mike marshall | ArtistWorks

How to Tune a Mandolin with an Electric Tuner: Beginner Lesson

Wed, 10/23/2013 - 5:44pm

Written by ArtistWorks

Topics: bluegrass, mandolin, mike marshall, tuning

"It's never perfect, but we do the best we can." - Mike Marshall

Mandolin tuning is so incredibly important, and something you'll definitely want to master before you even think about playing with anyone else. If your mandolin is not in tune, it doesn't matter how good you are - it's just not going to sound good. If you're new to learning mandolin, tuning a mandolin is not exactly an intuitive process… As Mike mentions, there's a saying that goes: if you've been playing mandolin for 30 years, you spend 15 of those years mandolin tuning and the other 15 years playing out of tune.

The truth is, it takes a lot to tune a mandolin and get it right, but the good news is that there's many who have come before you. So pay attention to this tutorial all about mandolin tuning from Mike Marshall and learn how to tune a mandolin from a master.

Profiles in Online Learning: BlueLizardMan

Tue, 09/24/2013 - 5:37pm

Written by AW

Topics: bluegrass, Interview, mandolin, mike marshall, Music Education, online learning

ArtistWorks: What's your real name?

BlueLizardMan: Bob Ketterlinus

AW: How old are you?

BLM: 61 (yikes).

AW: Where are you from?

BLM: I've lived most of my life in Glenside, PA, a wonderful, small close-knit commuter suburb of Philadelphia. I live around the corner from the historic Keswick Theater (my first date when it was still a movie theater), host to top name acts like BB King, Buddy Guy, Johnny Cash and too many others to list. I've also lived in Loch Haven and Harrisburg, PA and Washington DC area when in college/grad school.

AW: BlueLizardMan is an interesting username... what are the origins there?

BLM: I picked up the nickname Lizard during a pickup football game in high school. I was very skinny and when I tried to tackle someone I was carried me into the end zone on their back - someone said I looked like a lizard on a rock. All of my male friends have nicknames - Turk, Ear, Head, Sarge, Puswart, etc. About 5 years ago when I was really getting into playing Blues and Blues Rock and Classic Rock covers on electric guitar with my buddies I had the idea I needed a new "stage" name - thus BlueLizardMan (a.k.a BLM).

Mandolin Symposium 2013 Footage

Tue, 09/10/2013 - 4:21pm

Written by AW

Topics: mandolin, mike marshall

We got some new videos up from the 2013 Mandolin Symposium in Santa Cruz, CA. For anyone not in the know, for the past ten years now Mike Marshall and David Grisman have been putting on a real mother of mandolin events, hands down THE mandolin event to end all mandolin events, at the beautiful University of California campus in Santa Cruz, California. If you're serious about all things mandolin this is something you must definitely look into - find out more at http://www.mandolinsymposium.com/.

But even if you can't make it, fear not, for we have footage. Aside from all the great Mandolin Symposium 2011 stuff already up (be sure to get on it if you haven't already), we have a brand new batch of videos from the most recent Symposium that took place in June featuring Mike playing with Don Stiernberg, Adam Steffey and the Dawg himself. Click on the picture to jump to the new section or just find it all in Music+.