follow the links - after you purchase a course it's online; you'll bookmark the course(s) that you purchase & have access anytime.  You can download or print the music, slow passages down, change keys & transpose to different keys, etc.  Really a versatile platform for this type of instruction.

And the content is great.

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Drew Egerton, 

Mando-Mauler

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## Mark Miller

A guitarist buddy of mine is learning some Django stuff. Minor Swing and I'll See You in My Dreams. I have never played this style of music before but I'm starting to work on those two and it's loads of fun. So I ordered Stiernberg's book Mandolin Jazz Appetizers and it's just too advanced for me. Do you guys think this course would work better for covering basics of the style?

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## Rick Jones

You might check Djangobooks.com, and see if John McGann's short series on Gypsy Jazz chords and soloing are still available. They were quite inexpensive, and quite useful. http://www.djangobooks.com/Category/mando_lessons

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## adrianh

> Any clue as to what the follow-up is going to cover?


Hey there, Adrian from Soundslice here. I'm happy to announce Don's follow-up course is now available. The first volume covered jazz rhythm playing, and this volume covers lead playing -- "Crafting jazzier solo lines on mandolin."

Here's the classified on Mandolin Cafe: http://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/93251

And here's the direct link: https://www.soundslice.com/lessons/j...ines-mandolin/

Check it out, and let me know if you have any questions. Happy to answer them!

Adrian @ Soundslice

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DSDarr

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## StuartE

Pete Martin has an excellent book on jazz chords for mandolin.

Jazz Appetizers was written as a follow-up to Ted Eschliman's _Getting Into Jazz Mandolin_.  If you are not familiar with FFCP (four finger closed positions) scale fingerings, it's invaluable. The emphasis is on single-string, but there is good stuff on chords as well.

The McCann lessons look intriguing as well.

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## John Soper

And the new Stiernberg course on Soundslice looks like it will have some fun single-line ideas - just signed up for it and have screened the first few lessons.  Practical tips on single line improv.

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## Don Stiernberg

Thanks everybody for posting and checking out the two new online video courses on Soundslice. I thought I'd answer a question or two and add some details, and say Happy Swingin' New Year!

 Mark Miller, the chord course "Swing Chords and Progressions for Mandolin" does start at the beginning, how to make and easily move chords from all the families of chords(major, minor, diminished, augmented..also dominant, half-diminished and altered dominant) then moves into basic usable rhythm patterns for several common progressions, presented in tune form. The focus is on the voicings I use playing swing and jazz music, so it's by no means exhaustive or encyclopedic--just things that work and the rationale behind them.

 As Adrian mentioned above, "Crafting Jazzier Solo Lines" for Mandolin looks at improvisation and soloing. Similar to the chord course, it opens with basic musical and fretboard info, then introduces patterns, concepts, and licks you might want to add to your thought process when making up solos. Five tunes are presented at the end part of the course, each with a walk through the chord progression followed by several sample full solos which demo the concepts at work on recognizable favorite tunes..Adrian plays rhythm guitar on the lead course so you can hear how the lines work against changes.

 I'm still amazed at the program--in addition to the mandolin player playing(including closeups of left hand fingerings..) you get everything written out in standard and Tab and chord diagram. And you control the tempo! You can focus on one bar, or one phrase, etc. as a loop. There are several ways to access the notes and information. 

 Again, thanks everyone for kind words of endorsement and encouragement. Let me know if there are other things to clarify. Currently I'm dreaming up a second volume of lead/improv tips, and a chord melody course..

  Best Wishes for good notes in 2016!

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40bpm, 

8 String Samurai, 

AlanN, 

Drew Egerton, 

Gary Leonard, 

Mando-Mauler, 

Rick Jones, 

StuartE, 

Tom Gibson

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## DSDarr

Thanks Don, great stuff -- I've been working on both. And I agree, the program itself is a pretty revolutionary way to present musical instruction. 

David

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## 8 String Samurai

I'm working my way through this myself right now. It's a really intriguing way to learn, and I've picked up more about chord forms and theory in the first few lessons than I did with a variety of books previously.

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## Al Bergstein

It's a great lesson program Don. I knew that I knew the chords, etc. but it was well worth picking up as a refresher. Would love to see a sort of version of your old Mandolin Magazine articles, where you might break down certain songs on an ongoing basis, for more advanced players. For example, I've been working on your version of Topsy, which is in a different key than what we normally see it in charts for the fake book stuff. On an iPad it's easy enough to transpose, but when I compare your version to other versions, there's quite a bit of difference (good difference). Would love to have a lesson on how you approached it.  

Yes, the program is truly a breakthrough, having the tab and chord diagrams. Really worth the money. 

see you at ROW. Bacon will be served for breakfast again, I'm sure (G).

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## Drew Egerton

Sorry to revive the old thread, but I just signed up for both the chording and jazzier solos courses on Soundslice!
A few weeks ago I had picked up Don's Jazz Appetizers book and for a straight-up bluegrasser, it was a bit too far on the deep end of the pool for me to start with. I backed up and bought Getting Into Jazz Mandolin also from Mel Bay and that's been great to work over the FFcP stuff.

I was still struggling a bit to "get it" as far as applying the scales to actual music. Don had commented on a Facebook post where I was lamenting on struggling to learn the "foreign language" of this music and offered to help any way he could. Super nice! That reminded me of the Soundslice courses so I went and signed up for the first one yesterday and second one today.

They are presented in a way that makes tons of sense to me. The progressions and ideas are starting to "click" now after just two days of watching through both courses and a little bit of playing along. I am finally starting to understand what in the world a G6, Dm9 or Bb7mb5 is! A long journey left to go, but these courses seem to be well worth the cost.

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## Bill McCall

I've used the appetizers book in my lessons and it's a pretty rich resource.  But on your own, the Soundslice courses can't be beat.

On the search for the cool notes........

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## montana

The chord studies in the appetizer book are great. I learned a lot.

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## Ron McMillan

I'm working my through the _Swing chords and progressions_ lesson on Soundslice, and thoroughly enjoying the learning process. Soundslice deserves more credit and attention for its unique delivery method.

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## colorado_al

I revisit this about 1 or 2 times a month as I am learning new songs to help choose voicing. Love it!

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## CHASAX

What do I need to know about scales, etc. before starting the course?

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## Bill McCall

It's in tab and notation, and it's about chords, so not much.  But you should know what the scale tones are and where.  That would make it easier.  But it's so well explained and documented you could just follow the pictures.

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## Don Stiernberg

Hey all you cats,

        Just spent a very pleasant day in the video studio yesterday with Corey Richardson of Soundslice.com. We cut a new online video course to be entitled "Rhythm and Repertoire for the Mandolin". It kind of picks up where "Swing Chords and Progressions"left off,moving toward a focus on tunes, each one taken three times through, adding interest each time. Nothing but chords for cool tunes, or as we say Rhythm and Repertoire.Corey does all the heavy lifting--played guitar backup, engineered the video and audio, and now will transcribe and edit. I hope you'll watch for it! Should be along mid-summer in the heart of pickin' season. Thanks and happy comping. Chordially yours, old donnie

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40bpm, 

Bill McCall, 

Drew Egerton, 

DSDarr, 

Joey Anchors, 

John Soper, 

Mark Seale, 

Ryk Loske, 

Tom Wright, 

Uke Richard

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## John Soper

Thanks for the heads-up Don, can't wait for this one.  :Mandosmiley:

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