Simon Mayor is beyond doubt this country’s finest mandolin player, moving effortlessly between classical, traditional folk, jazz & blues. His dazzling technical skills grace all the music he plays. He’s also a fine guitarist & fiddle player, with a delicious sense of humour & great teaching ability. In 2022, he and Hilary James were awarded honorary directorships of The Classical Mandolin Society of America.
“Sheer musical brilliance” BBC World Service
Simon will cover all right & left hand techniques including position shifting, tremolo, decoration, tone production & more. There will also be the opportunity to accompany songs with singers from Hilary James’ Spring Song Weekend.
Simon will welcome Richard Collins (Mandolinquents, Slim Panatella & the Mellow Virginians) as guest tutor for a couple of the sessions. The weekend will feature some of the most requested pieces from Simon’s regular visits to Halsway Manor over the last eight years.
“A master musician at his absolute best” The Living Tradition
Halsway Manor will be hosting this weekend workshop alongside the Spring Song Weekend with Hilary James. Click here for further details.
Who is it for?
Mandolinists, mandola players, mandocellists and mandobassists (are there any out there?) are all invited to this group experience involving some ensemble playing (with easy parts to follow).
All ability levels are welcome, with the exception of complete beginners who may find themselves struggling. Ideally you’ll be able to get from start to finish of a fairly simple tune without stalling, and you’ll be able to read music or tablature to a reasonable standard (if you’re an experienced player but have only ever played by ear, tablature is very easy to learn). If you’re a guitarist or violinist trying a mandolin for the first time, you should be OK, but this is otherwise not going to be suitable for a beginner. Simon will send out PDFs of music/tablature and sound files in advance.
The Tutor
Simon Mayor is one of the world’s leading mandolin virtuosos and composers for the instruments. His many faceted career includes his own series on BBC Radio 2, an album in the Classic FM Top Ten chart and causing mayhem at a Canadian humour festival, but his most thrilling moment was a journey through the square window on BBC’s Playschool!
“Matchless playing and breadth of genres, from classical to ragtime. Superb.” Musician Magazine