Best instructional DVD?

[iolas]

I've never played an instrument in my life, and I have just got a mandolin recently. What's the best DVD out there to learn how to play?

[Ivan Kelsall]

One of the best 'beginner' Mandolin tuition DVD's is that by the recently deceased & much missed Butch Baldassari - "Bluegrass Mandolin Workshop" available from 'Homespun'.
Butch was an awesome player, & while i don't personally own this DVD,i have seen it & would
highly recommend it to any beginner,
Saska

[AlanN]

And once you get past the basics, there are very good ones out there of the all greats - Monroe, Steffey, Bibey, Sizemore, Grisman, Bush, McCoury, Benson, Dempsey.

[Frank Johnson]

Speaking as a fellow newby to mandolin, I don't know anything about what's "best" out there, but can tell you what I have been through so far.

I bought two different "how to play this thing" CD's... I got the first one on my own (I don't like it very well) and a second one that was recommended here: the Bert Casey "Mandolin Primer for Beginners". I also got his "Mandolin Primer Practice CD's".

The Primer comes with a book, and he goes real slow at the first, making it easy to follow along. Then he plays it a little faster, and then faster again.

The practice CD's have the same songs as the book does, playing the songs first at 50 beats per minute, then 60 bpm, 72 bpm, 86 bpm, and finally at 100 bpm. Each song starts out with the mandolin playing lead and then goes through each twice more with only rhythm.

His style is working well for me.

[Perry]

I agree that the Butch B. "You can Play" is a great starter
package.

http://www.soundartrecordings.com/canplay_dvd1.shtml

[ApK]

I think Mike Edgerton should make a youtube video of his "5 minute mandolin course."

Do those Butch vids that people are mentioning actually start you appropriately from raw beginner?

ApK

[Rick Schmidlin]

Sam Bushs is pretty good.

[Alex Orr]

I'll also recomend the Butch DVD's for beginning bluegrass. For overall learning from scratch, I don't think you can beat the Greg Horne beginner and intermediate mando books.

[jmiller]

Wayne Erbsen also has a brand new beginner book out called Bluegrass Mandolin for the Complete Ignoramus. It comes with an excellent instructional CD.

[Michael Gowell]

I recently found the instrumental instructional DVDs at Netflix. I'm looking at an old one, Dan Huckabee's 'Country Bluegrass Mandolin' which I like a lot. Ol' Dan is stiff as a board but his teaching points are excellent. Great emphasis on fundamentals - "Mash that pick right through the strings and stop on the next pair..." Though it seems excruciatingly slow at points, close attention will keep you rewinding to see those "boring" parts again. And again. My first hour with this video changed several long-standing bad habits and significantly improved my sound on all 3 of my mandolins.

[CES]

If you play guitar, banjo, or some other fretted instrument the Bert Casey Primer might be a little too basic for about the 1st half, but I agree that it's an excellent "start from scratch" video; if you don't play anything else it's definitely worth checking out. My wife bought me the video only, and I wish I had had the book and cd's to go along with it, mostly for practice convenience.

I've heard Thile's video is excellent but more of an intermediate level study, and have heard similar comments regarding McCoury's, Bush's, etc; haven't seen them myself, though. All the same, I'd forego the temptation to get your favorite artist's video right off the bat (whomever that may be) without some investigation first.

Roland White's bluegrass mandolin course is excellent also, but I can't recall if he has DVD's or just book/cd.

Good luck, and happy pickin'...you may also consider calling Elderly, the Mandolin Store, or Janet Davis Music and asking for some recommendations from their staff as well, as they may be able to relay feedback from a large number of customers.

[CES]

I recently found the instrumental instructional DVDs at Netflix. .

I had no idea they did this...may be a great way to try a course out before leaping depending on their selection...will be checking this out later!! Thanks for the tip...

[steve V. johnson]

What about instruction that isn't specifically for -bluegrass- mandolin?

Is there such a thing? (Or... why should there even be? ;-) )

stv

[Dfyngravity]

Chris Thile has a good one. It definitely helped my right hand out and also the use of violin scales Thile teaches also helped me get moving up the neck a lot easier. Plus you get to see him play some great tunes up close which also helped me to see how one of the best technicians does it.

