Mandolin Lessons – Beginner To Advanced
Edora MS provides mandolin lessons for those who want to learn how to play mandolin from scratch, re-beginners who have decided to resume their training, and advanced mandolinists. We specialize in teaching Neapolitan mandolin (classical and traditional music) and bluegrass mandolin (folk and bluegrass music). On this instrument, you can play a wide range of musical styles, such as folk, bluegrass, Dixieland, Celtic, Irish, and jazz.
The mandolin has its unique sound and, as it is known, this instrument is far easier to play than many others. For example, learning guitar can be an issue due to having small hands because with short fingers you can’t reach all of the notes that lie outside the fret position. So, if you are the owner of small hands, the mandolin can be an excellent choice for you.
Besides, it is also important to note that this instrument has the same tuning as the violin, which means that mandolinists can play violin repertoire as well as essential violin masterpieces. However, unlike the violin, where an absolute pitch is a highly desirable ability (as the violin has no frets), you will not encounter pitch intonation problems. That is because the instrument allows you to produce an accurate note just by placing your finger anywhere between the two frets.
Mandolin lessons at Edora MS cover the following topics:
- Guide to proper hand position, the right manner of holding the mandolin and the pick. Tips on picking-hand and fretting-hand techniques. Mandolin triads and chord inversion. Fundamental rules for picking, and the different strum patterns. Guidance on how to choose the right pick according to size, material, thickness, and shape.
- Mandolin techniques and the wide range of musical articulation, scales, exercises that will help increase your mandolin playing speed. How to make your tremolo sound continuous and smooth, and development of uniformity of upstrokes and downstrokes. Cross-picking (forward and backward rolls) technique. Major, minor, chromatic, and pentatonic scales, arpeggios. Exercises for stopping the tremolo.
- Easy melodies and classical pieces (for the classical mandolin lessons) or popular bluegrass and old-time tunes (for the bluegrass mandolin lessons). A wide range of violin repertoire, including the most famous masterpieces of such composers as J.S. Bach, A. Vivaldi, W.A. Mozart, L.V. Beethoven, and many more. For the bluegrass mandolin lessons, we will offer you the various bluegrass solos of such famous mandolinists as Bill Monroe, Sam Bush, Ricky Skaggs, etc.
- Music notation basics, names of the open strings of the mandolin and fretboard geography, how to tune a mandolin, the rudiments of music. You will learn to distinguish one musical note from another and determine their duration, and learn such musical terms as rhythm, bars and notes values, and time signatures. You will play easy melodies and chords by ear. Also, you will develop your sight-reading skills.
Edora MS is a classically oriented school where education is organized using modern computer technologies. We provide our students with an opportunity to learn musical instruments with a personal teacher online through Skype, Zoom, etc.
According to recent research, the effectiveness of education under a teacher’s supervision is 70% higher compared to self-study by various YouTube lessons. However, you can learn a mandolin on your own, but it would not be worth it especially if you are a beginner. This is because most times, to learn on your own a piece of music effectively takes a few months. During this period probably, you would lose motivation and confidence in yourself.
In other words, various Youtube courses & tutorials that are promoted on the Internet, despite the growing popularity, will not replace the live communication with the teacher, and would not give you the desired rapid progress. Besides, self-study does not give you a real assessment and evaluation of your performance level, which often leads to failures and mistakes such as the wrong choice of a musical piece (for instance, an advanced composition that is a few levels higher than your current level). You might even stop playing mandolin and lose all interest in studying.
The teachers of Edora MS will help you love studying and playing the mandolin. There are a large number of sites that could provide similar services, but our research has shown us the administrations of these sites have no idea about their freelancers’ competence. Unlike them, Edora MS arranges labor contracts only with certified teachers whose qualifications we are confident about. All of our teachers possess vast pedagogical experience, have graduated from the best European music academies, and have earned many awards for their performance as musicians. They are able to meet the selection criteria to a very high standard, and we can assure you the best quality of services and professionalism from our team.
By clicking on this link, you can book your first lesson or a trial. The trial lesson will give you a clear idea of how we work and help you understand if our style of teaching suits you. Follow this link for Cancellation and Refund Policy at Edora MS. On this page, you can also read our teachers’ biographies.