Pick Direction, Part 1: “Old Joe Clark”

from: Beginning Mandolin with Sharon Gilchrist

This lesson is part of the course Beginning Mandolin with Sharon Gilchrist.

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Get started off right on the mandolin, with basic techniques, scales and chords, and simple and popular bluegrass and old-time tunes to play. Includes downloadable Play-Along audio practice tracks for rhythm and melody on all tunes, advice on embellishing melodies and playing tremolo, and more.

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Angeline the Baker

The fiddle tune “Angeline the Baker” is a must-know tune for all roots music instrumentalists. Sharon teaches it here note-for-note and phrase-by-phrase. “Angeline the Baker” is in the key of D, and Sharon starts by reviewing the D major scale. She also talks about marking the time with your downstrokes, even if there’s a rest on that downstroke (sometimes called a “ghost stroke”), which will help you maintain a steady tempo. Sharon plays each phrase of the A part numerous times, so you can practice playing each phrase with her until you really get it down and are ready to put all four phrases together for the entire A part.

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PICK DIRECTION

Pick Direction, Part 1: “Old Joe Clark”

Pick Direction, Part 2: “Chinquapin Hunting”

Pick Direction, Part 3: “Angeline the Baker”

Pick Direction, Part 1: “Old Joe Clark”

In Sharon’s three-part lesson on pick direction, she talks about the importance of playing downstrokes on the downbeats and upstrokes on the upbeats, using three different tunes you’ve already learned to illustrate some common issues you’ll run into. She starts with the first part of “Old Joe Clark” showing you exactly which direction your pick should be moving for each beat and melodic phrase. She also shows you how to pick the rhythm known to fiddlers as “shuffle bowing.” Then Sharon talks about the picking in the B part of “Old Joe Clark,” which includes a lot of phrases with the “shuffle bow” rhythm.

Previous Lesson

← Embellishing Melodies: “Eighth of January”

Next Lesson

Pick Direction, Part 2: “Chinquapin Hunting” →

Previous Lesson

← Embellishing Melodies: “Eighth of January”

Next Lesson

Pick Direction, Part 2: “Chinquapin Hunting” →

Previous Lesson

← Embellishing Melodies: “Eighth of January”

Next Lesson

Pick Direction, Part 2: “Chinquapin Hunting” →

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