This crash course is for the complete beginner wanting to learn to play the mandolin. Focusing on traditional styles, the course will get you pickin’ some of your favourite melodies and learn how to accompany others, all while developing good technique and practice habits.
An arrangement of Angeline The Baker for the mandolin! In this arrangement, there are 3 different versions.
G’day! In this Back Side of Albany: Mandolin Lesson, we’ll take a look at a fun & challenging arrangement for the beginner & intermediate picker, containing 2 variations of the melody for both Part A & B. Back Side of Albany is a traditional American reel in the key of Em (dorian). Go to lesson...
12 Popular Songs Arranged for Easy Mandolin: Bluegrass, Old Time & Celtic Favourites!
This collection of songs for the beginner mandolin player has been arranged by Heath Joyce, in a graded sequence in their standard keys. Please Note: This is not a beginner method, only a songbook, so some prior knowledge is required, eg. Go to lesson...
Bonaparte Crossing The Rhine is a traditional tune in the key of D Major. There are 2 variations within this arrangement. Firstly, the basic melody, perfect for a beginner picker, but also a great variation for any level, as knowing the basic melody really helps develop your knowledge of the tune, plus sometimes less is more! The Go to lesson...
Campbell’s Farewell is a great traditional Scottish march in the key of A (Mixolydian), but is also popular in the American tradition played as a reel. This mandolin arrangement of the tune is approached at the reel tempo and the phrases sit primarily in the A Mixolydian scale on strings 1 & 2. Go to lesson...
Cherokee Shuffle is a popular American fiddle tune, played in the key of A. This is the third version here at Pickin’ Lessons on the mandolin and is a variation that approaches the melody in a more basic way, while still capturing the essence of the tune. Well suited to the intermediate picker, this arrangement is also beginner friendly while being a handy variation for the more advanced picker when playing at faster tempos. Go to lesson...
Childgrove is a traditional English country dance, played in the key of Am. There are 2 variations in the arrangement, and is a great benchmark for the advanced beginner. If you’re comfortable with the rhythm, left-hand position, articulation and variation’s within the tune, I would consider you to be an advanced beginner, and well on your way to an intermediate player. Go to lesson...
Open & closed position chord charts for the mandolin.
An arrangement of Cold Frosty Morning for mandolin. This arrangement has 2 versions, a basic and an advanced version.
An arrangement of the Christmas Carol “Deck The Halls” for the mandolin. In the key of G, this arrangement has 2 versions. The first is the basic melody, while the second is an advanced, bluegrass inspired version.
A worksheet containing a number of exercises to improve accuracy, coordination & speed. Go to lesson...
Fretboard Freedom: The Musical Alphabet is the first lesson in a course that will help you unlock the fretboard, enabling you to find any note, double stop, chord, scale, arpeggio in any position. It will give you the freedom to find your way in any key and have the ability to transpose/reposition breaks, melodies & chord progressions and improve your ability to improvise. Go to lesson...
Using the mandolin octave pattern to gain fretboard freedom is a crucial and quick step to locate a note anywhere on the fretboard. By using the mandolin octave pattern and your knowledge of the notes on one or two strings (see Fretboard Freedom 101: The Musical Alphabet) it becomes quite simple to locate any note on any string, then play a chord, scale, arpeggio, etc. Go to lesson...
Using the major & minor 3rd interval patterns to gain fretboard freedom is a crucial and quick step to build arpeggios, double stops & develop your improvising anywhere on the fretboard. By using the interval patterns and your knowledge of the notes on the fretboard (see Fretboard Freedom 101: The Musical Alphabet) it becomes quite simple to unlock any chord, arpeggio, double stop, etc. Go to lesson...
Go Tell It On The Mountain is a traditional Gospel Christmas Carol. This arrangement on the mandolin is in the key of G, played at a medium tempo, and will be a great tune for the advancing beginner picker. It is a wonderful melody, played at a medium tempo and will be a great addition to your Christmas repertoire! Go to lesson...
Happy Birthday on the mandolin! This arrangement is in the key of G and features four variations of varying difficulty. Approached in a bluegrass style, the first variation is in the traditional 3/4 time signature, great for the beginner and features the melody using the tremolo technique. The second variation moves into cut common time with a typical bluegrass feel, embellishing the melody to suit and is great for the beginner/intermediate picker. Go to lesson...
G’day! In this Build A Break mandolin lesson for ‘Mountain Dew’, we’ll take a look at 3 variations, starting out with the basic melody (beginner), adding double stops to the melody (intermediate) and finishing with melody, double stops & added passing notes (advanced).
The arrangement is in the key of Bb, and is a movable break. Go to lesson...
Learn to play the first pattern from the ‘Mandolin Pentatonic Scales’ worksheet in this video lesson! Knowing how to play movable patterns on the mandolin is crucial in any style of music. In these videos you will learn how to play the first and second scales and also how to move them to different keys all over the fretboard. Go to lesson...
This reference sheet contains a visual representation of the notes found on the mandolin’s fretboard. Also included on the worksheet is a visual representation of the common chord patterns on the fretboard using the Nashville Number System.
In this worksheet there are multiple versions of the open position G major scales & arpeggios for the mandolin, plus a number of exercise variations to practice.
Over The Waterfall is a popular traditional tune, with a 2 part form, in the key of D and this arrangement contains two variations. The first variation is a basic version of the melody, well suited to the advancing beginner, while the second variation includes a typical embellished back & forth around the melody that you’ll here in many fiddle tunes by more seasoned pickers. In Go to lesson...
Here’s a straight ahead version of ‘Red Haired Boy’ on the mandolin with a handful of double stops thrown in for good measure! This tune always gets knocked out in a session, it’s a must know! Go to lesson...
Southwind is a traditional Irish waltz, played in the key of G. It has a very beautiful melody that we’ll first learn in its basic form, then spice it up with a chord melody arrangement that also features a little crosspicking. While the basic melody is very simple, I’d suggest the more advanced variation of the tune is suited to the intermediate picker. Go to lesson...
G’day! In this Star of Munster: Mandolin Lesson, we’ll take a look at an arrangement of this traditional Celtic reel for the advancing beginner/intermediate picker. The tune is played in the key of Am (dorian mode).
A feature of this tune is the consistent 8th note rhythm structure, which makes for a great picking study, but also gives the tune a real drive. Go to lesson...
Learn to play the Australian bush song ‘Waltzing Matilda’ on the mandolin with this video lesson. Played in the Key of G, there are two versions, the basic melody and a bluegrass inspired version of the melody arranged for Pickin’ Lessons. Go to lesson...
‘We Three Kings of Orient Are’ is a beautiful Christmas carol and in this lesson we’ll learn two verse variations, perfect for an introduction or solo. In the key of Am, we’ll cover a pretty tremolo version of the basic verse melody for the advanced beginner, then, moving in to a great chord melody verse variation suited to the advanced intermediate picker. Go to lesson...
Whiskey Before Breakfast is a wonderful traditional fiddle tune in the key of D and very popular amongst bluegrass pickers. This arrangement of the tune is beginner friendly, capturing the essence of the tune, while keeping the phrases on the easier side, making it quite accessible for the beginner picker. In the lesson we’ll break down how to approach the tune and work through the techniques you’ll need to focus on. Go to lesson...
G’day! In this Will The Circle Be Unbroken: Mandolin Lesson we’ll take a look at the basic melody, played in the open position (Key of A), an advancing beginner arrangement in a movable pattern, using tremolo (Key of D) and finish off with an intermediate arrangement of the tune, using double stops also in a movable pattern (Key of G). Go to lesson...