An Interview with Don Julin, author of Mandolin For Dummies

[NewsFetcher]

The Mandolin Cafe has posted the following news release:
An Interview with Don Julin, author of Mandolin For Dummies

Ted Eschliman interviews author Don Julin about his forthcoming book "Mandolin For Dummies."



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[Sonomabob]

This is a really nice story.
Don is a great guy who has worked at the mandolin for a long time.
Wonderful to see him achieving wider success.

[SternART]

I agree, and it is a darn good book too!!! I'll tell ya though, I'd never take on the job of proof reading something like this again. It was way way too much work for what I got paid, Wiley Publishers must have a tight budget for these books. I did put the money towards going to the Mandolin Symposium this year, so I'm no 'dummie' and it all worked out. Getting to hang some with Don there in Santa Cruz was one of the highlights, he is a really nice guy. Don Julin is the real deal, a great player, teacher, and now a published mando geek!

[papa willie]

Kudos to Don Julin.

[lukmanohnz]

Great interview!! So excited that the US release date is finally nearing. What a fantastic resource for mandolin enthusiasts - Don, you (and all your collaborators) deserve high praise for the hard work and dedication to bringing this book alive!

[rb3868]

I can't wait to get mine, it's on pre-order. the chapter organization seems different from other instruction books I've gotten and I like the concept. That the author is another Michigander is the cherry capitol on top

Thanks to the Cafe for facilitating the book, thanks to Dummies for deciding to do it and to jazzmando for the interview

[Billgrass]

DJ has been a good teacher via Skype. I wish him success on the book.

Now I have to get back to practicing.

[DSDarr]

Way to go Don! I am very much looking forward to this book!

-David

[Gerry Hastie]

What a wonderful story! Thanks to all involved for bringing us this book and to Ted for asking the questions.

[Gelsenbury]

This bit is interesting:

My editors did remind me more than once to limit the U.S.-centric point of view. Being an American, this was more difficult than I expected it to be.

Just this morning I was reading my daily bit of the book while enjoying the morning cuppa, and I noticed that the six famous mandolin players recommended for particularly good tone comprised (as far as I can tell) five musicians from the USA and one Canadian. The beginner tunes also have a noticeable American flavour. One should be especially wary of the "everyone has sung this as a child" comment in a context such as this.

Having said that, I do agree with the US-centric nomenclature for note durations. In a book designed to encourage rather than scare beginners, it makes perfect sense to avoid talk of semi-quavers, crotchets, and so on.

[bmac]

I find it intereesting that only so called "bluegrass" style instruments are featured on the cover. This suggests a rather narrow view of the options available... I realize that the author probably had little say in the cover photo selection but it suggests a narrower view than the public deserves. For instance it implies that the more expensive instruments with "strap hangers" are the mandolins of choice... Maybe so, but beginners need to know that the less expensive options are equally effective as instruments for the beginner.

I look forward to buying the "dummies" book and glean what I can from it. Although not a beginner; I can ususally find lots of good information in these technique books.

[SternART]

This bit is interesting: Having said that, I do agree with the US-centric nomenclature for note durations. In a book designed to encourage rather than scare beginners, it makes perfect sense to avoid talk of semi-quavers, crotchets, and so on.

Did they take those out? I haven't seen a final copy. They were in there when I proofed it. I had never heard of these terms and in researching learned about Breve, Semibreve, Minim, Crotchet, Quaver & Semiquaver. I suggested that the book was probably going to sell more copies on this side of the pond, and that these names were confusing.......but at the time the publisher disagreed.

[Gelsenbury]

Did they take those out? I haven't seen a final copy. They were in there when I proofed it. I had never heard of these terms and in researching learned about Breve, Semibreve, Minim, Crotchet, Quaver & Semiquaver. I suggested that the book was probably going to sell more copies on this side of the pond, and that these names were confusing.......but at the time the publisher disagreed.

They are still in there, but consistently in brackets after the American version. I think that's the ideal solution. But the author does mention at several points in the book that he uses the American nomenclature because it makes more sense to him (and, I suspect, to most other people who don't have a British music education behind them).

[stringduster]

delayed again. Is this ever gonna make it to the public?

