Sheet Music
Roadmap to Bluegrass and Country Fiddle Mastery
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A step-by-step guide to
mastering country and bluegrass Fiddle
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Sequential with clear, easy to follow instruction
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Mastery broken up into three categories: Harmony, Melody, Rhythm
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Don't waste time "noodling" - supercharge your practice by working with INTENTION on you musical goals.
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"The Roadmap to Bluegrass and Country Bluegrass Fiddle Mastery is a sequential guide to breaking down the skills necessary to thrive in settings that involve improvisation, harmony, chords, back-up, and rhythm playing. It is divided into three main branches: Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm. Each branch has scaffolded steps that build on each other and gradually increase in difficulty / complexity. These skills will help in the following areas:
1. Playing with a singer
2. Accompanying other instruments (how to play chords on fiddle, rhythm techniques, and blending sounds)
3. HHow create a satisfying solo in bluegrass, country, folk, swing, blues, and related styles
4. Improvising on fiddle, starting with passable on-the-fly solos
Don't waste time "noodling" -
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supercharge your practice by working with INTENTION on your musical goals.
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Roadmap to Bluegrass and Country Mandolin Mastery
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A step-by-step pedagogical guide to
mastering country and bluegrass Mandolin
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Sequential and easy to follow
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Clear and defined instructions
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Mastery broken up into three categories: Harmony, Melody, Rhythm
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Don't waste time "noodling" - supercharge your practice by working with INTENTION on you musical goals.
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Essential Shuffle Bowings
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*Most Popular*
Country and Bluegrass Shuffles
PDF with written exercises for each shuffle
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Straight Shuffle
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Georgia Shuffle
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3, 3, 2 Shuffle
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Nashville Suffle
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Combination Shuffles
Also Included- Hyperlinked live demonstrations of each
Backing track for practice on alternating shuffles
Essential Double Stops For Fiddle
All Possible standard double stops for fiddle.
Use this to master harmony, read chord changes effortlessly and play tasteful, rich backup.
Essential Double Stops For Mandolin
All Possible standard double stops for mandolin,
Use this to master harmony, read chord changes effortlessly and play tasteful, rich backup.
Notation and TAB included
Waterfall Arpeggios (Fiddle)
Great lick for tagging a solo or break, playing backup, filling the spaces, and building your technique. Bobby Hicks, renowned Bluegrass Fiddler, used this tool often in his solos.
Waterfall Arpeggios (Mandolin)
Great lick for tagging a solo or break, playing backup, filling the spaces, and building your technique. Bobby Hicks, renowned Bluegrass Fiddler, used this tool often in his solos.
Bluesy Double Stops (Fiddle)
Ever wonder where that bluesy double stop sound comes from? Great for train sounds or colorful backup. This PDF guides you through all the possible combinations of bluesy double stop shapes (Includes 5th and b7th, b7th and 9th)
Bluesy Double Stops (Mandolin)
Ever wonder where that bluesy double stop sound comes from? Great for train sounds or colorful backup. This PDF guides you through all the possible combinations of bluesy double stop shapes (Includes 5th and b7th, b7th and 9th)
Notation and TAB included
Major Pentatonic/Blues Scale (Fiddle)
Major Pentatonic
The absolute fundamental skill for learning melodies quickly, Improvising with ease, and outlining harmony. Mastering the pentatonic scale in every key is essential for any fiddler.
90% of fiddle playing in this Country/Folk/Bluegrass and Blues is improvised "back up" to a singer or other instrumentalists taking improvised (Or planned) solos.
Major Blues
What sort of practice will give you the biggest return on your time?
Breaks, melodies, and backup are most often composed of this lesser known blues scale. It’s just one note away from the Pentatonic Scale, but that one extra note adds a ton of color.
That one extra note is the minor third, which nods at a darker, more colorful sound than just pentatonic.
In the key of D, that makes this scale D, E, F, F#, A, and B
Slide up from the minor third to a major third to achieve a brighter sound, or down from the minor third to the second for a darker sound.
This scale alone works alright over all of the chords, but it sounds even better when you switch scales based on the chord in that moment: IE: G major blues over G and A Major Blues over A.
You can hear renowned guitar players Bryan Sutton and Marcel Ardans talk extensively about this scale in this interview:
Bryan Sutton Teaches Advanced Improv Exercises For Bluegrass Guitar
Working on this scale in all the bluegrass keys should be a foundational exercise for any fiddle player.
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Major/Blues Pentatonic Scale (Mandolin)
Major Pentatonic
The absolute fundamental skill for learning melodies quickly, Improvising with ease, and outlining harmony. Mastering the pentatonic scale in every key is essential for any mandolin player.
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Major Blues
What sort of practice will give you the biggest return on your time?
Breaks, melodies, and backup are most often composed of this lesser known blues scale. It’s just one note away from the Pentatonic Scale, but that one extra note adds a ton of color.
That one extra note is the minor third, which nods at a darker, more colorful sound than just pentatonic.
In the key of D, that makes this scale D, E, F, F#, A, and B
Slide up from the minor third to a major third to achieve a brighter sound, or down from the minor third to the second for a darker sound.
This scale alone works alright over all of the chords, but it sounds even better when you switch scales based on the chord in that moment: IE: G major blues over G and A Major Blues over A.
You can hear renowned guitar players Bryan Sutton and Marcel Ardans talk extensively about this scale in this interview:
Bryan Sutton Teaches Advanced Improv Exercises For Bluegrass Guitar
Working on this scale in all the bluegrass keys should be a foundational exercise for any mandolin player.
Minor Pentatonic Scale (Fiddle)
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Great for Visual Learners
The minor pentatonic scale can be used across styles- Blues, rock, bluegrass, country...
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Any time you need a darker, bluesier sound- Use this collection of notes to capture a darker feeling that is versatile and easy to use in your improvisation.
This resource is designed to both present a sequenced, scaffolded approach to symmetrical finger patterns and also provide backing tracks that can be used to guide practice.
Minor Blues Scale (Mandolin)
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COMING SOON
Notation and TAB included
