Happy New Year, my mandolin friend!
The first video out in 2023 is a golden memory from the previous summer.
We are playing a traditional Scandinavian dance tune on the mandolin, octave mandolin and fiddle. This is the Silkesvalsen (the Silk Waltz), a traditional dance tune from...
Get my top tips for how to use a looper in your practice room.
In this video, I want to show you some tips for boosting creativity using a loop pedal. It’s a fun and simple way to bring new ideas into your playing.
I will explain how you can use it for scale...
In this video lesson, I show you how to play the harmony for Minuet in G major (BWV Anh. 114) by Johann Sebastian Bach. Our arrangement includes a harmony part that can be played on both the mandolin and the octave mandolin. I will show you both ways in this video. It is a delightful duo...
In this video, we play a traditional Nordic dance tune on the mandolin guitar and fiddle. This is Polska after Juringius, Sweden.
We recorded a spontaneous jam session in Falun, Sweden early July 2022. The band is Magnus Zetterlund (Sweden) mandolin, Hayes Griffin (Ohio, US) guitar, and Ondra...
In this mandolin lesson, Hayes Griffin shows you how to play the chords to the Bill Monroe tune “Tennessee Blues.”
There are many ways that modern players choose to interpret this tune, but here Hayes uses the unique “crooked time” signature of the original Bill Monroe...
In this video lesson, I show you how to play the Minuet in G major (BWV Anh. 114) by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is a delightful tune to play on the mandolin and is a lovely introduction to classical and Baroque music.
Thanks to Academy member Jane Gregory for her contribution and wonderful...
Here is a mandolin duo arrangement of the Irish tune called Wren's Nest. This jig was written by the great fiddler Frankie Gavin of De Dannan. I
included an octave mandolin accompaniment, and we are using some powerful chord voicing suitable for Celtic rhythm playing. The chords used are Em, A,...
In this video, we are playing the swing standard “Sweet Georgia Brown.”
This song is nearly a century old and has become a favorite jam tune in jazz, swing, Western swing, and even bluegrass circles!
We recorded a spontaneous jam session in Falun, Sweden early July 2022. The band is...
In this video, we are playing a scale exercise for the Dorian mode.
This is a perfect 10 Minute Challenge if you want to improve your technique and experience more flow in your melody playing. I’m demonstrating the exercise to the jig rhythm, the 6/8 meter, but I will also show you how to...
In this mandolin lesson, Hayes Griffin shows you how to play the melody to the Bill Monroe tune “Tennessee Blues.”
There are many ways that modern players choose to interpret this tune, but this lesson is focused on learning the unique “crooked time” signature of the...
Here is a mandolin duo arrangement of the Irish tune called Wren's Nest.
This jig was written by the great fiddler Frankie Gavin of De Dannan.
It's a driving melody in E using the Dorian mode. I also included an octave mandolin accompaniment, but we are focusing on the melody in this video...
Here is a traditional Swedish March called Gärdebylåten.
This is one of the most common fiddle tunes in Scandinavian Folk Music. I like playing it with an American touch adding some bluegrass chop chords.
In this video, I also show you a pro tip for keeping the backbeat rhythm rock...