[Jim DeSalvio]

I really like the complete Bert Casey material. I am a guitar player, so not starting from scratch, but Bert takes you along nicely.

I have the book and CD, the DVD, and the CD's of the songs at different speeds. This CD of songs at different speeds has been a great practice tool. Like having your own band to play with. And, if you get lost, it teaches you to keep your cool and pick it up again. I will spend a lot time with his stuff before moving on, and the songs are great.

http://www.cvls.com/mandolin.html

Good luck!

[Ivan Kelsall]

You're right there Chuck. Having played another fretted instrument certainly does help.Most of us come to know 'note progression's ( i won't call them scales as not everyone sits down to learn scales,but they do recognise 'note patterns'). I've found that the majority of tuition DVD's are not for the 'newbie',but for players who've got over the first few hurdles in playing. Having said that,watching ANY DVD of a good player can help.You can watch their picking action,their arm/wrist positioning,their left hand fingering etc. - it all helps if you pay attention,as if you were taking a personal lesson (which in a way you are).Don't be overawed by the skill of these players,they used to be in exactly the same place as you once.If they can do it,so can you.Maybe not as quickly or as perfectly,but you'll reach your own level,& dependent upon how much work you put into your playing,you'll be ok/good/ excellent or 'h*ll fire watch this guy !!!!' - stick with it,
Saska ;)

[iolas]

I ended up getting the Bert Casey book/cd, dvd, and practice CDs. I'll post a review after a while with them.

[Frank Johnson]

Hope you like the Bert Casey material. Exciting, ain't it?

I have mine on the computer, where I made a separate play list with the tunes I'm working on... a couple are at 100 bpm and others at different, slower speeds. Not a big deal, but it makes it simpler for me to open up that one playlist and not need to pick through the main play list to select the songs or speeds that I'm working on.

I'm looking forward to your review!

[Alex Orr]

Great emphasis on fundamentals - "Mash that pick right through the strings and stop on the next pair..."
Huh? That sounds like he's advocating that mandolin players use rest strokes when picking. That doesn't seem right :confused: Rest strokes are useful in bluegrass guitar as a way to punch out walk ups and walk downs, but when going in for a good flatpick solo they would only slow down your playing. The same would seem to hold just as true for mando, if not more so. Again, I'm probably misconstruing what he's teaching, but I've never heard anyone (in a DVD, book, or these boards) advocate the extensive use of rest strokes in playing the mandolin.

[Michael Gowell]

Alex - I probably misrepresented Dan with that quote. His points - "mash" rather than "pick", for me was advocating a very strong driving through the strings. And coming to rest on the next set of strings is what he repeatedly refers to as "follow thru." For me, the combination promotes both a strong note and accuracy.

He never uses the term "rest stroke", which to me indicates a pause. This is probably a good example of how words mean different things to different people. You gotta watch and listen, not critique a vocabulary you are imposing via a second-hand understanding. Sorry if my words didn't communicate.

[ApK]

He never uses the term "rest stroke", which to me indicates a pause. This is probably a good example of how words mean different things to different people. You gotta watch and listen, not critique a vocabulary you are imposing via a second-hand understanding. Sorry if my words didn't communicate.

I don't think rest stroke has to do with a pause, like a rest in the music. It's as opposed to a free stroke, where you keep the pick moving freely through the air. Both refer to the kind of follow-though, but as I understood it (and I only ever encountered the terms when casually reading about classical guitar) a free stroke allows for more speed while a rest stroke (coming into contact with the next string) allows for more volume and power.

ApK

[Steve L]

I think rest strokes are more common in classical mandolin playing, though there was a recent thread with a video link to a Peter Oshtrushko workshop of him teaching it. They do sound different, but it's hard for me to imagine playing jigs or reels up to speed using them.

It is a specific term defining a specific technique.

[Alex Orr]

I think rest strokes are more common in classical mandolin playing, though there was a recent thread with a video link to a Peter Oshtrushko workshop of him teaching it. They do sound different, but it's hard for me to imagine playing jigs or reels up to speed using them.

