Mandolin For Dummies

Contents

• Foreword xvii
• Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Conventions Used in This Book 2 Foolish Assumptions 3 Icons Used in This Book 3 Accessing the Audio Tracks 3 Beyond the Book 4
• Part 1 : Being Bitten by the Mandolin Bug 5
• Chapter 1 : Becoming Acquainted with Your Mandolin 7 Riding the Mandolin Wave 7 Loving the mandolin sound 8 Joining a vibrant community 8 Enjoying a great choice of mandolins 9 Meeting the Mandolin Family 10 Reaching the highest notes: Mandolin 11 Playing
• Chapter 2 : Getting to Grips with Tuning and Terminology 21 Coming to Terms with Musical Terminology 22 Identifying musical notes with letters 22 Sharpening up and flatting down your notes 23 Stepping up to the mark: Distances between notes 23 Scaling the
• Chapter 3 : Getting a Handle on Your Mandolin 29 Sitting Down on the Job 30 Playing While Standing Up 32 Strapping Yourself in to Play 34
• Part 2 : Starting to Play the Mandolin 37
• Chapter 4 : Making Music on the Mandolin 39 Playing without Having to Read Music 39 Understanding tablature 40 Reading chord diagrams 41 Developing a musical ear 42 Keeping the Musical Beat by Counting 43 Feeling the beat 43 Counting to four 43 Dividing u
• Chapter 5 : Picking with the Right Hand 65 Holding the Pick 65 Supporting and Guiding Your Right Hand 66 Touching the bridge 66 Brushing the pinky 67 Resting on the rib 68 Arching your wrist while strumming 68 Picking Up and Down 69 Picking alternate stro
• Chapter 6 : Fretting Notes and Chords with the Left Hand 93 Positioning and Working with Your Left Hand 94 Positioning your left hand 94 Tying your fingers to the frets 96 Exercising the left hand 97 Creating effects with your left hand 97 Discovering Mor
• Chapter 7 : Playing "Jethro"-Style Three-String Chords 117 Introducing Jethro Burns's Three-String Chord Style 118 Perfecting Three-String Major Chords 119 Root-on-top major chords 119 Third-on-top major chords 119 Fifth-on-top major chords 120 Mastering
• Chapter 8 : Playing Mandolin Music: Scales and Melody 133 Understanding How to Play Melody 134 Listening to the great players 134 Speaking a tune 135 Rising to the challenge of scales 135 Exploring Some Major Scales 136 Discovering the D major scale 136 A
• Part 3 : Putting Playing Styles into Practice 157
• Chapter 9 : Playing Music from Yesteryear: Old Time, Rags and Blues 159 Searching out the Past: Old-Time Music 160 Strumming for old-time fiddle tunes 161 Waltzing on the mandolin 164 Playing All Raggedy on Purpose: Ragtime 168 Syncopating your mandolin m
• Chapter 10 : Giving Your Mandolin a Speedy Workout: Bluegrass 191 Getting a Grip on That Bluegrass Rhythm 192 Gathering Together the Bluegrass Elements: An Original Mandolin Style 194 Fiddling about with fiddle tunes 195 Adding the blues style 197 Using t
• Chapter 11 : Travelling to the Emerald Isle: Irish Mandolin 213 Following the Melody One Note at a Time 214 Listening to learn Irish tunes 214 Swinging with triplets and the lilt 215 Discovering the Irish Music Modes 217 Using a standard major scale (Ioni
• Chapter 12 : Taking a Quick World Tour 229 Returning to the Mandolin's Birthplace: Italy 229 Strolling to play 230 Making great use of tremolo 230 Varying the tremolo speed 233 Visiting the Concert Hall: Classical Mandolin 233 Gliding towards acquiring a
• Chapter 13 : Swinging to Those Jazzy Rhythms 245 "It Don't Mean a Thing .": Swingin' the Melody 246 Introducing swing 246 Respecting the mighty eighth note 247 Using syncopated rhythms 247 Playing in all 12 keys 249 Simplifying Jazz Chords 250 Working wit
• Chapter 14 : Blending Styles: Dawg Music 271 Meeting David Grisman 272 Groovin' to Some Dawg Music 272 Heading down south: Dawg Latin 272 Get up, get on up: Dawg funk 274 Accenting Your Grooves, Dawg-Style 276 Scratching like the Dawg 276 Stretching out w
• Part 4 : Purchasing and Caring for Your Mandolin 281
• Chapter 15 : Selecting and Buying a Mandolin 283 Exploring the World of Mandolins 284 Finding out about F-style mandolins 284 Assessing A-style mandolins 285 Rounding out F- and A-style mandolins 286 Tossing around pancake and other flat-top mandolins 287
• Chapter 16 : Building Your Accessories Kit 297 Gathering Together the Must-Haves 297 Picking extra picks 298 Clipping on an electronic tuner 298 Strapping on the mandolin 298 Protecting your mandolin 299 Stringing along your mandolin 300 Buying Extras Tha
• Chapter 17 : All Change: Replacing Your Mandolin's Strings 307 Preparing to Change Your Strings 307 Knowing when to change strings 308 Selecting the right strings 308 Removing the Old Strings 310 Re-stringing Your Mandolin 312
• Chapter 18 : Caring for and Repairing Your Mandolin 317 Maintaining Your Mandolin's Health 317 Wiping down your mandolin 318 Controlling the climate 318 Getting a good case or bag 319 Keeping an instrument stand handy 319 Setting Up Your Mandolin Yourself
• Part 5 : the part of Tens 327
• Chapter 19 : Ten (or So) Tips on Becoming a Good Mandolin Player 329 Listen to Mandolin Music 330 Get a Good Teacher 330 Keep Your Mandolin Nearby 330 Play Your Mandolin Every Day 331 Find People to Play Music With 331 Practice with a Metronome 332 Go to
• Chapter 20 : Ten Mandolin Players You Need to Know 335 Bill Monroe (1911-1996) 335 Chris Thile (Born 1981) 336 Jethro Burns (1920-1989) 336 David Grisman (Born 1945) 337 Dave Apollon (1897-1972) 338 Jacob do Bandolim (1918-1969) 338 Yank Rachell (1910-199
• Chapter 21 : Ten Ways of Tapping into the Mandolin Subculture 341 Attending Acoustic Music Concerts 341 Trying Out Mandolin Workshops 342 Visiting Mandolin Camps 342 Going to Acoustic Music Festivals 343 Checking Out a Jam Session or Orchestra 344 Joining
• Part 6 : Appendixes 349
• Appendix A: Chord Charts 351
• Appendix B: Reading Standard Musical Notation 355 Meeting the Musical Staff 355 Starting at the beginning: Treble and bass clefs 356 Signing in with the key signature 356 Timing is everything: Time signatures 357 Getting the speed right: Tempo 357 Knowing
• Appendix C: Audio Tracks 367 Discovering What's on the Audio Tracks 367
• Index 373