Get to Know Mandolinist Ethan Setiawan

Peghead Nation’s latest mandolin instructor talks about his history with the mandolin, his education at Berklee College of Music, his musical influences, and more.

By: Dan Gabel

June 1, 2024

Ethan Setiawan is a versatile and accomplished performer with extensive experience teaching at camps, workshops, and private settings, and we’re thrilled to have him join the roster of Peghead Nation mandolin instructors! In this video, Ethan talks about his early days with the mandolin, his education at Berklee College of Music with his fellow Pegheads Joe K. Walsh, Bruce Molsky, and other leaders in the roots music community, his mandolin influences, and more. Welcome to Peghead Nation, Ethan!

In Weekly Mandolin Workout with Ethan Setiawan, Ethan walks you through a series of workouts that will help you learn the fingerboard, strengthen and increase the dexterity of your fingers, expand your knowledge of chord and scale theory, and improve your picking and fretting techniques.

Ethan Setiawan

Ethan will touch on cross-picking, playing scales over chords, perfecting hammer-on and pull-off techniques, and much more, breaking up different mandolin concepts into bite-sized pieces that will help you steadily improve your playing. We are adding new lessons each month, so the course library continues to grow as you build your skills. The high-quality video includes multiple camera angles so you can see close-ups of both hands in action, and you get detailed notation, tab, and chord diagrams for each lesson.

Take a look at Ethan’s course introduction video on his main course page, and join us in Weekly Mandolin Workout. Use promo code EthanLand to get your first month free!

Sign up for Weekly Mandolin Workout with Ethan Setiawan Now!

Ethan Setiawan has a command of the mandolin far beyond his 20-some odd years and has won both the National Mandolin Championship at Winfield, Kansas, and the Rockygrass Mandolin Championship. Called “creative and virtuosic” by WBUR, his path has wended its way through traditional bluegrass, Bach partitas, and free jazz.

Ethan was one of three children who were homeschooled by folk-loving parents, so his childhood was untraditional and full of exploration. “As a teenager, I loved the idea of going to jams and having this community of people I could hang out with,” he says. He began driving to Chicago to take lessons with Don Stiernberg and traveled to California to attend The Mandolin Symposium. After finishing high school, Setiawan attended Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship.

His debut full-length album, Flux, is made up of original tunes drawing from the wells of bluegrass, jazz, and new acoustic music. On Gambit, his most recent release, Ethan takes the calculated musical risks of a seasoned player. He moves aptly between stylistic influences, harking back to the experimental string band music pioneered in the early 1980s while presenting entirely original compositions. In addition to his solo projects, Setiawan is an in-demand sideman and band member, and can be seen playing with Acoustic Nomads, Hildaland, and Darol Anger among others.

Join us in Weekly Mandolin Workout! Use promo code EthanLand to get your first month free!