[Don Julin]

First, I would like thank all of you that have ordered this book so far. Thank You

Just this morning I was reading my daily bit of the book while enjoying the morning cuppa, and I noticed that the six famous mandolin players recommended for particularly good tone comprised (as far as I can tell) five musicians from the USA and one Canadian.

Here is the paragraph you are referring to. I am sure there are players from around the world with great tone but the players mentioned in this paragraph all have recordings that are easy to find with musical styles ranging from bluegrass and jazz to Celtic and Eastern European.

"Listening to a variety of mandolin players is the best way to form an opinion on what sound you like. Some mandolin players known for their great tone are: David Grisman, Tim O’Brien, John Reischman, Mike Compton, Butch Baldassari and Peter Ostroushko."

I don't want to spoil it for the US readers who have not had a chance to look inside the book yet but in the back of every "Dummies" book are the chapters of 10s, which are lists of essential players, guidelines, suggestions, etc. One of the MFD chapters deals with ten mandolin players that you should learn about and listen to. This list does include six Americans, one Russian born immigrant, one Brazilian, one German, and one Italian. One needs to keep in mind that the intent of this book is not to uncover every obscure mandolin virtuoso that ever lived. It is intended to be a reference book for the mandolin player or enthusiast, that directs the reader to a variety of on-line or in print sources for more detailed study.

I find it intereesting that only so called "bluegrass" style instruments are featured on the cover. This suggests a rather narrow view of the options available... I realize that the author probably had little say in the cover photo selection but it suggests a narrower view than the public deserves. For instance it implies that the more expensive instruments with "strap hangers" are the mandolins of choice... Maybe so, but beginners need to know that the less expensive options are equally effective as instruments for the beginner.

The object (from the publisher's point of view) is to sell books. An undisputed fact is that in 2012 on planet earth, the F5 style mandolin is outselling any other style of mandolin. The cover features three Weber instruments including a mandola and an octave mandolin. I don't know of any bluegrass bands using mandolas or octave mandolins. Chapter 15 in MFD deals with purchasing a mandolin. In this chapter, many styles of mandolins including F and A body shapes, round-hole and ff hole choices, along with flat topped mandolins, bowl-back mandolins, Brazilian bandolims, and electric mandolins are all presented to the readers.

The audio tracks were recorded using a wide range of mandolins to show the tonal differences in mandolins. The mandolins used in the recordings include: 1930s Strad-O-Lin, 1917 Vega bowl-back, Northfield F5, 1923 Gibson snakehead, Harmony Batwing (played through a 1950s Harmony tube amp), Flatiron pancake, Eastwood mandocaster, Kimble 2-point, and a Newson prototype.

I wish you would have opened the book before you passed judgement over the content. Remember the old saying "You can't judge a book from the cover".

delayed again. Is this ever gonna make it to the public?

I wish I had an answer for you. I am still waiting for my copies.


I hope this answered all of your concerns so far. I am sure there will be some people, some where, that don't agree with every word contained in this 400 page book, but I hope most people that buy MFD will gain some knowledge about the greatest instrument in the world!

[Pete Jenner]

I wish you would have opened the book before you passed judgement over the content. Remember the old saying "You can't judge a book from the cover".

No but you can certainly judge a cover by the cover and I think that is all Bart was doing.

I'm not a fan of the cover photo either, just for the record. However, that won't stop me buying the book.

[Jarvis]

Hey guys, bought an ebook copy for my iPad 3, but the tracks won't play when I hit the button. Anyone else had the same problem? I've got an updated OS on my iPad.

Ok, just found the sound files, but it comes back saying 'safari unable to download files'.

Any fixes for this? Ta.

[Don Julin]

It is my understanding that the audio tracks were embedded in the ebook and you did not need to download the tracks. I have uploaded the audio files to a public folder in my drop box for anyone having problems finding or downloading the tracks from the Dummies link. They are compressed into three files. Upon downloading and uncompressing you should get 91 mp3s (with the proper track names). These mp3s should play on any device that supports mp3s.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zn7roiav1fhs7tf/D8P7oGQXxx

[yep2341]

Great book. Would be awesome if i could download the tracks though. Tried using iPhone and iPad both say safari can not download file. I don't have desktop and would love to be able to utilize this book.