Pick Direction, Part 1: “Old Joe Clark”

from: Bluegrass Mandolin: Beginning to Advanced with Sharon Gilchrist

This lesson is part of the course Bluegrass Mandolin: Beginning to Advanced with Sharon Gilchrist.

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Learn bluegrass mandolin with Sharon Gilchrist in this collection of essential lessons from her Peghead Nation courses, designed to take you from beginning technique and must-know bluegrass tunes, to intermediate fretboard theory and songs, to advanced soloing techniques, and much more.

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Intro to the Bluegrass Mandolin Fingerboard Method

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.

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More than 40 great bluegrass tunes and songs to play
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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.

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← Fretting-Hand Posture, Part 2

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Pick Direction, Part 2: “Chinquapin Hunting” →

Previous Lesson

← Fretting-Hand Posture, Part 2

Next Lesson

Pick Direction, Part 2: “Chinquapin Hunting” →

Previous Lesson

← Fretting-Hand Posture, Part 2

Next Lesson

Pick Direction, Part 2: “Chinquapin Hunting” →