Good Bluegrass Instruction Books

**YoungFolky** · Jun-06-2005, 12:00pm

I have just completed Bert Casey's "The Mandolin Primer" book and I was wondering what a good follow-up book would be.

Thanks

**mandobob** · Jun-06-2005, 12:36pm

Hey there, I have Andy Statmans "Teach Yourself BG" which I really like, but here are a few things I would advise about it;
1) There is no "slowed down version" on the CD like some methods
2) No note for note breakdown; listen and follow the TAB
3) I guess the keys he does the tunes in may not be universally accepted at jams
4) His singing.
None of that bothers me, lotsa great tunes and backing tracks on the CD to jam to.
Good luck
H

**AlanN** · Jun-06-2005, 1:40pm

Joe Carr put out 2 books years ago - merlin's Magical Method and Fiddle Tunes Texas Style. These are repetoire builders, for sure. Also, our very own Pete Martin has some good books.

**csstanley** · Jun-06-2005, 2:40pm

I posted this earlier as a Thread.

But I've found a VERY good book that I think you may want to have a look at.

The Mandolin Master Class

Personally, I think its a great book and am amazed that others haven't gotten it yet.

**Rick Schmidlin** · Jun-06-2005, 2:51pm

Roland Whites Approach To Bluegrass Mandolin

**tiltman** · Jun-06-2005, 6:32pm

I like Niles Hokannen (sp?) Bluegrass Up The Neck. Great book, dense material, would give you a lot to work on for years. (or maybe it's just that I am dense)
Also, I just got a book by John McGann called Variations on Fiddle Tunes. It shows how to play different breaks of varying complexity for various tunes. Looks good so far.
Kirk

**luckylarue** · Jun-09-2005, 9:46am

Another good one is Butch Baldassari's "30 Fiddle Tunes for Mandolin". It has the standards plus a lot of obscure (at least for me) and interesting stuff.

**Undercover Brother** · Jun-09-2005, 10:37am

Roland & Niles's books are excellent!

Chris

**mpeknox** · Jun-13-2005, 8:40am

Originally Posted by (Tone Monster @ June 06 2005, 15:51)

Roland Whites Approach To Bluegrass Mandolin

I'll second that recommendation and throw in a link.

**YoungFolky** · Jul-02-2005, 4:47pm

Which one of these recommendations would ya'll recommend I pick up first?

**Steve Cantrell** · Jul-02-2005, 5:47pm

I second the Roland White Book. It has an excellent variety of standards, and the included CD has both slow and fast versions. I bought it when I was done with the Bert Casey DVD.

**mandoman4807** · Jul-02-2005, 7:42pm

I second the ~Mandolin Master Class~. By far the best technical book I have ever read on the subject of improvising.

The author is Brad Laird.

Darrell