Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The sixth annual Monroe Style Tune Writing Contest was presented by Noya Mountain Music, The Murphy Method, and the Monroe Mandolin Camp.
Designed to ensure that new instrumental music of the sort written by Bill Monroe during his lifetime continues to be created, this competition awards cash prizes for new tunes of this sort. Entries were through October 31, and all one needed do to be enrolled is to share a video an original Monroe-inspired piece to the Monroe Mandolin Appreciation Society Facebook group.
Winners will be selected by the members of this group, scored by how many likes are given to each submission and a panel of esteemed secret judges.
In answer to the question, “What is a Monroe style tune?”, contest organizers respond…
“The Monroe-style encompasses a wide range of musical moods and tempos, from bluegrass blues, fast breakdowns, medium-tempo classics like Gold Rush or Road to Columbus, or the heritage old-tones reminiscent of Call of the Shepherd. Each of these tunes showcases a different facet of the Monroe-style, diverse, expressive, and yet rooted in tradition.”
If you like the video, please consider supporting this channel by becoming a Patron at
patreon.com/noyamountainmusic
Even pressing like, subscribing, sharing, or leaving a comment is helpful to getting more free mandolin teaching out here. Thanks!
You can find a wide range of video instruction on mandolin for all levels at noyamountainmusic.com
email christopher@noyamountainmusic.com for private lessons or questions.
if you'd like to send a tip: Venmo: @Christopher-henry02 or Paypal: @noyamountain
Happy Picking!
The sixth annual Monroe Style Tune Writing Contest was presented by Noya Mountain Music, The Murphy Method, and the Monroe Mandolin Camp.
Designed to ensure that new instrumental music of the sort written by Bill Monroe during his lifetime continues to be created, this competition awards cash prizes for new tunes of this sort. Entries were through October 31, and all one needed do to be enrolled is to share a video an original Monroe-inspired piece to the Monroe Mandolin Appreciation Society Facebook group.
Winners will be selected by the members of this group, scored by how many likes are given to each submission and a panel of esteemed secret judges.
In answer to the question, “What is a Monroe style tune?”, contest organizers respond…
“The Monroe-style encompasses a wide range of musical moods and tempos, from bluegrass blues, fast breakdowns, medium-tempo classics like Gold Rush or Road to Columbus, or the heritage old-tones reminiscent of Call of the Shepherd. Each of these tunes showcases a different facet of the Monroe-style, diverse, expressive, and yet rooted in tradition.”
If you like the video, please consider supporting this channel by becoming a Patron at
patreon.com/noyamountainmusic
Even pressing like, subscribing, sharing, or leaving a comment is helpful to getting more free mandolin teaching out here. Thanks!
You can find a wide range of video instruction on mandolin for all levels at noyamountainmusic.com
email christopher@noyamountainmusic.com for private lessons or questions.
if you'd like to send a tip: Venmo: @Christopher-henry02 or Paypal: @noyamountain
Happy Picking!
![Brand New Mandolin Course Release!! [Monroe Style Jamming 3]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hhDk5YW7_Co/mqdefault.jpg "Brand New Mandolin Course Release!! [Monroe Style Jamming 3]
Available now at https://noyamountainmusic.com
MSJ 3 continues the series at a more affordable price for many bluegrass budgets. Since so many folks now use the Strum Machine app, there hasn’t been such a need for as many practice tracks in the workshop, so that instead of each selection having a demo/practice track, there are about half as many of those as in previous courses which helps us offer the course at a lower price.
Each of the selections here are wonderful songs and tunes that are well known by folks in the tradition. The only official Monroe tune is the masterful Golden West, one of his later compositions which has three parts and is very challenging. That’s the only note-for-note tune in the course. The rest of the material focuses on learning the melody in a solid way, then exploring our favorite devices like the Slidey Lick, Staggered Arpeggios, and the Bounce Lick to add some classic Monroe style flavor and texture as we switch and swap and flavor to taste.
