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Once you know the arpeggios based on the L shape, you can easily find double stops to harmonize the melodies of the songs you’re playing. Sharon shows you two handy double stops in the L shape for D, G, and A, and gives you a couple exercises using them.
This course brings together some of the most essential lessons from Sharon Gilchrist’s popular Peghead Nation courses into one progressive, organized learning path. You’ll start with fundamental mandolin technique and classic bluegrass tunes, and move into intermediate bluegrass songs, Monroe-style rhythm, fretboard theory, advanced solos from popular bluegrass players, and much more. With 60 lessons, this course gives mandolin players a comprehensive, progressive lesson collection to develop bluegrass technique and repertoire with acclaimed instructor Sharon Gilchrist.
In five introductory lessons, you’ll learn how to hold the mandolin comfortably, get advice on holding the pick, and learn to tune the mandolin. And you’ll get in-depth advice on picking-hand and fretting-hand technique, with exercises that get you started off right and help you develop efficient technique for both hands.
Your first five mandolin tunes, which you'll learn by ear, are all tunes you’ll hear in old-time and bluegrass jam sessions around the world. They’ll help you get comfortable in the keys of D and A and are great for working on your fretting and picking technique.
The old-time fiddle tune “Cluck Old Hen” in the key of A has become a standard at bluegrass and old-time jams everywhere and is a great first tune to learn on the mandolin. You’ll learn the standard fingering for first position on the mandolin.
The old-time tune “Old Joe Clark” is a favorite at jams and picking parties everywhere.You’ll learn to play it with a typical fiddle-tune rhythm that corresponds to the fiddlers’ “shuffle bow” rhythm.
The old-time fiddle tune “Chinquapin Hunting” is in the key of D, so you’ll learn the D major scale, a D major arpeggio, and a D major chord, which will help orient your fingers to the key of D. You’ll also learn basic D, G, and A chords and a simple bass/strum pattern, so you can play rhythm to “Chinquapin Hunting” and other tunes.
A must-know tune for all roots music instrumentalists, “Angeline the Baker” is also in the key of D. You’ll learn to mark time with your downstrokes, even where there’s a rest, which will help you maintain a steady tempo.
The beautiful old-time fiddle tune “Squirrel Hunters” has a haunting “modal” sound. You’ll learn how to slide into melody notes and damp notes for a rhythmic accent.
You’ve learned five great tunes, but if you want to start playing them with other people you’ll also need to learn to play rhythm. In these lessons you’ll get a complete overview of basic open chord shapes, some of which can be played with just two fingers. You’ll also learn a 4/4 rhythm pattern in which you play the lowest note of each chord and follow it with a strum of the higher strings. You can use this pattern to practice playing rhythm on mandolin-and-guitar practice tracks for a couple of the tunes you’ve learned. With Chord Diagrams
Use this video, along with the chord chart below, to practice playing rhythm to the old-time tune “Cluck Old Hen.”
Use this video, along with the chord chart below, to practice playing rhythm to the old-time tune “Old Joe Clark.”
Get deeper into mandolin technique with these great bluegrass and old-time tunes.
A well-known fiddle tune in the key of D, the melody of “The Eighth of January” was used by Arkansas school teacher Jimmy Driftwood for his 1950s hit song “The Battle of New Orleans.” You’ll also learn the technique of “finger planting,” a great way to keep the notes of a tune ringing into each other smoothly.
This bluegrass standard comes from the great banjo player Ralph Stanley, but it has a simple modal melody that suits all instruments. It has an extra beat in the second part and you’ll learn to “ghost” a note with your picking hand to make sure you get the timing right.
The closed “chop” chords known as “Monroe chords” (after Bill Monroe) are what give your rhythm mandolin that classic bluegrass chop sound or bark. You’ll learn the Monroe chord shapes for G and C, and since they’re closed chords (with no open strings) you can move them around the neck to play any major chord. You’ll get advice on fingering the chords easily and a couple of rhythm practice tracks to tunes you’ve already learned.
Now that you’ve got a bunch of tunes under your fingers, it’s time to review some techniques and learn some new ones.
Learn more about “finger planting,” an efficient way to place your fingers on the fingerboard when playing melodies. Sharon begins with a review of the G major scale and then talks about keeping your fingers “planted” as they move up the scale.
