501jaycash - Posted - 02/21/2011:  05:26:40

Any suggestions on bluegrass starter books or DVD's to get started?

eddb - Posted - 02/21/2011:  06:27:57

Good question, I shall watch this thread with interest, I can not make up my mind between a the mandolin songbook, or Sam Bush's book, or any of the others out there.

Charley Wild - Posted - 02/21/2011:  06:28:02

There are a lot of them that will do the job. I'll only comment on what I have used myself and that is "Getting into Bluegrass Mandolin" by Dix Bruce. Nothing spectacular, just a good solid book and CD.

mandoteacher - Posted - 02/21/2011:  06:58:44

Get thee hence to a good mandolin teacher!

Aaron Hardebeck - Posted - 02/21/2011:  07:03:25

I've played Guitar as well as mandolin for a few years now, and having bought a plethora of both good and bad books trying to teach myself, I can say that the Watch & Learn products have been the most helpful for me. you can find all of the mandolin books and videos at: freeguitarvideos.com/mandolin/...ooks.html . I'm sure theres many other great books out their also, so all I can say is that these have worked well for me.

Bob Nyberg - Posted - 02/21/2011:  07:36:01

If you’re looking for a beginning DVD for bluegrass I’d suggest DVD-Bluegrass “Slow Jam for the Total Beginner” by Pete Warnick.

amazon.com/DVD-Bluegrass-Slow-...000BGPL1G

It probably won’t help much for learning mandolin other than the fact that you can jam along with the DVD playing some easy bluegrass songs. But the DVD does teach you a lot about bluegrass jamming etiquette. And the songs are very easy to play.

A sequel to that it is “Bluegrass Jamming” by Pete Warnick.

amazon.com/Bluegrass-Jamming-P...pd_cp_d_1

Again, it’s not for just for mandolin, but more for learning some bluegrass songs and etiquette.

Bob

501jaycash - Posted - 02/21/2011:  08:51:25

Thanks this is a pretty neat site.

quote:

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Originally posted by Aaron Hardebeck

I've played Guitar as well as mandolin for a few years now, and having bought a plethora of both good and bad books trying to teach myself, I can say that the Watch & Learn products have been the most helpful for me. you can find all of the mandolin books and videos at: freeguitarvideos.com/mandolin/...ooks.html . I'm sure theres many other great books out their also, so all I can say is that these have worked well for me.

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501jaycash - Posted - 02/21/2011:  08:57:14

Thanks to everyone,

Aaron Hardebeck - Posted - 02/21/2011:  14:40:07

You're welcome. You might also want to look at:homespuntapes.com/. they have some great mandolin DVD's from some of the best, including Bill Monroe.

TSSN - Posted - 02/22/2011:  05:10:03

"You Can Teach Yourself Fiddle" by Duncan. Published by MelBay. Sold online at places like alibris.com for a very small price (with CD, too). Many old-time & bluegrass standards are found therein.

mandoteacher - Posted - 02/22/2011:  05:57:30

Seriously, find a good teacher. Books are good as refreshers and for learning a specific chord or a specific tune, but not very good for catching you when you make a mistake or hold the pick wrong or what have you

TSSN - Posted - 02/22/2011:  14:19:52

quote:

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Originally posted by mandoteacher

Seriously, find a good teacher. Books are good as refreshers and for learning a specific chord or a specific tune, but not very good for catching you when you make a mistake or hold the pick wrong or what have you

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Mandoalbee - Posted - 02/22/2011:  17:42:15

If your mandolin teacher doesn't teach bluegrass by ear then I suggest an old one called simply "Bluegrass Mandolin" by Jack Tottle from Oak Publications. In 1974 I bought it because it was recommended by a good mandoiln player who didn't give lessons. I teach each student differently according to their needs.

