Nothing is better than jamming some fiddle tunes with your friends!

In this video, Magnus Zetterlund and Mikael Grund play a bluegrass fiddle tune called Big Sciota. The melody is really cool, wandering from G-major to E-minor in an interesting way. 

Thanks to Hayes Griffin for teaching me this must-know tune!

You'll find complete mandolin tutorial with sheet music, tabs, audio tracks, and instructions for this tune in Mandolin Secrets Academy. 

In this mandolin video lesson, I show you how to play the harmony for a traditional Swedish fiddle tune called Vals efter Pål Karl. This dance tune is a waltz from the region of Älvdalen, Dalarna.

The harmony is quite interesting, following the melody in parallel movements. The intervals mainly consist of thirds, fourths, fifths, and sixths. The tune is archaic and raw yet groovy in the A-Dorian mode. 

Our arrangement is a three-part arrangement with a melody and harmony part on the mandolin and the chords part on the octave mandolin. 

 I play the tune with my friend Lena Jonsson, a fantastic fiddle player from Sweden. 

There is an iconic recording of this tune on the album, "Längs Gamla Stigar och Färdevägar" by Simon Simonssons Kvartett from 1989. Ola Bäckström plays fiddle on this album, and his playing inspires my harmony.  

In Mandolin Secrets Academy you’ll find:

• Sheet music/tabs (PDF)
• Backing and...

In this week’s episode, Magnus and Hayes are discussing:

• What is your proudest moment as a mandolin player?
• Do you ever take breaks from playing music? For how long?
• Magnus's new album “Nordic Symphonic”
• Hayes teaching experience at “Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp”

Here are weblinks mentioned in the show:

Sign up for LIVE stream notifications:
https://mandolinsecrets.com/podcast

Nordic website:
 https://www.nordicmusic.nu/

Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp
 https://www.flatpik.com/steve-kaufmans-acoustic-kamp-overview

In this video, I show you how to play the chords, bassline, and rhythm for a mandolin original called Majblomman by me, Magnus Zetterlund. It’s a lively tune that is fun to play.

Majblomman (The Mayflower) is a waltz in A-major with three parts. In this lesson, we are focusing on the chords and the rhythm. Pay attention to the bass line that makes the foundation for this rhythm track. 

There are also melody lessons for this tune. 

In Mandolin Secrets Academy you’ll find:

• Sheet music/tabs (PDF)
• Backing and play-a-long tracks (MP3)
• How-to-play-instructions

Click Here To Watch Video

THIS WEEK ONLY:

Fourth Anniversary Offer!

Test Drive the Entire Academy for $1 for 14 days!

Available until Friday, September 1st, 2023.

Click the link to learn more

In this video lesson, I show you how to play a Minuet in G major (BWV Anh. 116) by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is a delightful tune to play on the mandolin and is a lovely introduction to classical and Baroque music, even for jazz, folk, and bluegrass players like me, Magnus Zetterlund. 

Our three-part mandolin arrangement includes a melody, harmony, and chords/bassline part played on the octave mandolin. 

This piece was originally included in the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach (1725), which JS Bach presented to his second wife.

 In Mandolin Secrets Academy you’ll find:

• Sheet music/tabs (PDF)
• Play-a-long tracks (MP3)
• How-to-play-instructions

Click Here To Watch Video

In this mandolin video lesson, I give you a melody sequence for the G-major scale. It’s a two-note pattern that is very useful to practice your technique but also in the form of a vocabulary builder that you can use as a lick in your improvisations. 

I’m even demonstrating how to use this line to make variations to Irish tunes like Morning Star and Bluegrass repertoire like Big Sciota. 

It’s an excellent exercise for building your technique and improving your vocabulary, a must-know line for improvisers. 

In Mandolin Secrets Academy you’ll find:

• Sheet music/tabs
• Play-a-long tracks (MP3)
• How-to-play-instructions

Click Here To Watch Video

It's the 100th Anniversary of Bill Monroe's Gibson F-5 mandolin, signed by Lloyd Loar. 

His instrument, the Gibson F-5 Master model with serial number 73987, was tested and approved on July 9th, 1923. It has become the most famous instrument in country and bluegrass music history. 

I'm celebrating the anniversary with my new mandolin original called Majblomman (The Mayflower) by me, Magnus Zetterlund. It's a lively tune that is fun to play.

My composition is not bluegrass music. However, I feel part of a tradition that returns to Mr. Bill Monroe, Lloyd Loar, and the players and builders before them. 

My new instrument is modeled after the legendary mandolin I just mentioned. I play a Red Diamond mandolin, The Vintage F Model, July 9th voicing, -a fantastic instrument by Mr. Don Macrostie.

I'm grateful to be a part of a long and living tradition of mandolin music. 

Mandolin players and luthiers, congrats on the 100th anniversary of July 9th!

You'll find...

In this video, I show you how to play a mandolin original called Majblomman by me, Magnus Zetterlund. It’s a lively tune that is fun to play. Majblomman (The Mayflower) is a waltz in A-major with three parts. In this lesson, we are focusing on the melody for the A and B parts. Pay attention to the picking direction for the triplets in the opening line.

There is also an octave mandolin accompaniment to this tune. 

In Mandolin Secrets Academy you’ll find:

• Sheet music/tabs (PDF)
• Backing and play-a-long tracks (MP3)
• How-to-play-instructions

Click Here To Watch Video

In this mandolin video lesson, I give my best tips and exercises for going from backup to lead, chords to melody. This is an essential skill; we must practice it to be as fluent as we like. 

I’m demonstrating the exercise with the tune Bill Cheatham, but you can use this concept for any music you play. 

A few of my pro tips are: 

- Keep the melody in your head all the time. 

- Make TIMING the no1 priority. Accept sloppiness in tone and melodic lines. 

- Play the switching with a tune you know well. Both chords and melody. 

 In Mandolin Secrets Academy you’ll find:

• Sheet music/tabs
• Play-a-long tracks (MP3)
• How-to-play-instructions

 Click Here To Watch Video