Mandolin Books

[Jack_Daniels]

Does anyone have the "Fretboard Roadmaps - Mandolin : The Essential Patterns That All the Pros Know and Use" book? Thinking about buying it but would like some opinions first.

Thanks,
Jason

[AlanN]

useless, IMO.

Let me clarify - the author(s) devised some sort of pattern - a 'K' pattern, they call it, to depict a graphic of a chord shape that acts as a spring-board for lots of other things. I never got it, it was arcane and tough to follow the logic behind the thinking. ymmv.

[steve in tampa]

Try this.

http://www.mandozine.com/resources/Practice-Sheets.pdf

[Aran]

Yeah I've got this book and I struggled with it!!

In fact I have loads of books and generally find that the best way is to sit down with someone and go through a tune together, the only difficult thing is finding someone who 1. knows what they are doing and 2. has got the time and patience to sit with you.

The best book I've found is the Mandolin Chord Finder with all the scales in all the positions in all the modes! That means if you find the key and the mode of a tune it's really easy to work out your own version and improvise over a tune! Although saying that it is allways better to learn a tune before improvising over it.

Sorry to be so negative about books that's just my experience. I have got one of the homespun DVD's with Sam Bush and it is excellent allthough a bit advanced for me, Sam Bush plays with a really good groove and they are actually versions worth learning. The visual aid and the explanation of right hand technique is invaluable, I am now in the unfortunate position of unlearning loads of bad right hand technique from trying to learn on my own from books.

My advice is go for the DVD

[jim_n_virginia]

I have it and I learned alot from it but I also had a teacher and we worked through the book together. I have done this with several books and it seems to work well for me.

Of course it has been my experience that NO book has everything in it. But I look at it like this. If I can get ONE good concept, idea, lick etc out of the book, then it is worth it to me as it gives me something I can take with me the rest of my life.

Pretty much what I got out of Fretboard Roadmaps is a fairly good understanding of movable chords and scales and consequently helped me with playing up the neck.

Now the movable K chords hehehehe, that was kinda funny!


http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[arbarnhart]

PM or email me; you can have my copy for postage cost.

[John Flynn]

I bought it and I have only had time to browse it. I am an intermediate player with a decent knowledge of theory. I was not as impressed as I hoped I would be, but I still think I will get a concept or two out of it. I think it might be good for a beginner.

[gnelson651]

I bought this book last year but am now trying to go through it. I am self-taught for the last two years, not being able to find decent teacher in this area.

I consider myself as a beginning intermidate player but have been struggling for weeks and still at the beginning of the book, especially the songs provided. I did read through "Fretroad Maps "and learned a few good tips such as using closed chords to find double stops and the K pattern (jury still out on this one).

I agree with some of the above in that I have bought quite a number of books which it probably ended up costing me more than my starter mandolin ($200) and have yet to find anything of real value. In fact, the best book I found was my daughter's beginning violin book which I used to learn to read standard notation. Also a good scale book, such as "Mandolin Scales and Studies" by Ray Bell (Mel Bay) has been an excellent reference book.

While it is a difficult book to go through (I haven't yet started it) and will probably take a year or more for me to finish, I am finding the most valuable information in MUSIC THEORY FOR MODERN MANDOLIN by Thomas P Ohmsen. It cost $29.50 plus shipping and can be found at Mid-Continent Music (http://www.midcontinentmusic.com/detail.cfm?Catalogid=1889). But it is for the more serious mminded player who wants to learn music theory and the whole fretboard. If you are just looking for tips and tricks, then this book may not be for you.

It all depends on your learning style and what best works for you. Some learn from books, some by ear and some by playing with others.

[latentaudio]

I thought this book was pretty decent for a beginning mandolin player. I read music, play the guitar and bass and used this book for my introduction to mandolin.

I found the book forced me to think "mandolin" and not guitar. The songs were interesting, the concept of double stops was helpful, and the licks were great to get you started.

The book is probably best for a beginner to intermediate.

[olgraypat]

My "book" story. When I took up guitar, I got a lot of help from a book on blues guitar that discussed pentatonic scales and the "box" that one can utilize in playing blues guitar. Somehow it clicked with me. About a month ago on this website, I saw a comment about a pentatonic mando book that was highly recommended. I ordered it a and have gotten some real benefit from it. A couple of weeks ago I attended a workshop by a very highly regarded mando player, and after he played a "bluesy" sounding song, I asked if he played or used pentatonic scales. He looked at me like I had asked if he ever used a dead salmon for a pick or something. So, I think different people learn different ways and "tricks" and different methods, and I would recommend exposing yourself to as much as you can and going with what works for you.

[250sc]

olgraypat, in reguards to the "highly regarded mando player", even if they don't call it a pentatonic or blues scale if your playing those notes that's what your playing.

I was playing with a person who played only bluegrass and commented on their use of the blues scale, to which they told me "that's not a blues scale, it's a Bill Monroe run."

[olgraypat]

Very good point. I don't know if that's what he was playing or not, but it was a Bill Monroe song he was playing, and so those may have been the notes he was playing. Sounded that way to me. To me, it sort of clicked because I had a little (very little) blues guitar background, and to him it probably made sense because that's the way it sounded when Mr Bill did it.