No comments about Mel Bay A Treasury of Hymns and Spirituals for Autoharp, Guitar, Ukulele, Mandolin, Banjo, and Keyboard.

1 comments about Mel Bay's Easiest Mandolin Book (Mbgu).

1. some good information, but very, very basic. I already play violin, so I had a basic knowledge of the mandolin. It is a decent book, but not alot of information or songs.

No comments about Absolute Beginners Mandolin (Absolute Beginners).

No comments about Corellis Mandolin Signed Arc of 1ST Edition.

2 comments about Mel Bay Getting Into Bluegrass Mandolin (Mel Bay's Getting Into).

1. I've been playing guitar for quite a while, but just picked up the mandolin. Dix Bruce's book assumes a certain amount of knowledge of music and stringed instruments, but is not so advanced that it leaves you wondering whether to turn the page or not. The accompanying CD takes you through each unit, first at a slow speed, then at 'normal' (not Bill Monroe 'normal') speed. Some tracks have chop chords in one channel and single-note work in the other, so you can choose which one you want to work on. The lessons proceed with reasonable steps, and are well-presented. It never gets too simple, nor too complex (assuming you've been practicing). After a week or so, once I had the G chop chord reasonably well in hand, I was capable of playing along with others on simple tunes. Buy it!



2. Dix Bruce's easy-to-follow book/CD set will quickly get you playing bluegrass mandolin. After discussing the essentials of tuning and holding the instrument, Bruce delves into chords, rhythm, single note playing, double stops, fiddle tunes, playing in all keys, playing backup, transposing, kickoffs, turnarounds, and tremolo. Classic bluegrass songs and fiddle tunes are used to demonstrate the various techniques, and in the course of using the book you'll also increase your repertoire. Plenty of standard jamming fare is included such as Rolling in my Sweet Baby's Arms, John Hardy, East Virginia Blues, Nine Pound Hammer, Bank of the Ohio, In the Pines, Long Journey Home, and many others. It's a good format to present the song's basic version, followed by its solo at slow speed, then its solo up to speed. Fiddle tunes explored include Old Joe Clark, Ragtime Annie, and Liberty. When the fiddle tunes are introduced, Bruce also addresses eighth notes and the use of up and down strokes with the pick.
   
   An example of one helpful lesson presented is the "Moveable Blues" in closed position. After learning some bluesy bluegrass licks in the key of G, you'll learn how to move the melody to any key. Because all the notes are fretted and recommended fingerings are shown, the melody is easily moved. It's a good exercise for mobilizing your pinkie, learning to use triplets, and developing skill for improvisation. Bruce even suggests, but doesn't demonstrate, how playing the blues with down strokes will get a Monroesque feeling. More along those lines of Monroe's style would've made this book exceptional. This book presents a clear, concise, well organized approach for beginners to learn bluegrass mandolin basics. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

1 comments about Jazz Mandolin.

1. What I expected in ordering this package was a fairly substantial book along with the CDs. What you actually get is six CDs, and a rather thin book with a few scales, chords, and some riffs. The CDs themselves have a lot of Andy Staman talking, and a fair amount of him playing, and illustrating points. Unlike a real lesson, of course, you don't get to see Statman playing, and while that's a drawback, it's assumed that anyone buying this packaged already has the basics down and knows how to hold a mandolin.
   
   On the first track, Statman explains what the course is about, the preperation the student needs (it's assumed you've completed one of the earlier bluegrass courses from Homespun), and the general stylistic direction, whcih is to say blues a la Ralph Stanley. This isn't quite what I was expecting- I was looking more for a Jethro Burns/Tiny Moore jazz instruction- but it eventually does touch on that.
   
   The narration tends to be rather meandering, and gives the impression that Statman isn't speaking from a script, but is speaking off the top of his head from a few notes. Some people can get away with that, but for a set retailing for fifty bucks you do expect something a little more polished- or at least more organized.
   
   And that takes up to my main criticism, which is that this isn't so much an organized plan of study as it is a collection of scales, riffs, chords and ideas that the listener is expected to use. It's not so much a collection of lessons as it is a seminar with Statman. The skilled player will find a number of useful things to expand his or her playing, but the beginner will find it difficult to place any of this in a useful context. The better the player, the more use this will be. Of course, the better the player, the more of this material they'll have picked up on their own.
   
   Is it worth it? Well, around here, a half-hour music lesson from a good teacher costs about half of what this book/CD package costs. So for the price of two personalized lessons, you get six useful lessons, and that's not too bad a deal.

