StretchLearn Course

Learn the mandolin the right way, from your very first note

Build a relaxed pick grip, clean double-string tone, driving chop chords, smooth tremolo, and real fiddle tunes, so you sound musical and never have to unlearn bad habits.

Preview Curriculum Back to Catalog

Beginner9 hrSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

This course teaches the foundations of bluegrass and folk mandolin using approaches drawn from the Bill Monroe tradition, the Mel Bay and Hal Leonard methods, and the FFcP (four-finger closed-position) system popularized by Ted Eschliman. You will learn an efficient pick grip, clean double-course picking, the percussive chop chord that drives bluegrass backup, tremolo for sustaining melody, movable closed-position chord shapes, and the G and A major scales. Every lesson pairs a precise physical instruction with a measurable drill and a named tune, so you can track your own progress.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Hold the mandolin and grip the pick with a relaxed, sustainable setup that produces a clean tone across both strings of each course

Tune the four courses to GDAE in perfect fifths using a clip-on tuner and your own ear, and keep paired strings in unison

Pick clean alternating downstrokes and upstrokes that sound both strings of a course together without buzz or a doubled flam

Play the two-finger and closed four-finger chop chords for G, C, D, and A and use the chop as a backbeat in bluegrass rhythm

Build a smooth, even tremolo and use it to sustain a slow melody line

Play the one-octave G major and A major scales and perform fiddle tunes such as Boil Them Cabbage Down and Old Joe Clark

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: Setting Up and Holding the Mandolin

Get the instrument fitted, strung, and tuned, then build the relaxed hold and pick grip that every other skill depends on. You learn the parts, the GDAE tuning, and how to sit and hold without tension.

3 lessons

Parts of the Mandolin and Choosing an InstrumentContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

Sitting, Holding, and the Pick GripContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Tuning to GDAE and String CareContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: Double-Course Picking and Clean Tone

Build the alternating pick stroke that sounds both strings of a course cleanly, then learn to cross courses smoothly. You learn down and up strokes, the rest stroke, and how to fix buzz and the doubled flam.

3 lessons

The Pick Stroke on Open CoursesContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Crossing Courses and Reading TablatureContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Fixing Buzz, Flam, and Muddy NotesContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Chords and the Bluegrass Chop

Learn the movable closed-position chord shapes and the percussive chop that drives bluegrass rhythm. You learn two-finger and four-finger chords, the chop technique, and how to play backup behind a tune.

3 lessons

First Chords: Two-Finger and Open ShapesContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Closed Chord Shapes and the ChopContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Playing Backup Behind a TuneContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Scales, Tremolo, and Your First Tunes

Put the skills together: play the G and A major scales, build a singing tremolo, and perform real fiddle tunes. You finish able to play recognizable melodies with a steady pulse and a clean, sustained tone.

3 lessons

The G and A Major ScalesContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Building TremoloContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Playing Your First Fiddle TunesContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

mandolinbeginner mandolinbluegrasschop chordstremolodouble-course pickingfiddle tunesGDAE tuning