Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Part 1

from: Melodic Mandolin Tunes with John Reischman

This lesson is part of the course Melodic Mandolin Tunes with John Reischman.

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Learn great traditional and original tunes in a variety of styles—old-time, bluegrass, Latin, jazz, and more—from a modern mandolin master.

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Itzbin Reel

“Itzbin Reel” is one of the first tunes John wrote. It’s basically a fiddle tune in the key of A, although the form is AABA rather than the standard AABB form of most fiddle tunes, and the B section has ten measures instead of the standard eight. John starts by showing you the A major scale and a couple of scale patterns to get used to the key of A major. And then he starts taking apart each section slowly, phrase by phrase. He also talks about keeping a steady up-and-down motion with your picking hand so you stay in time even when you’re not sounding a note. This is helpful in “Itzbin Reel,” because it has a few syncopated phrases that emphasize offbeats.

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The Melodic Mandolin Tunes Subscription Includes:

More than 60 melodic mandolin tunes in a variety of styles
Right- and left-hand technique lessons
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Detailed notation and tablature for each tune
Play-Along videos so you can play along with John
Downloadable audio MP3s of each tune

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Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Part 1

Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Part 2

“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” Performance

Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Part 1

The pop and jazz standard “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” makes a great solo mandolin piece played chord-melody style. John starts by showing you a versatile movable chord voicing he learned from Jethro Burns, and explains, for example, how a G6 voicing can also be used for Em7, C9, or A7sus4. Then he walks you through the A part of his arrangement of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” explaining how he tries to make each chord ring out with sustain, and allowing the melody notes, the top notes of the chord, to be heard clearly.

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (Available to subscribers)

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Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Part 2 →

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