Learn some exercises that can help you work on your tremolo. Sharon learned these exercises from classical mandolinist Caterina Lichtenberg, and she gives you lots of great technical advice on playing tremolo. You’ll use a metronome for these exercises.
The beautiful waltz “Midnight on the Water” comes from legendary Texas fiddler Benny Thomasson. You’ll learn how to use tremolo to play it and how to add drone notes to the melody.
The fiddle tune “Whiskey Before Breakfast” is a popular tune among all sorts of roots musicians. The chords to “Whiskey Before Breakfast” change fairly often, especially in the B part. Sharon shows you a handy way to memorize them so that they don’t seem so random.
If you’re having trouble with the fabled “death grip” (holding the mandolin so tight that you can’t move your hand freely on the fingerboard), Sharon gives you advice on playing with good fretting-hand posture. She reviews basic fretting-hand posture, how she likes to hold the fretting hand to reduce tension, and gives you some ways to get out of the habit of pushing into the back of the neck and squeezing the neck.
In this three-part lesson on pick direction, Sharon 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.
Embellishing a melody is just a matter of filling in the melody you already know with some more melodic ideas. Learn some embellished versions of tunes you already know.
Learn two embellished versions of the melody to “Old Joe Clark.”
Learn an embellished version of “Eighth of January” as well as a few variations you can add to the B part.
In this section, you'll learn instrumental solos (or "breaks") to play in between the verses of some classic bluegrass vocal songs.
The old hymn “Wayfaring Stranger” is a perfect tune to play on the mandolin with tremolo and it’s in the key of A minor, another key that sounds great on the mandolin.
“Shady Grove” is a classic American folk song that likely originated in the 1800s. There are numerous versions, but Sharon teaches you a version of “Shady Grove” in the key of D minor that is similar to the way Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, Tony Rice, and others have played it. You’ll learn the D minor scale and chords and the melody the way David Grisman played it on The Pizza Tapes.
In this section you'll learn some slightly more advanced solos for a number of classic bluegrass songs.
“Sitting on Top of the World” is an old folk and blues song that became a bluegrass classic. It’s very popular at bluegrass jam sessions, so it’s important to know how to play a basic, melodic solo on it. You’ll learn it in the key of A, which allows you to play open drone strings along with the melody. Sharon’s arrangement includes a kickoff and ending and some typical bluegrass licks.
“I’ll Fly Away” is a popular gospel and folk song. In this lesson you’ll learn to play a solo on “I’ll Fly Away” in the key of D in the lower octave using a lot of double stops, which gives it a full and rich sound. In most situations, people just play the verse to “I’ll Fly Away” for a solo, but sometimes people also play the chorus, which is very much like the verse, so Sharon shows you how to play both the verse and chorus.
With its roots in late 19th-century work songs popular with prison, railroading, and logging crews, “Nine Pound Hammer” is a staple of the folk, blues, and bluegrass repertories, and has well over 150 recorded versions by the likes of Merle Travis, Doc Watson, and Chris Thile with Billy Strings. Bill Monroe, who first recorded a version titled “Nine Pound Hammer Is Too Heavy” with his brother Charlie in 1936, released the classic bluegrass setting in the key of C with the Blue Grass Boys on 1962’s Bluegrass Ramble. In this lesson, Sharon teaches you a basic version in the key of A, and then adds embellishments and variations.
Bluegrass singers often sing in keys other than the usual keys of C, G, D, and A you’re probably used to playing in if you’ve mostly been playing fiddle tunes. So it’s important to be able to play in different keys. In these lessons you’ll learn how major scales and arpeggios are constructed so you can play them in any key, including two major scale finger patterns you can use anywhere on the neck. You’ll also learn about the importance of knowing about seventh chords, and how Bill Monroe used dominant seventh arpeggios to create a bluesy sound.
In this lesson, Sharon explains how the major scale is constructed so you can find a major scale in any key. This is important because bluegrass singers often sing in keys other than the usual keys of C, G, D, and A you’re probably used to playing in if you’ve mostly been playing fiddle tunes. She also explains key signatures, which tell you how many flats or sharps a key has, and shows you how many sharps are in the the C, G, D, and A scales, and how a sharp is added to each key as you move around the circle of fifths. She also shows you two major scale finger patterns you can use anywhere on the neck.
When you play the notes of a chord one at a time, that is called an “arpeggio.” In this lesson, Sharon explains how chords and arpeggios are built, using the key of A. She shows you the I, IV, and V (A, D, E) chords in A and the seventh chords that correspond to the I, IV, and V chords.