If you are not familiar with the main devices, the full teaching videos can be found on the Noya Mountain Music YouTube channel but are also included in the course for convenience. For those looking to explore one of the 12 week courses without breaking the bank, MSJ 3 is highly recommended!")
![Learn Infinity Mandolin Backup [Advanced Bluegrass]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iUHIsctjePU/mqdefault.jpg "Learn Infinity Mandolin Backup [Advanced Bluegrass]
I came up with the name Infinity Pattern as a way to describe the creative feeling I have about this handy arpeggio fingering that starts on a major third. I never heard Bill Monroe do this, but to me it is an extension of the way he would play often two octave arpeggios starting on the root.
Here were looking at the context of two of our favorite teacher songs, Blue Ridge Cabin Home and Your Love is Like a Flower. We use them a lot because they are simple and user-friendly for adapting new concepts in lead and in this case backup.
This Infinirt pattern works well from Eb to A or so coming off the G string and can be adapted in pieces for chords starting on the D string also, but is really optimized for beginning on the G string major third.
Please consider supporting this channel by becoming a Patron at
http://patreon.com/noyamountainmusic
if youd like to send a tip: Venmo: @Christopher-henry02 or Paypal: @noyamountain
For the full line of Noya Mountain Music mandolin courses and videos please visit:
https://noyamountainmusic.com
email christopher@noyamountainmusic.com for private lessons or questions.")
![Bill Monroes The Lick [Advanced Bluegrass Mandolin Improvising Device Lesson]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jn9enhjShQY/mqdefault.jpg "Bill Monroes The Lick [Advanced Bluegrass Mandolin Improvising Device Lesson]
The Lick is one of the most quintessential Bill Monroe improvising devices that he first recorded in 1954 on White House Blues. He used it a lot later in his career on Bluegrass Breakdown and this can be very powerful to unlock for creative abstractions away from the melody in a switch-and-swap concept.
Its a two bar device in the modern count and can connect wonderfully with other Monroe Style Devices lick Minor-Major Lick and The Scooper. If a student can pick this up, it can instantly add a lot of classic bluegrass flavor and texture into your jam session breaks and garner respect from experienced aficionados. You might find yourself getting a nod, smile, or a kind word from folks who know Bills music well.
Please consider supporting this channel by becoming a Patron at
http://patreon.com/noyamountainmusic
if youd like to send a tip: Venmo: @Christopher-henry02 or Paypal: @noyamountain
For the full line of Noya Mountain Music mandolin courses and videos please visit:
https://noyamountainmusic.com
email christopher@noyamountainmusic.com for private lessons or questions.
Happy Picking!")
![4 Mini Lessons [to strengthen your ear]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kDijHRDq7GE/mqdefault.jpg "4 Mini Lessons [to strengthen your ear]
Here are four great lessons for learning important foundational skills in bluegrass mandolin with a focus on understanding important improvisational concepts especially through a Monroe Style lens.
SIngle stroke arpeggios through chord forms is a wonderful way to develop creative confidence and improve muscle memory through chord forms. Here we are demonstrating with Blue Ridge Cabin Home, a classic jam session standard.
Little Maggie is a super standard that has the flat 7 chord in it so it can be a wonderful place to starnd understanding the infinity pattern for improvising.
Salt Creek is another must-know jam tune. Here were checking into staggered argpeggios and also touching back with the infinity pattern.
For the last mini-lesson, were back to Blue Ridge Cabin Home, but this time using the staggered arpeggio Monroe Device to color the chords, then demonstrating how to switch and swap with the melody which is a crucial threshold for learning to improvise.
Please consider supporting this channel by becoming a Patron at
http://patreon.com/noyamountainmusic
if youd like to send a tip: Venmo: @Christopher-henry02 or Paypal: @noyamountain
For the full line of Noya Mountain Music mandolin courses and videos please visit:
https://noyamountainmusic.com
email christopher@noyamountainmusic.com for private lessons or questions.")
