Today we are playing a pentatonic lick in box number 3. This closed position pattern is one of the essential shapes for playing up the fretboard. This little etude makes you do extreme position shifts so that Box no 3 becomes effortless in your playing. I’m demonstrating the lick in C-major and F sh...

In this video, I will show you how to play the melody for sailor’s hornpipe on mandolin. This melody is an iconic fiddle tune that dates back to the 18th century.

This traditional music is presented in Celtic, Bluegrass, and Scandinavian music. However, my duo arrangement has a little ragtime flavo...

In this mandolin lesson, Hayes Griffin shows you how to play a chromatic lick that you can use to end your favorite jazz tunes or spice up your improvised solos.

We are playing a descending arpeggio line that resolves very nicely. Hayes also explains a one-chord trick that lets you use this lick fo...

In this video lesson, I show you how to play a traditional Swedish fiddle tune called Årepolskan. This dance tune is a triplet polska from the region of Jämtland.

The melody is interesting, wandering from G-major to E-minor in a typical way for this tradition. It is a soulful and elegant fiddle tun...

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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 practicing, ...

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 version to show you how to pl...

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 playing.

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 adapt thi...

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 original Bill Monroe version.

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 lesson.

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 steady. 

 In M...

Here is a swing lick that works well for ending a jazz tune like the pros!

We play the phrase in the key of A, Bb and C major. Then we demonstrate it for the songs Blues For Ike and All Of Me. It’s a must-know line for improvisers, spicing up a simple major scale with some blues sound.  

In Mandol...