Edited by - Mandoalbee on 02/22/2011 17:44:09

Ben Venuti - Posted - 02/22/2011:  19:15:08

Second on Tottle's book. Once upon a time it was all there was. It hits on all the major points and styles of bluegrass playing and covers a good range of classic standards. Not long after the publication of that book I left West Virginia to play in a band in Vermont and shortly after I arrived the band members decided to give Boston a shot as a home base. While I was in Boston I took a few lessons from Jack Tottle who was teaching out of the Music Emporium in Cambridge .

Jim Yates - Posted - 02/22/2011:  19:30:04

I have to agree with the Jack Tottle book recomendations. I saw Tasty LIcks in Oshawa many years ago and it was a great band with Jack Tottle – mandolin, Robin Kincaid – guitar, a teen-age Bela Fleck – banjo, Stacy Phillips – Dobro and Paul Kahn - bass.

Popeye39 - Posted - 02/23/2011:  16:25:16

I am currently being taught, from an instructor, out of Tottle's book. Working out well.

texas c - Posted - 02/25/2011:  14:18:50

Where can I get the Jack Tottle --"Bluegrass Mandolin" book :: Is it a biginner~~starter book??
I do not play at all !! Just a OLD MAN wanting to play !! && my first ever post...

Piotr - Posted - 02/27/2011:  07:53:43

What do you want to learn?

1) (non-classic) mandolin (basic technique, knowledge of fretboard, etc.)

2) bluegrass (various roles of instruments, groove, repertoire)

3) bluegrass mandolin (combining 1) and 2) with curiosity and ear for a broad range of music)

1) can be taught. 2) and 3) are about listening and experience.

If you want/need a teacher , make sure you get one who is a gigging musician.

Jim Yates - Posted - 02/27/2011:  08:44:05

Jack's book starts with simple tunes and becomes quite advanced by the end of the book. I'm sure your local music store could order it for you.

8string - Posted - 02/28/2011:  07:36:54

I've used Dennis Caplingers books and accompaning DVD's. They come in banjo, mandolin and guitar as far as I've seen and you can check them out on the internet. Each covers the same tunes, provide slow broken into step by step instruction and also play along tracks covering common bluegrass tunes such as Cripple creek, old joe clark, etc. Great for self learning or as supplement to a teacher.

5stringabuse - Posted - 04/29/2011:  23:47:36

I really like the Bluegrass Mandolin book by Jack Tottle. IMHO, it's a wealthy ressource and tops many others. And, to begin, I finally find it better to learn with a comprehensive book rather than from various internet ressources, because they can confuse you in the beginning.

There is another good book by Rainer Zellner, unfortenately only in German ("Das Mandolinenbuch"), which gives a nice overview over a lot of folk/oldtime/bluegrass mandolin music. If you don't speak German, it might by useless, but the selection of the tunes is very nice (Irish, Classical, Oldtime, Jazz, Bluegrass etc).

Hans

DaddyJ - Posted - 04/30/2011:  12:36:30

You'll need a good songbook and a good method book at the very least.   Most good method books incorporate a lot of songs but a good songbook is still a recommended supplement to any method book.  I own all of the following and would recommend any of them:

Method books:

Fretboard Roadmaps for Mandolin: Anything by Fretboard Roadmaps is great.  Chock full of useful information that you can apply immediately.

Bluegrass Mandolin by Jack Tottle: This seems to have become the "gold standard" bluegrass mandolin book.  You can't go wrong with this one.

Songbook:

Deluxe Bluegrass Mandolin Method:  They call this a method book but it's really a songbook with some instructional stuff thrown in here and there.  This contains the music for 30 of the most common fiddle tunes and has been an invaluable resource for us.  My son reads standard notation so he's been able to use it for guitar as well.

Parking Lot Picker's Songbook by Dix Bruce:  I only recommend this if you like to sing in G.  Most of the songs are in G, which is a key I can't sing in, but apparently I'm in the minority.  Otherwise it's a great resource.

vognell - Posted - 05/11/2011:  07:44:35

Mike Marshall's "Fundamentals for All Mandolin Players, Vol. 1 and 2" seems to be a pretty decent introduction to mandolin.  Covers everything from basic right hand/left hand technique to scales, arpeggios, and improvisation.     