2 comments about Easy Songs for Mandolin: Supplementary Songbook to the Hal Leonard Mandolin Method.

1. I was very disappointed that this was not in tabulature, but rather in regular musical notation. It is not very helpful to me in learning to play these songs on the mandolin.



2. This book was a HUGE disappointment. There are no tabs included. You need to be able to read the music and create your own. I would deffinitely NOT buy this book.

5 comments about Gibson Guitars: 100 Years of an American Icon.

1. Anyone with an interest in music, whether it be a curiosity over which guitar (The Super 400) that Roy Rogers played, to the very stars themselves, like Little Jimmy Dickens, Emmylou Harris or Cindy Walker, will be delighted with the 314 page history of Gibson USA, GPG's "Gibson GUITARS: 100 Years of an American Icon," by Walter Carter. ISBN # 1-57544-014-8.

   This amazing collaboration of works (every specialist or researcher methodically chronicles each and every era of Gibson's ownership, management, philosophy, stars, and more, epoch by epoch) is jam packed with information on the performers, their instruments, carefully interwoven with a history of the fast changing musical trends of the times. Gibson nearly always lead the way, from the very beginning, and how they did it is clearly, concisely written about here.

   From fans of mandolins, laptops, archtops, dreadnaught acoustics, and the rock and roll heritage of Gibson solid body and semi-hollow electri! ! cs (which in the industry, generates something known as 'THE TONE') will get more than their money's worth from this veritable chronicle of the company's entire history, beginning with the day Orville H. Gibson conceived his first guitar.

   Each and every era is given full coverage, from the artists and their instruments of the 1930's, generation by generation, all the way to fans of rock legends Jimmy Page and Pete Townsend, will find everything they ever wanted in a book on GIBSON, in this work. And, frankly, far from being a Gibson-is-the-only-way ad, this book frankly, if brutally, deals with the steep decline of Gibson under Ecuadorian railroad and beer distributors, in the early 1980's, the loss in quality, and the modern day heros that rescued the legendary manufacturer from certain extinction, to pre-eminent leadership yet again, and perhaps greater status (and quality) than ever known before.

   This an exemplary book, graciously adorned with plenty of pictures of m! ! int condition Vintage (read 1930, 1940 and 1950 - and later! ) Gibson Instruments from various vintage collectors such as George Gruhn. In my opinion, this book rates FIVE (5) stars PLUS, and is a must read for anyone who ever wondered about the music of the 20th century: who created it, and what devices were used in doing it. There are some technical schematics to please the most picky purists.

   If you are interested in any area of American music, you will more than likely find some reference to it in this book. So will your parents, and maybe your grandparents! There is something for everyone in this enjoyable and fascinating story of a modern musical legend.




2. This book, GIBSON GUITARS: 100 YEARS AS AN AMERICAN ICON, by Walter Carter (ISBN 1-57544-014-8) is one powerful book on THE most legendary musical instrument company of our time. To give you an idea how riveting it was, I was up 3 nites until 3 a.m. reading it. I CAN HARDLY SEE I AM SO TIRED, YET SO GEARED UP. This is complex, comprehensive and filled with substantial and very subtle information, on both the instruments and Gibson artists. Gibson builds the best looking, best sounding instruments, bar none. Check out page 234 for a little sample of one of the thousands of nuances every player and collector will cherish. Jimmy Page, no doubt playing Stairway, is on the usual over/under 12/6 SG; BUT, note the regular humbuckers to catch the beautiful ambience of the acoustic side. But when it comes to the lead, he has two double coil flamethrowers, the 496R and 500T's, the best ceramic pickups ever made, under the 6 string neck! This book is powerful, beautiful, and extr! ! emely interesting. THE BOOK on the making of a musical legend. I cannot wait to see what the next 100 years will be like for Gibson, because they are getting better by the day, and they have tricks up their sleeve we can only imagine. EXQUISITE!



3. Gibson has unleashed a propaganda piece on an unsuspecting audience of guitar freaks. By having their in-house historian write it and by publishing it themselves, Gibson has ensured that they retain complete editorial control over all of the content. Here's an example of the hypebole that is present throughout the book: in reference to the oncoming wave of solid body electrics Walter Carter writes, "...Gibson would lead rather than follow the pack as the electric guitar era began to take shape." I think Leo Fender would take exception to that statement if he were still around. The book features lots of well-known players with a Gibson in their hands. The captions border on outright fraud. "Jimi Hendrix reached new guitar heights with an SG Custom." Gee, I thought that 99% of his playing was on a Fender Stratocaster. "Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards plays a custom single-pickup L-55." Maybe he does in that picture, but any casual Stones fan will tell you that Keef plays a Tele. There are countless other examples of this type of misreprensentation. As much as I dislike that lame marketing approach, I completely despise the self-congratulatory chapter on the trio of Harvard guys who bought the company in 1986. I personally think they have done more to damage the image of Gibson in the eyes of players than Norlin ever did. They even went so far as to include a staged photo of Juszkiewicz between rounds in a boxing match with the caption: "Berryman and Zebrowski revive Juszkiewicz after a tough round in a negotiations course at Harvard business school." It's almost too much to stomach.
   
