Phil Berthoud
Fiddle, Guitar & Mandolin Performer, Author, Teacher, Composer, Arranger

07527 006437
contact@philberthoud.com

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Make ordinary chords sound amazing

Make ordinary chords sound amazing

by | Sep 10, 2023 | Guitar

For this article, I take a common chord progression of the sort you might find in many pop/folk/rock songs and show you some exciting ways to breathe new life into them.  Something other than standard strumming of the basic chords.  This is invaluable for coming up...
Bringing Irish Reels to Life – Bowing

Bringing Irish Reels to Life – Bowing

by | Sep 3, 2023 | Fiddle

Today, we’ll look at a well-known three-part Donegal tune, The Boys of Malin:  I’ll show you how to make this tune come to life on the fiddle with effective bowing.  Firstly, here’s the basic version of the tune as you might find it in a collection or online: This is...
Barre Chords on Mandolin – D and Dm shape

Barre Chords on Mandolin – D and Dm shape

by | Aug 10, 2023 | Mandolin

Knowing a couple of common barre chord shapes will make a big difference to your mandolin playing.  Here are a couple of good reasons: You’ll be able to play all the less common chords (things like C sharp minor, G flat, D sharp for example).  Which is great for...
Keys Explained for Folk Musicians

Keys Explained for Folk Musicians

by | Aug 2, 2023 | Music Theory

What does “key” mean? Over the years, I’d say this was one of the most common questions I’m asked about traditional tunes.  Most people who ask it will accept the answer I give, but some want to go deeper and understand more about keys.  Of these, the majority begin...