Hello all. I have been playing mandolin for many years, self taught, and about a year ago I bought an octave mandolin. Learning about this instrument, I've learned it's okay and easier to capo. What I am looking for is a chord chart that shows me where chords are when using a capo. There ae a ton of octave chord charts but none for when it is capoed. Anybody have any leads on this ..read more

My intention today is to explain things in a detailed manner without going too deep. The idea is to give first timers the confidence to try new stuff; confidence I lacked and which held me back for a long time. -- A lot of us have adopted an 8 string solid body electric mandolin (emando) for late night practice. It's quiet, it has 8 strings, and therefore serves as a good substitute for our more cherished instrument. But expect, late at night while the rest of the family sleeps comfortably in their beds, that you'll actually want to hear what the darn thing sounds like when you plug it in ..read more

Returning to Mandolin Mondays this week, we're joined by Glasgow mandolinist Laura-Beth Salter and her Krishot F5 Mandolins, playing a lovely set of 3 tunes with the names "Shaw's," "Diego's," and "Schots Abroad." A well kent face on the Glasgow Folk and Roots scene, mandolinist, tutor, singer and composer Laura-Beth is a founding member of award winning folk bands The Shee & Kinnaris Quintet. She was nominated for the MG Alba Composer of the year award in 2013 after the success of her Celtic Connections commission and debut album ‘Breathe.’ She is an active tutor of mandolin and youth ..read more

My last blog entry was... what? nine years ago? Well as you might expect a lot has changed in nine years. My family and I left the UK in summer 2018 for a more salubrious political and economic climate in my wife's home country of France. I have been working hard to integrate into French life ever since. Part of that integration has been adapting to French musical culture. American/English folk music doesn't get a lot of play here, so in the interest of having people to play music with, places to play, etc I have (re)committed to 5 string mandolin. [This is, after all called The Fifth Cours ..read more

This week on Mandolin Mondays we're joined by Washington mandolinist Kian Dye and his 2020 Northfield Big Mon mandolin playing an original composition entitled "Fairhaven." Having first picked up the fiddle at age 6 and the guitar and mandolin only a few years later, Kian grew up attending various bluegrass festivals and fiddle camps all over the West Coast. After playing in numerous bands in his teens and early 20s in Portland, Oregon, Kian moved to Bellingham, Washington where he founded the band Virginia Rail and produced and mixed their self-titled debut album in 2022. In 2023, Kian fin ..read more

Returning to Mandolin Mondays this week we're joined by Scottish mandolinist Calum McIlroy playing an original tune called "Big Pick Energy" on his 2018 Taran Springwell mandolin, built by Rory Dowling in Fife. Recipient of the 2024 BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award, Calum McIlroy is a guitarist, mandolin player, and singer from Aberdeenshire. After graduation from the BMus Traditional Music course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, he release his debut EP, This III Deeds (2020), and was nominated for the Citty Finlayson Scots Singer of the Year Award at the MB ALBA S ..read more

I got a brand new mandolin, and just had to hop on here for Mandolin Mondays this week to share it! Here's a spin on the beautiful Joe LaRose tune "Winder Slide" with this amazing new Apitius Custom Classic LS--full run down at the link below: You can check out the full run down of this amazing new mandolin in this video here: https://youtu.be/TaPgDcXO3io I've also got the tab/notation transcription for what I played in this video here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Jl...ew?usp=sharing If you'd like to support the series and get access to much more mandolin content and learning materi ..read more

History of the Mandolin In some ways, a mandolin is the child of every traditional stringed instrument. Sized like a ukulele, tuned like a violin, double-stringed like a baroque guitar…and yet it has made a unique mark as an instrument all its own, found in everything from orchestras to rock and roll. Have you ever played or listened to a mandolin and wondered about its history? We have, too, which is why we decided to research the mandolin origin story and how it became the instrument we know today. The next time you’re strumming away or changing mandolin strings, you can appreciate just ..read more

This week on Mandolin Mondays we're joined by Dutch mandolinist Janos Koolen playing a beautiful medley of original tunes on his Collings MTO mandolin. Janos Koolen (1981) is a Dutch multi-instrumentalist with a particular love for the mandolin. Among other groups he currently plays with Bertolf & Bluefinger. Besides bluegrass Janos likes to explore all different kinds of genres and use the mandolin together with instruments like the oud, accordion and even drums. In this video Janos plays a medley of four original tunes. The first one is written after a visit to the beautiful ‘Zweriba ..read more

Hey everyone! Hope you are well and picking lots. I encourage you to make up your own musical mando exercises often. Combining moveable chord shapes or right hand pick patterns w/ various string combinations might be a start. Then repetition... Your exercise noodle might turn into a nifty tune ... you never know! I'd like you to also encourage you to join Erynn and I as we are are offering one more Zoom music class this spring before we take a break for the warmer months. If you want to get ready for porch pickin' and festivals this summer or just learn a few new tunes at your own pace, come ..read more