Sharon talks about targeting chord tones in your improvising in this lesson. She shows you four different approaches to targeting different notes in a chord as you change from one chord to another: targeting the root, targeting common tones, using guide tones, and using half-step motion.
You’ll learn a few different places to play the C major scale in this lesson, all without using open strings. Sharon shows you the scales as well as how to shift between positions. You’ll also learn how to find and play the relative minor scale of C: A minor.
Learn some essential bluegrass instrumental repertory in this section.
The popular fiddle tune “Billy in the Lowground” is in the key of C. You’ll learn how to kick it off and get tips on making the transition between the end of the A part and the beginning of the B part, as well as how to shift positions between phrases.
Bill Monroe’s epic fiddle tune “Jerusalem Ridge” has four parts and is in the key of A minor, the relative minor of C. You’ll learn the version played by Monroe’s long-time fiddler Kenny Baker in this lesson, rather than the way Monroe played it on the mandolin. Baker’s version has become standard for all bluegrass instruments.
St. Anne’s Reel
The fiddle tune “St. Anne’s Reel” may come from the Celtic tradition, but it’s become a jam session standard in bluegrass and old-time circles. It’s in the key of D, so Sharon reminds you of the two-octave version of the D major scale. She also points out the small arpeggios that are part of the melody and some places where you should use finger planting. The chords to the second part of “St. Anne’s Reel” can be played in a few different ways, so you’ll learn the chords for each variation, and get play-along tracks for each version.
The bluegrass fiddle tune standard “Gold Rush” comes from Bill Monroe and fiddler Byron Berline. Sharon gives you advice on learning by ear, suggesting that you try to learn these tunes by ear and only use the tab/notation as a reminder when you don’t have access to the video. She also shows you the distinctive rhythmic accent in the B part that is usually played by the rhythm section, and how to fill in the rhythm by adding some strums to the basic chop pattern.
The classic fiddle tune “Red-Haired Boy” is a popular bluegrass jam tune and one that every bluegrass picker should know. In addition to learning the melody, and a variation that includes a triplet, Sharon shows you how the chords to “Red-Haired Boy” match the melody, which alternates between an A Mixolydian sound (with a G natural) and A major (with a G sharp).
One of Bill Monroe’s prettiest waltzes, “Lonesome Moonlight Waltz” has an unusual form and chord progression. The form is AABA and it moves between the keys of Dm and F. You’ll learn to play it out of an F major scale position with your index finger on the third fret. Sharon gives you advice on playing tremolo on the long notes, showing you how you can use a slower or quicker tremolo, and stresses the importance of ending the tremolo on a downbeat.
Learn great mandolin solos to some more bluegrass classics.
Learn the bluegrass standard “I’m Going Back to Old Kentucky” using a common technique in bluegrass mandolin: playing melodies on two pairs of strings. You’ll learn the basic right-hand technique for playing two pairs of strings at a time, including how to keep the pick on the edge of the strings and not let the pick dig in past the strings, as well as how to slightly rotate your wrist so you can play all four strings (both pairs) at once. Then you’ll learn the melody to Bill Monroe’s “I’m Going Back to Old Kentucky” played on two strings in the key of A.
Learn three variations to “I’m Going Back to Old Kentucky” that include some of the arpeggios you’ve learned in previous lessons as well as folding scales, sequences, and some typical bluegrass mandolin licks.
Bill Monroe wrote the song “Uncle Pen” about his uncle Pendleton Vandiver, a fiddler whose influence inspired Monroe to create bluegrass music. The solos are a little different than most bluegrass solos. Usually the fiddle will play the first part, which corresponds to the verse, while another instrument will play the chorus form. In this lesson, you’ll learn the fiddle melody to the verse and a solo to the chorus based on some of Bill Monroe’s solos.
These next five lessons come from Sharon’s Bluegrass Mandolin Fingerboard Method course, which teaches intermediate bluegrass mandolin players how to walk into jam sessions and play solos to any bluegrass song in any key. The method uses shapes and patterns that you may already be familiar with, but Sharon shows you how to use those patterns (chords, scales, and double stops) in different places on the neck and construct melody-based solos from them.
Sharon talks about the basic concept of her Bluegrass Mandolin Fingerboard Method.
