New guy here

[Hillsdale Leroy]

HI all,
After being away from the mandolin for quite some time I have decided to put the guitar aside and get back to the mandolin. Today I had the good fortune in dealing with Brian at The Mandolin Store. What a great guy. Within the hour I had all the shipping info and it has already cleared the phoenix post office on it's way to Okinawa, Japan. I have bought over 20 instruments in the past few years and let me tell you this was by far and away the best experience I have ever had. Great store and great people? Now for the nitty gritty. Can anyone recommend some learning materials. I see myself going along the lines of Jethro Burns style perhaps. I am a beginner but do have a background in guitar and classical violin when I was a younger man. I am an actively gigging acoustic musician and want to devour the mandolin but I want to do so in a somewhat systematic way of learning. I am stoked to be here and look forward to learning a bunch from you kind folks:grin:

[wildpikr]

Here are a couple of links to check out.

http://www.johnmcgann.com/books.html

http://www.homespuntapes.com/shop/category.aspx?id=24

Enjoy!

[pickloser]

Welcome to the Cafe!

I don't have a beginner method to recommend, as I went the teacher route (and he used the Bickford method books). With your background, I would suspect a DVD "intro" method would be good to get your form and technique off to a good start, but after that you could self-direct your learning with the myriad of resources available here and elsewhere on the web. You definitely will want to get Mel Bay's "The Mandolin of Jethro Burns" (or similar such title, if my memory is wrong). It's not a "how to play the mandolin" book, but it has plenty to teach the motivated player.

[AlanN]

Niles Hokkanen has what you need.

http://www.btinternet.com/~john.baldry/mando/hokkanen.html

[Hillsdale Leroy]

Well, we are definitely off to a great start. Thanks so much for all your suggestions, keep em' comin'.

[Scotti Adams]

Welcome aboard Leroy...theres a vast resevoire of knowledge on the board. Im sure you wont have any problem finding what you need.

[Rick Schmidlin]

You in the right place,stay tuned in.

[Eric F.]

Jethro style? Check out this: http://www.robcoleman.com/jethro/

[pigpen]

Don't forget our own Ted Eschilman and his great site: www.jazzmando.com

Plenty of free stuff online there, as well as here (check out the lessons section) and at www.mandozine.com.

It's got everything that you could want for figuring out how to start playing this thing right the first time. I'm sure that his book is great, but I've not yet invested the time for it. His FFcP method is great for any style of music, in my opinion, even if he first developed it for jazz.

Enjoy!

[Dan Johnson]

konnichiha!

[Soupy1957]

Greetings from Connecticut, Leroy!

[Hillsdale Leroy]

Hey guys, thanks so much for all the support and great starting points.

[Jim]

Bluegrass college has lots of free tabs and lessons on line, Have fun with your new mandolin!

[Jim Ferguson]

Heh Leroy.......welcome to the cafe.....:-)
One mandolin lesson book I really liked was the Mandolin Fretboard. You can find it on most mandolin stores/sites. It has some great lessons and I too am a novice having only been playing for 5 years or so. I also like the John McGann's Developing Melodic Variations on Fiddle Tunes Mandolin edition. Lots of fun stuff there.
Enjoy.
Peace,
Jim
PS.....what mandolin did you get????

[Hillsdale Leroy]

I went with an Eastman 504 CS. I really like the look of the A style with oval holes. If the mandolin thing sticks like I think it will, I am sure I will be looking into an F style somewhere down the line. I am hoping to see a slip in the mailbox tomorrow. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

[Skip Kelley]

Welcome aboard Leroy! There is a lot to learn from the good people here. Don't forget to check out Butch Baldassari's instructional materials. You can learn alot of really cool tunes.:)

[Charley wild]

Hi Leroy. If you 'd like to do some Blues I can recommend Rich Del Grosso's Mandolin Blues. Lots of fun!

[jim_n_virginia]

Hi and welcome and don't forget the free tab on the Cafe and also free tab at www.jaybuckey.com

Also I recommend Niles Hokannen's books ALL of them!

Happy picking! :mandosmiley: