All posts by jimrichter

The Richter Mandolin Camp for the Rest of Us is very excited to announce Lauren Price Napier as a new instructor for 2025. Lauren is an incredible mandolinist and singer who along with her sister Leanna is tearing up the bluegrass world.

Also returning for 2025 are Don Julin and Laurelyn Dossett.

Registration is now open.

Very excited that we are once again a few days from the annual Mandolin Camp for the Rest of Us! There is nothing more energizing than teaching with people you love as humans and deeply respect as musicians and educators. Camp has continued with the expanded teaching staff–me (Jim Richter), Don Julin, Mike Compton, and Laurelyn Dossett. We have more than a full camp. This camp strives to stay intimate and at 31 students this year, we have expanded camp as far as it can without compromising the spirit of the camp.

The Richter Mandolin Camp is scheduled for July 10th through July 13th, 2024. Registration page live and camp 2/3rds full. If interested in attending, please reach out to me!

Sorry because it sounds so cliche, but 2023 Richter Mandolin Camp for the Rest of Us was magical. Yes, I said it, magical. We had a tight-knit supportive community of mandolinists who encouraged each other in a way that produced moments of joy, poignancy, and sublimation. From classroom work to student recital, this cohort of students was incomparable.

And, speaking of incomparable, having Mike Compton, Don Julin, and Laurelyn Dossett on staff was nothing short of remarkable. Don has been my compadre going back to 2012. His voice is very much in the fabric of this camp. But so is Mike’s, as Mike is really the only person I could site as a mandolin mentor–someone who I actively sought out to learn more about this wonderful 8-string instrument. And the breakout star was Laurelyn. Campers were very appreciative of having a break from the male mandolin know-it-all instruction to have time with her for harmony vocalizing and songwriting. Plus her performance of Zeppelin’s “Rain Song” at the concert left individuals speechless.

The concert. Wow. From the Banister Family Bluegrass Band (Roger Banister, Denise Kocur, Daryl Jones, and yours truly), to Laurelyn, Mike, Don, and Gordon Bonham, we covered a wide array of mandolin music in a little under 2 and 1/2 hours.

So where are we for 2024? The 11th Annual Richter Mandolin Camp for the Rest of Us will be Wednesday July 10th through Saturday July 13th, 2024 in Bloomington Indiana. You can learn more at the information page. Registration is live.

The Jim Richter Blues Mandolin podcast captures all of the Mandolin Blues Lick of the Day series and any other blues-related videos that I post. Consider subscribing to it for weekly, if not daily, content!

Tickets are now available in the Shop for the faculty concert to be held Friday 7/14/2023. More information here on the Concert page.

After 15 years I revisited one of my favorite Zeppelin tunes and one of my earliest Zeppelin YouTube videos (my first I believe). Ten Years Gone is a beautifully composed and harmonically complicated Jimmy Page piece on Physical Graffiti. At the time I did my YouTube video, I was still figuring things out both in terms of arrangement and transcription. I was discovering new sounds and trying to marry my blues technique and my love Mike Compton’s playing into an approach that was truthful, authentic, reflective of the original source material, and easily accessible (as I’m not the most complicated player). In terms of transcription, I hated Tabledit and was so happy when I moved to Progression and then Notion.

With the development of this new site (the 4th iteration of the jimrichter.com website in 20 years), I’m going back through old Tabledit transcriptions and updating. As I started working on Ten Years Gone, I knew it needed some work overall. I have now rearranged it, have it closer to the original (though mando-centric), and have included the accompanying guitar tab (not exact, but meant to serve as a practice track). I’ll be doing this with some other older arrangements. This is one I’ll make available to all, as it really is a testament to serious adaptation of rock guitar to mandolin.

Typically such arrangement/transcription would only be available to Tab Members or those who receive instruction from me. But, I think it’s important for people to expand their ears and consideration of rock on the mandolin. This is not a Pickin’ On Zeppelin version, an early “Great Balls of Fire” NGR style, or high octane Billy Strings. I love all those I mentioned, but those are much more bluegrass-based than rock-oriented. This is truly trying to envision how Ten Years Gone would have been played by Page had he written it for the mandolin. For those who are interested in other such arrangements, please consider becoming a Tab Member. 

At Mandolin Camp North and Richter Camp, I’ll be teaching how to play this and other Led Zeppelin and classic rock tunes.

Below you have PDFs for mandolin only and mandolin w/ guitar (I arranged the guitar to capture the main guitar theme, but also realize that it is layered throughout), as well as Notion files for both mandolin only and mandolin w/ guitar.

Notion for mandolin only; Notion for mandolin and guitar; mandolin only PDF; mandolin and guitar PDF

The 2023 Richter Camp for the Rest of Us is excited to announce that Laurelyn Dossett has been added as an associate instructor. Laurelyn (https://www.laurelyndossett.com/) is a brilliant singer/songwriter from North Carolina whose original material has been recorded by Levon Helm and Rhiannon Giddens. Laurelyn will be available for singing/songwriting help before and after mandolin classes. She’ll also help with with evening jams, the student recital, and will perform at the faculty concert. Laurelyn has taught songwriting and singing at the Augusta Heritage Center and the Monroe Mandolin Camp, as well as at many universities, workshops and festivals. She is the recipient of the Betty Cone Medal of Arts, the North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship for songwriting, the Chris Austin songwriting contest at Merlefest, and has been a fellow at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts. You can learn more about her on the Instructor Bios Page.