Scales & Finger Patterns for Mandolin

Summary: The mandolin belongs to the guitar family of musical instruments. Considerably smaller, the mandolin has eight strings which are paired together in four courses that are strummed or plucked to produce sound. Mandolins are typically tuned the same as a violin, but can be tuned to produce the same fretting patterns as the standard guitar. Believed to have derived from Italian culture, the Mandolin is used in a variety of music genres including Bluegrass, Country and Western, Folk, and Rock and Roll. Even Greek and Indian cultures have incorporated the Mandolin into Kantades and Carnatic music.

In this free video series, our expert Levin Schwartz will teach you everything you need to know about scales and finger patterns on the mandolin. He will tell you how to play scales with finger patterns starting with the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers. He'll show you those same patterns in high and low octaves, and show you how to move those patterns around. He'll even give you some scale exercises you can do to improve your chops including a sequential pattern, a pattern of thirds, and a triad exercise.