I'd like to practice with cd

[Merelf]

Yahoooo, I finally bought myself a mandolin!!!!
But now I need to learn to play it ^_^
I've already tried some of the tablatures on this website and practiced some chords.
But from my own experience with learning to play the guitar and violin I know that the best way (and most fun) to learn an instrument is to play along with cd's. But I don't know any easy songs/tunes to play along with.
So my question is: does anyone know some songs or tunes with mandolin which are not hard to play for a beginning mandolin player? I prefer celtic folk music, but other genres are just as welcome ... as long as it's fun and not too hard to play :-)
Or are there any cd's/artists you can recommend?

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

[Bruce Evans]

Get some of Steve Kaufman's stuff from Homespun Tapes. He has the Parking Lot Picker series and also the 4 hour bluegrass workout. I use them both. Good stuff. Not cheap, but worth every penny.

Writing in fragments. D+ http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[dudleyunderhill]

Mel Bay puts out a nifty little book/CD called "Mandolin Pickin' Tunes" or something like that by Dix Bruce. #I've had a blast with it. #The included CD has guitar accompaniment in one channel and the mando part in the other, so you can listen to just the left channel (accompaniment) and play along once you get the tunes down. #Lotsa fun. #The book has both tab and notation, and the songs are recorded in two speeds on the CD (slow and regular). #Good luck, and welcome!

[Geoff]

I reccomend the 4 hour bluegrass workout as well. I like that fact that it has the songs at 1/2 speed, then full. I also really like to just pick along with the grisman/garcia shady grove CD. I dont seem to mind that Im usually playing over top of singing or another solo.

[oh danny boy]

Also check out Roland White's book and CD. It also has his wife playing guitar in one channel and mando on the other.

[yoods]

I use CDs as well, but since you have a computer you can try something else too that I have found to be very effective in learning new tunes, using TablEdit. Go to the co-mando.com (http://www.co-mando.com/index.php) web site and download tabledit music files at www.co-mando.com/music/index.php (http://www.co-mando.com/music/index.php). You can download the Tabledit program or TEFview file viewer to use the files on this site as well.

What I really like about tabledit files is that you can change the tempo of the tune you are trying to learn to match the speed you are trying to play it in. Also, it will usually show the tab and music of what you are trying to learn as you listen to it. #Good luck and have fun!

[elenbrandt]

Dix Bruce (Mel Bay?) has put out a series of really good, user friendly products called "Back Up Trax" which teach you the tune and then provide the back-up music for you to play against. I am sure you can find the mandolin one through www.elderly.com - just run a search for "Dix Bruce". All of Dix's beginner books are great.

[jjboone101]

I second the recommendation for the Roland White Bluegrass book/CDs. He plays all the classics nice and slow and then up to speed. Great feeling of accomplishment when you work your way up to faster version (and you will!)

[Amanda Lynn]

I like playing along with Alison Kraus CDs, especially her earlier ones--Too Late to Cry and I've Got That Old Feeling, and her two songs on the Cold Mountain soundtrack. Her voice is wonderful and other-worldly(not one of those squawky nasal female bluegrass voices that give the genre a bad name . . .).

[WV Mike]

I'm using:
1. the Dix Bruce Backup Tracks for Old-Time Fiddle..or something like that
2. Slow Jam for Old Time - From Homespun tapes
3. Mandolin Primer by Bert Casey
4. Butch Baldasari - Bluegrass Mandolin #1 and #2 (Video or DVD)

They all have their pluses and minuses.

Good luck, Mike

[Bluegrasstjej]

Really, I think Celtic music is very difficult to play along with, unless I can slow it down in some nice software on the computer. But I have a fiddle book with a CD (Paul McNevin's guide to learning Irish fiddle, or something like that), and there he plays the tunes at a nice slow speed, good to play along with on the mandolin as well as the fiddle.

[furashgf]

What do people think about the original statement

But from my own experience with learning to play the guitar and violin I know that the best way (and most fun) to learn an instrument is to play along with cd's
I started by trying to learn from a book. That didn't go too well, so I started just trying to chord (chop) along with anything without strange chord shapes. That actually went very well - I actually started improving, enjoyed it, and wasn't frustrated.
Of course, maybe I've damaged my skill set irreversibly by not "practicing perfect" (as I've seen recommended). http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[ngzcaz]

Play softly w/ people better than you.
When you think you can hold your own, play
louder. You cant beat the real thing and its much
more fun than lookng at a cd player.

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

[Brandolin Tucker12]

My favorite workout is any CD (Manzinita, Wired, etc.)that the mandolin (or banjo, sorry) can be removed from the mix by disconnecing the left or right speaker (depending on mix). This suggestion isn't always for a beginner but it works for me. Learn it the way they played it or play the way YOU play it. You can't lose. Good luck.