Learn to play a solo on the bluegrass/folk/gospel standard “I’ll Fly Away” in the key of D. Sharon gives you advice on finding the melody of the song you want to build a solo for, and shows you the basic melody and chords of the verse and chorus of “I’ll Fly Away.” Then she shows you how to harmonize the melody with double stops, using the “short” and “long” double stops you’ve already learned. She also shows you a couple of simple “kickoffs,” one for the verse and one for the chorus.
The song “Nine Pound Hammer” is one of the most popular bluegrass jam songs, and is played in a few different keys. The version you’ll learn here is in the key of D, so Sharon starts by reminding you of the L shapes, arpeggio patterns, and double stops in the key of D. Then she walks you through the melody and chords of the verse and chorus of “Nine Pound Hammer”and shows you how to add double stops to the basic melody. She also shows you a typical Bill Monroe ending lick and gives you advice on practicing the solo in different keys.
“I’m on My Way Back to the Old Home” is a bluegrass standard, written by Bill Monroe. You’ll learn the melody and a basic double-stop solo in the key of D. Before showing you the melody, Sharon reminds you of the “L shape” in the key of D and arpeggios for D, G, and A. Then she shows you how to create a simple solo to “I’m on My Way Back to the Old Home” with a kickoff and double stops.
“Will the Circle Be Unbroken” comes from the Carter Family and is one of the most well-known bluegrass and old-time country songs. As with the last couple of lessons, you’ll learn to create a melody-based solo to “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” in the key of D using the L shapes, arpeggios, and double stops.
These next lessons are a little more challenging, but Sharon gives you the tools to clear each new hurdle with ease.
There are many versions of the old-time fiddle tune “Sail Away Ladies.” This one comes from bluegrass fiddler Kenny Baker, who recorded it on his Baker’s Dozen album. You’ll learn how Kenny played it, along with a couple of variations. Sharon also gives you advice on how to pick some of the syncopated phrasing in both parts.
The beautiful waltz “Ashokan Farewell” was written by fiddler Jay Ungar and famously featured in Ken Burns’ documentary The Civil War. In this lesson, you’ll learn the melody as well as an upper harmony part you can use when playing “Ashokan Farewell” with another mandolinist or fiddler. Sharon shows you how she embellishes the melody with hammer-ons and tremolo and uses downstrokes to play a lot of the eighth-note melody lines.
The old-time fiddle tune “Big Sciota” was introduced to the bluegrass world with the 1993 recording Skip, Hop and Wobble by Jerry Douglas, Russ Barenberg, and Edgar Meyer, with mandolinist Sam Bush guesting on the recording of “Big Sciota.” Since then it has become a bluegrass jam session favorite.
Bill Monroe’s instrumental “Bluegrass Stomp” is a 12-bar blues in the key of D and the melody uses a lot of I, IV, and V arpeggios in the key of D, so it’s a great tune to practice some of the arpeggios you’ve been working on. It also has a lot of syncopation and some triplet phrases. Sharon walks you through the melody, phrase by phrase, showing you how to pick the syncopated and triplet lines.
The old-time fiddle tune “Forked Deer” is a popular tune at old-time and bluegrass jams around the world. It’s in the key of D, with a B part that starts on an A chord and an anticipated beat—beat four of the last measure of the previous A part.
In this lesson, you’ll learn a solo for “Forked Deer” that Sharon created using many of the ideas she’s covered in the course, including arpeggios, double stops, licks from other solos, etc.
Learn classic solos to essential songs by some of the great bluegrass mandolinists.
Ricky Skaggs’s solo on the Bill Monroe/Peter Rowan song “Walls of Time” (from Ricky’s album Ancient Tones) is a contemporary bluegrass mandolin classic, an update of Monroe’s classic style with lots of eighth-note downstrokes, triplets, position shifts, and bluesy licks. Sharon walks you through the solo, which is in the key of B, phrase by phrase, showing you how to play with all downstrokes on eighth notes, make the position shifts, pick the triplets, and play the cool lick that begins the second half of the solo, which combines a descending major scale with pedal tones using open strings.
Bill Monroe’s solo (@ 02:01) on his recording of “Walls of Time” includes a steady 16th-note tremolo, eighth notes played with downstrokes, and a number of his characteristic arpeggio licks, as well as some subtle syncopations and variations on phrases. Sharon gives you advice on playing the 16th-note tremolo by using your arm and wrist together and then walks you through the solo, which is in the key of C and starts with a quick 16th-note run up to the C on the second string.
