Frog On A Lily Pad in the key of C (standard G tuning). The chords are C, F & G. It’s a great tune and a good exercise in closed position licks. To hear Bill Monroe’s version click here.

Visit www.seanray.com for more great banjo and guitar videos!

Here is a close representation of the intro break to Fire Ball Mail as played by Earl Scruggs on the Foggy Mountain Banjo album.

Bluegrass is known for it’s hot pickers, playing faster than ears can hear. It can make learning tunes a bit difficult. Luckily, we no longer have to ruin our records and needles, or stretch out our cassette tapes with endless rewinds. If you have iTunes on your computer, then you already have a great tool for slowing down music… AND video! It’s a little known fact… but Apple’s free QuickTime Player (installed along with iTunes) is great for slowing down your favorite audio and/or video clips. It even allows you to change the pitch so you don’t have to retune your instrument! Here’s how to do it:

1. Choose an audio or video file and open it in QuickTime Player (mp3s, wav, aif, mov, mp4, etc…)
2. In QuickTime, choose cmd-k (Mac) or ctrl-k (PC) to open the A/V Controls (or from the Windows menu)
3. Adjust the speed and/or pitch to your liking

If you don’t already have QuickTime, you can download it for free for your Mac or PC from Apple’s website. In addition, QuickTime Pro ($30 upgrade) allows you to easily set in and out points, loop edit files and more.

Here is a medium tempo demonstration of the quintessential flatpicking tune. This is based off Doc Watson’s original recording in the key of D (capo 2nd). Apart from Doc most people generally play the tune in the key of A.

Some people probably enjoy living under a rock, but if you’re not one of them, then perhaps you’re familiar with the Masterful Mandolin Musings of Mr. Mike Compton. If not, sit back, turn your ears on, and take a peek at the following video lesson.

Old Mountaineer is one of the more obscure Monroe tunes and a personal favorite of mine. Mike often plays it as a solo number during his shows and I prefer it this way to the original band version. It just seems to let the tune breath better this way (YMMV).

Now, I’m not going to pretend this is an easy tune… ’cause it ain’t. This is some seriously advanced stuff! So if you’re up for climbing this mandolin mountain, bring your own oxygen. Or just enjoy watching a master at work…

The immortal Carter Family classic, Wildwood Flower. A simple melody that lends itself well to crosspicking. If you’re unfamiliar with crosspicking it’s just a fancy word used to describe the process of simulating a banjo roll with a flatpick. In its simplest form the picking pattern generally starts with a downstroke and alternates from there. It gets a little more involved once you start branching out to multiple strings.

Randy Lynn Rag is all about the forward roll. It can be quite a challenge but it’s a great tune. How J.D. Crowe plays it as fast as he does is beyond comprehension.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the tune it requires Keith Tuners. Set the G tuner for G to F# and set the B tuner for B to C. Other than that it’s pretty self explanatory. Tab for this tune can be found in the Earl Scruggs Book.

Click image to play QuickTime 7 required.

For download info & playback options refer to this article

If it’s possible that you’ve yet to hear of Mike Compton, it’s unlikely that you’ve not heard him. Mr. Compton was the mandolin player on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? movie soundtrack. Mike teaches Monroe-style mandolin and has been offering lessons online via webcam for some time. He has recently had a few slots open up for new students. This is an amazing opportunity for mandolinists out there looking to learn from one of the finest Bluegrass mandolin players on the planet.

As for the particulars, here is a list of frequently asked questions regarding the lessons. To sign up or for more information, contact Mike at taterbugmusic [at] gmail [dot] com

The Red Haired Boy is a popular Irish reel that is a staple of Bluegrass jams. As with many fiddle tunes it goes by different names such as The Red Headed Irishman and The Jolly Beggar; the latter of which is based on the title and lyrics of an 18th Century Scottish ballad with a similar melody.

The tune is in the key of A (Mixolydian) and although I play it out of the G position capoed at the 2nd fret some guitar players prefer to play it in A without a capo.

For download info & playback options refer to this article

Sean Ray has been playing guitar and banjo for over 20 years. He is a member of the Madison-based band The Brothers Ray and plays in and around the Wisconsin area.

Sean Ray has a great website full of free video lessons for Bluegrass guitar and banjo. The videos cover classic Bluegrass tunes as well as some helpful exercises and licks, all at moderate and slow speeds.

The videos require Apple’s QuickTime 7 which is a free download for Mac and PC. If you have iTunes installed, you already have it. QuickTime, as Sean points out on his site, also allows you to slow down video to pitch to make learning fast runs much easier. Click on the picture to view his Arkansas Traveler video…

Sean lives in Madison, WI and plays around town in The Brothers Ray, who will be playing at this years SWBMAI Jamboree. He can be reached via his website.