Joe Mangio - Posted - 02/16/2012:  16:07:33

"Teach yourself Bluegrass Mandolin"
By Andy Statman
This is a great starter book...I first got mine at the local library.

TI_USER - Posted - 02/17/2012:  04:23:36

There's a guy on Mandolin Cafe that's selling a ton of mandolin books.  Here's the links.

mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin/class...retrieval

mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin/class...retrieval

mandoteacher - Posted - 02/18/2012:  06:20:36

You don't need a separate mandolin book to learn bluegrass tunes. I recommend the Fiddler's Fakebook - it has over 300 common tunes. Learning to read is not hard. I can give you a few pointers which will send you on your way.

mojohand40 - Posted - 02/19/2012:  14:32:30

quote:

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Originally posted by Charley Wild



There are a lot of them that will do the job. I'll only comment on what I have used myself and that is "Getting into Bluegrass Mandolin" by Dix Bruce. Nothing spectacular, just a good solid book and CD.

---

+1 this is a pretty good book.

I also like eddiecollins.biz/eddie/bookjammer.html "Bluegrass Jammers Top 10"  real begginer stuff, but fun to play along with, I get a lot of mileage from this as I use it for guitar and fiddle also.

I also like Butch Baldassari's DVD's. Great resource for beginners and intermediates.

TSSN - Posted - 02/21/2012:  06:51:34

+1 on all things Butch Baldassari, too.

Chryshen - Posted - 02/21/2012:  14:24:22

 Hi, I have tried several books. Initially the most useful one was LEARN TO PLAY THE BLUGRASS WAY ASAP Mandolin Edition by Eddie Collins, which comes with CDs, very instructive and heplful.  I recently bought PARKING LOT PICKERS SONGBOOK mandolin Edition which has nearly 200 songs with tab and 2 CDs, an ideal way to try out material and get an idea of the basic tune.  Hope this helps.  

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Edited by - Chryshen on 02/21/2012 14:27:50

TSSN - Posted - 02/22/2012:  10:36:07

Welcome Chryshen...

mojohand40 - Posted - 02/24/2012:  06:48:33

quote:

---

Originally posted by Aaron Hardebeck



I've played Guitar as well as mandolin for a few years now, and having bought a plethora of both good and bad books trying to teach myself, I can say that the Watch & Learn products have been the most helpful for me. you can find all of the mandolin books and videos at: freeguitarvideos.com/mandolin/...ooks.html . I'm sure theres many other great books out their also, so all I can say is that these have worked well for me.

---

You know, I checked this site out over the last weekend after reading your post and I purchased and downloaded his video on playing "Sitting on Top of The World" in two keys. (G and A)

Good, straightforward stuff! I like it and will probably download some more.  Thanks for the tip!

Mandoalbee - Posted - 09/11/2013:  12:32:23

As far as the Fiddlers Fakebook goes...yes there are lots of great tunes available if can read notation, BUT most of those tunes are ornamented, professional and contest versions. Way above the beginner's head

OregonGal - Posted - 10/13/2013:  19:20:36

I've been using Hal Lenord Mandolin Method Book 1 (2nd edition) - comes with a CD so you know what it is supposed to sound like. It gives all the basics about the mandolin, as well as the basics of reading music and starts you with easy tunes, adds new notes, scales and chords as you go along through the book. I highly recommend it. I also recommend Artistworks Mandolin School with Mike Marshall who is a fully professional player and teaches great mandolin online through this school. The lessons are wonderful, you make a video of yourself playing the lesson, and you get one back with technique and comments from Mike. It is great - and it is way less expensive than paying a mandolin teacher every week - but you've got to be dliligent. That said, even having played music on various instruments for years and years, I also took mandolin lessons from a local teacher for 4 months before I moved to the online approach. So - go for it - and enjoy playing.