   Having said all of that, the book is not completely without merit though. If you are a diehard Gibson fan and already own Duchossoir's essential book "Gibson Electrics - The Classic Years," then this book may make a nice, if somewhat trivial, addition to your collection of guitar books.



4. This book delivers an intricate history of one of the most well-known and respected musical instrument manufacturers in the world today. Gibson Guitars: 100 Years of an American Icon is comprised of a series of articles edited together by Walter Carter. The articles chronicle the entire span if the company from Orville Gibson's humble beginnings to the goliath manufacturer the company is today. This article setup is helpful in dividing the detailed account into multiple segments, each specific to a certain time period, person or instrument. It also provides the reader with an ever changing smorgasbord of authorial voice. All of the different sections are jam packed with full color photographs and illustrations, each with their own explanatory caption.
   
   The articles are grouped into seven main categories named for the company's owner(s) during a specific period of time. This makes the book a powerful reference for those wishing to study Gibson at specific points in the history of the company. It also allows the different segments to include and elaborate on Gibson's influence toward specific musical styles of the last century.
   
   However, with the exception of the Les Paul, it seems that those wanting to study particular Gibson instruments in detail will find that the book falls a little short. While it does mention and describe some of the classic instruments the company is responsible for, it does not go into any sort of depth with regard to guitar specifics and some of the lesser-known and rarer models are not even mentioned at all.
   
   Overall, this is a well-rounded account of the Gibson company and its history, but those seeking a reference book of all the fine instruments Gibson is responsible for might be a little disappointed.



5. If you know nothing about guitars and want some nice pictures (courtesy of George Gruhn), then this might be the one for you...if you can find a copy (not cuz they are sold out, but because Gibson won't release any more of them)...This book was obviously written while the author was employed at Gibson, and heavily edited by them too...there are rare pictures of rockers (who usually played other guitars) with Gibsons strapped on...the text is slanted towards Gibson throughout, I mean, it is about Gibson and published by them too..constantly making it seem like musical instrument makers are indentured servants and the companies are having this fierce war with each other, and to survive and try just to break even...and the author is constantly bashing management techniques, even Gibsons', which is irrelevant and unimportant...its way too dramatic...music and its instruments can speak for themselves...

2 comments about Christmas Favorites for Mandolin.

1. This is a very fine Christmas mandolin book. The tab is clear and easy to play (and notes are provided for those who read music). I was able to sight read most of the music easily and I'm not an expert mandolin player by any means. The arrangements were pretty and fun to play.
   
   The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because some of the chording arrangements are pretty tough - lots of non-standard chords and some quick changes. That can make a song hard to play. Wish those had been streamlined and simplified.
   
   That said, it's still an excellent book that I would highly recommend.



2. This is a pretty awful anthology of Christmas songs arranged for mandolin, and I'm sorry I bought it.
   
   The layout of the songs has been done well. These are mandolin solos, by which I mean not merely a one-note treble line, but a treble line that includes chords mixed up with single notes, all in standard notation.
   
   Below the treble line is the TAB notation, and above the treble line are chord notations (but not diagrams). I hate those anthologies that are nothing but a bare, unimproved treble line and chord notations: this is not one of those.
   
   The only problem as far as I'm concerned is the selection of songs. It's almost as if this is an anthology of lousy, reject Christmas songs that nobody really likes. There's really nothing in here that I want to play.
   
   My imagination? Judge for yourself: here are the entire contents:
   
   Blue Christmas
   Christmas in Dixie
   The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
   Christmas Time is Here
   Do you Hear What I Hear?
   Frosty the Snow Man
   Here Comes Santa Claus
   A Holly Jolly Christmas
   I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
   I'll Be Home for Christmas
   Jingle-Bell Rock
   Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!
   Merry Christmas, Darling
   My Favorite Things
   Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
   Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
   Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
   Silver Bells
   You're All I Want for Christmas
   
   As far as I know, there is no version of this that comes with an accompanying CD.

No comments about How To Play Mandolin Book and CD.