The Sam Bush solo on the fiddle tune “Big Sandy River” you’ll learn in this lesson comes from a performance on the TV show Nashville Now featuring Doc Watson with an all-star band that included Sam on mandolin. That video is no longer available, but you can see Sam play similar solos in a performance at the Telluride Festival with Doc, Norman Blake, and Dan Crary. The way he plays the B part is a good example of how to use sevenths leading to thirds, which Sharon has talked about in her lessons on arpeggios.
Chord inversions can add variety to your backup playing, providing an alternative to Monroe chords that create a feeling of harmonic motion and allow you to be more interactive and creative in whatever ensemble you’re playing in. You’ll learn three voicings of a major chord in this lesson, and learn to find those voicings for the I, IV, and V chords in the key of A in three “neighborhoods” on the fingerboard. Sharon also gives you ideas for combining and practicing inversions using a standard bluegrass chord progression that is used for songs like “Your Love Is Like a Flower,” “Bury Me Beneath the Willow,” and others.
Double stops are two-note partial chords that sound great on the mandolin and are helpful for getting a bigger chordal sound out of a simple melody line. Sharon begins this lesson on double stops by showing you a double-stop series (short, medium, and long) for a G major chord on the top strings (A and E). These shapes were used often by Bill Monroe and have a definite bluegrass sound. Sharon gives you advice on fingering each shape and sliding from shape to shape, and gives you some exercises to help practice moving from shape to shape with her. She also gives you advice on picking the double stops so you get a clear two-note sound.
In this lesson, you’ll learn to create two solos for the bluegrass standard “If I Should Wander Back Tonight” in D using the melody and arpeggios in the key of D. Sharon starts by showing you the melody in two octaves, and then gives you some exercises on guide tones in the key of D, before showing you the solos she’s created.
Sharon shows you how to use ideas and licks you’ve learned in other solos to build your own solo on the bluegrass standard “Your Love Is Like a Flower.” Sharon uses a phrase from Ricky Skaggs’s solo on “Old Home Place,” which Sharon taught in a previous lesson, as a springboard to creating a solo to “Your Love Is Like a Flower.”
In this lesson, you’ll learn to create a backup part for “If I Should Wander Back Tonight” with double stops that harmonize the melody line and fills between the melodic lines. Sharon starts by reviewing the double stops on each string in the key of D and the double stop “neighborhoods.” Then she talks about the importance of staying away from the singer’s melody notes, and shows you a backup part for “If I Should Wander Back Tonight” with harmony double stops and fills.
In this lesson, Sharon shows you some Bill Monroe licks that he used for backing up singers, either himself or another singer. The licks are based on major chord arpeggios and come out of the Monroe chop-chord shape.
The instrumental “Hartford’s Real” was written by David Grisman and Sam Bush in honor of their good friend John Hartford. They recorded it on the album Hold On, We’re Strumming, which features lots of twin mandolin playing.
The bluegrass mandolin instrumental “New Camptown Races” comes from mandolinist Frank Wakefield. It’s in the key of Bb, an unusual key for a mandolin tune, so Sharon starts by reminding you of the Bb major scale in Bb in open position, where much of the tune is played. The form of the tune is a little unusual too, with two A parts that are 16 measures long, and an eight-bar B part that is played only once, followed by the last half of the A part.
Bill Monroe’s instrumental “Old Ebenezer Scrooge” has four parts and is in the key of A, although the melody mostly uses notes in the A minor scale. The first part just has two phrases and is repeated four times. The phrases in the second part have a distinctive rhythm that Sharon demonstrates before walking you through the whole part. The third part of “Old Ebenezer Scrooge” starts with a big sliding chord, while the fourth part is like the first in that it just has two phrases that are repeated four times.
In this lesson, you’ll learn David Grisman’s kickoff and solo to the song “Letter from My Darling” from his 1991 Bluegrass Reunion recording. It’s a great bluesy, Monroe-inspired solo in the key of G, with tremolo, downstroke eighth-note lines, and quarter-note triplets played out of the G chop-chord position.
Adam Steffey’s inventive solo on the fiddle tune “Temperance Reel” (from Jim Mills’s recording Hide Head Blues) is chock full of interesting phrasing ideas and melodic and rhythmic variations.
