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. 

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, Karl Tiren and Magnus Zetterlund play 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 tune.

In Mandolin Secrets Academy you’ll find:

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

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

Click Here To Watch Video

In this video, Magnus Zetterlund and Karl Tiren 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. Our mandolin arrangement includes a melody part and a harmony part that can be played on both mandolin and octave mandolin. Thanks to Academy member Jane Gregory for her contribution

This piece was originally included in the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach (1725), which JS Bach presented to his second wife. The piece has long been attributed to JS Bach, due to its inclusion in the Notebook, but was actually written for the harpsichord by a contemporary of Bach's, Christian Petzold.

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

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 Älvdalen, Sweden.

We recorded a spontaneous jam session in Falun, Sweden early July 2022. The band is Magnus Zetterlund (Sweden) octave mandolin, Hayes Griffin (Ohio, US) mandolin, and Ondra Kozak (Czech republic) fiddle.

Click Here To Watch Video

 In Mandolin Secrets Academy you’ll find:

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

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 Kozak (Czech republic) fiddle.

If I could do ONE thing for the rest of my life, it would be this; playing Swedish fiddle tunes with musicians like Hayes and Ondra in my studio. I enjoy this 100 %!  

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 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 Magnus Zetterlund (Sweden) mandolin, Hayes Griffin (Ohio, US) mandolin, and Ondra Kozak (Czech republic) guitar. 

Sheet music, tabs, audio tracks and instructions for this tune you’ll find in Mandolin Secrets Academy.

Click the link to watch video

In this video, Magnus Zetterlund and Hayes Griffin are playing the swing standard, “Avalon” by Al Jolson, Buddy DeSylva, and Vincent Rose. Magnus is playing a Phoenix Neo Bluegrass mandolin and Hayes is playing a Red Diamond A-style mandolin. 

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

Back on Mandolin Mondays this week, we have Swedish mandolinist Magnus Zetterlund with us playing a beautiful Swedish fiddle tune called "Halls Lilla Vals" written by Jon Erik Hall (1877-1948) from Bergsjö in Hälsingland.

Magnus is playing a sweet electro-acoustic Phoenix Jazz mandolin.
Click the link to watch the video

You can grab a free copy of the sheet music and tabs at:
https://www.mandolinsecrets.com/mandolinmondays

New single, released August 24th, 2021. This is a Nordic folk, mandolin original called “Waltz of the Dreams” by Magnus Zetterlund. The instruments played are mandolin, octave mandolin, and double bass.

Listen to the tune and add it to your streaming service: http://www.mandolinsecrets.com/waltzofthedreams

 Sheet music, tabs, and instructions for this tune you’ll find in Mandolin Secrets Academy.