View Full Version : Suggest a video or book/cd combo
futrconslr
Apr-02-2004, 2:27pm
Hi everyone, I am a lurker(couple of years) now poster. #I am looking for a good instruction video or book/cd for someone who is not a rank newbie but is not what I would call an intermediate player....whatever that means. #Any suggestions. #I looked in the archives and it looks like a lot of talk has been on specific videos but not exactly on this topic. #Any help is appreciated and to all you Nashville folks....Hello.
I really like Niles Hokkanen's stuff. He is a frequent poster here and a really nice guy. His material is put together nicely and has really helped my playing.
Niles (http://www.btinternet.com/~john.baldry/mando/hokkanen.html)
dasspunk
Apr-02-2004, 3:36pm
It really depends on what you want...
- Roland White's book/cd is great. Roland's playing is kinda old school (monroe-ish).
- Sam Bush DVD or Book/cd is also great. Sam's playing is more flashy and modern.
odeman
Apr-02-2004, 6:25pm
I have a Sam Bush Bluegrass instructional video that is very good. Some of it is over my head but......that's what instructional videos are for.
John Flynn
Apr-02-2004, 6:45pm
I like Andy Statman's "Teach Yourself Bluegrass Mandolin." It has optional parts for beginners and intermediate and the CD is set up really well. He plays the beginner part through once with a backup band at a moderate pace, then the intermediate part. Then the next track is just back up band without the mandolin, played through twice. It's all in tab, no standard notation.
futrconslr
Apr-05-2004, 8:05am
Thanks for the imput. I have seen Mr. Hokkanen's products and have had them rec. to me by others as well. I hope they are not over my head! As for old school.....Isn't that all there is?? Just kidding....PLEASE don't hammer me for that comment....it was just a joke. However, I will confess I am really looking for material that will give me some basic understanding of the instrument to do a full baptism if you will into Monroe's music. The way I have it figured I should be able to master his music in about 150 years....:p wish me luck.
sonnyjammer
Apr-08-2004, 10:27am
If you are wanting Bill Monroe style mandolin instruction, you should go to the man himself, and the other man, (Sam Bush). There is a 2 video set with Bill Monroe playing his tunes and talking about them with camera close ups of his hands. The second video is Sam Teaching The tunes Mr. Monroe was playing on the first video, and to top it off you get the tab. A great investment if you want to sound like Big Mon. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif
futrconslr
Apr-09-2004, 1:14pm
sonyjammer,
I had heard that video combo wasnt that good. Maybe I will check it out.
OlderThanWillie
Apr-09-2004, 8:41pm
Before you spend the big $$$, go to your music store and buy (or get them to order) the Mel Bay "Great Mandolin Pickin' Tunes" by Dix Bruce.
This is a little book with CD that sells for $5.95. It has 24 songs with musical notation and mandolin tab. The CD has each song played at a slow pace and also up to speed. There is a mixture of songs -- bluegrass, jigs, blues, etc. Some are easy and some are not so easy. The ISBN number is 0-7866-4985-2.
It's well worth the money.
sonnyjammer
Apr-12-2004, 1:51pm
I guess everyone has their own concept of "not so good" but I enjoyed it, and my friend actually recognized a few of Bill's tunes when I played them. There certainly are many excellent resources out there. Good luck.