Updated!

New! Tabs for Popular Fiddle Tunes:

"Dixie Hoedown" • "Temperance Reel" • "Indian Killed a Woodcock"

Updated January 4, 2021

In Minnesota, Bruce Bernhart has been a mandolin player/enthusiast since the late 1980's

The Bruce Bernhart Mandolin Webpages explore the history of the mandolin, buying and building mandolins, basic chord structures, the different styles of playing, song tabs, the various makes and models of mandolins available on the market, and the "best of the web" on topics of interest to mandolinists

Bruce Bernhart Mandolin Lesson #10: Different types of Mandolin Chord Structures:

Major chords include a root (1st), 3rd and a 5th
A 6th is a 1, 3, 5, 6
A Major 7th is a 1, 3, 5, 7
An augmented is a 1, 3, 5#

Minor chords include a 1, 3rd flat, 5
A Minor 7th is a 1, 3rd flat, 5, and a 7th flat.
A Minor 6th is a 1, 3rd flat, 5, 6

Seventh chords include a 1, 3, 5, 7th flat.
A 9th is a 1,3,5, 7th flat, 9
Suspended 7th is 1,4, 5, 7th flat

Diminished chords include a 1, 3rd flat, 5th flat, 6 (double flatted 7th).

Memorize these chord structures!

9ths, 11ths and 13ths:

If we stack a third upon any seventh chord we now have a Ninth Chord. If we stack a third upon any ninth chord we now have an Eleventh Chord. Finally, if we stack a third upon any eleventh chord we now have a Thirteenth Chord. Pretty easy, eh?

Book Review (from mandocafe.com) The history of Regal Instruments of Chicago.

REGAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: 1895-1955 by Bob Carlin- SPECIAL NEW PUBLICATION PRICE OF $29.95 - The only book to trace the history of the Chicago musical manufacturer. With roots in Indianapolis, the Regal familiar to most collectors and players was spun off of music giant Lyon & Healy in 1908. Besides making ukuleles, mandolins, guitars and other stringed instruments for Lyon & Healy, Regal of Chicago supplied the majority of America's wholesalers with "house brand" instruments, and also had a long relationship with Montgomery-Ward. Draws upon period trade magazines, distributor catalogues and extent instruments from both public and private collections. Includes over 350 full-color photographs of guitars, mandolins, ukuleles and banjos. A must-have for all collectors. 318 pp.