Overview, and What is the Chop

A Summary of what's ahead and an explanation of what you'll be studying

In this lesson path you’ll learn basic bluegrass chord shapes, and will slowly be introduced to the proper way to articulate the chord to get the sound and feel of a real bluegrass chop. You’ll learn some basic rhythmic embellishments as well. The chop is simply the way the mandolin plays rhythm in Bluegrass music. Short, staccato chord stabs on the back-beat of the rhythm. Usually coming right after the bass, it helps define the overall sound, tempo, feel, and drive in bluegrass. In the next section we'll look at the chord shapes for your fretting hand.