It is a specific term defining a specific technique.
It probably is a misleading term. As I learned it, the technique doesn't refer to a musical pause, but instead to a type of picking "attack" in which the idea is to hit your target string on a downstroke and then let the pick briefly come to rest on the next string down. I learned about it through bluegrass rhtyhm guitar vids, specifically Chris Jones' DVD, which for a total beginner is pretty good BTW. Actually, I think Orrin Starr also talked about it (his rhythm DVD is also top-notch). As I recall, the technique is supposed to be useful on bass walks (and G-runs) in order to really punch out the notes between strums. Because it's essentially just downward picking it's not a convenient technique for playing anything other than simple quarter note walks. You could certaibnly try to use it for all of your playing but it would seem to be an inefficient picking habit that would make speedy eighth and sixteenth note picking much more cumbersome. Mandolin pcking (like flatpicking) tends to rely on DUDU picking for speed and inefficiency when kicking out breaks and fiddle tunes, so I still don't quite see how pausing on a string before playing another one would be a good idea. But, each to his own. Lord knows I'm no expert :redface:

ApK, about the Butch DVDs for bluegrass... I wouldn't say they are the best material for someone with NO experience playing an instrument who is starting to play the mando from scratch. I think you'd want something that gives a broader view of the instrument and of playing music in general. However, as a beginner's lesson in bluegrass for someone with no real experience with the genre, I think it's first-rate. The DVDs are shot well, have good-but-simple arrangements and Butch does an excellent job of explaining some foundational ideas to bluegrass playing. For someone with a little experience on the mando but no real experience playing bluegrass, I'd say you probably won't find a better intro :mandosmiley:

[Marcus CA]

Sam Bush's is pretty good.

I agree. I started out with Sam's "Bluegrass Mandolin" audio series from Homespun, which was fantastic for me. It really starts out at Level 1, but gets you playing tunes pretty fast. My only disclaimer for you is that I had a couple of decades on guitar behind me before I started. Anyway, the DVD might assume that you are at least a little bit familiar with the instrument, but I really don't remember.

Chris Thile's DVD is a lot of fun, but I sure wouldn't start there.

Mike Marshall just put out a two-disc series which is really good for the fundamentals. You won't get any tunes from it, but you will get a ton of structure and technique.

In general, Homespun's audio and video instruction is outstanding and addictive.

[iolas]

I'm really enjoying the Bert Casey DVD/Book combo. Great stuff so far...it seems I'm getting better each day.

I'm fixin to get me another instrument to take up some more of my time though. I've always wanted to learn how to play guitar and I have fallen in love with the sound of the delta blues resonator slide guitar. I'm thinking about getting me a metal body rogue.

[Alex Orr]

I'm thinking about getting me a metal body rogue.
I've got one of those things :grin: I bought it on eBay a few years back for $150. I really don't play much slide anymore, but I still keep it around and occassionally break it out.

I don't have much experience with metal-body resos but I really like my Rogue. I have played a Hohner and Regal and preferred the Rogue in both instances. Not only did it have more volume, but I think the neck is a bit wider, which I find helpful since I use plastic fingerpicks when playing slide on the resonator. That extra width between strings allows more room for the (at times) cumbersome fingerpicks. Also, the action seemed a bit higher on the Rogue which is nice for slide, although I'm sure the action on the others could be raised with a new biscuit. The one thing that sort've bothers me is that the neck isn't bound and some of the frets are a bit jagged, which I guess is to be expected from something as cheap as Rogue. Thats said, this is something that I could file down myself or have a repair guy do some work on and it would be fine.

Overall, for the money, I think those things are a great deal and they really do give you that blues-y sound that is so nice for playing slide.

[ApK]

Haven't heard about the metal body ones, but the triolian(sp?) reso Rogues were getting some good buzz over on the acousticguitar.com forums a while back. I'm sure folks there will have opinions on them.

[Tom F]

I also heard about the rest stroke technique, and it is recommended both u and d, not just down; and the emphasis was as a drill and a warm up, not so much that you would always rest on the next string, especially up to speed. It is an end to a means. It gets your right hand and brain used to a pendulum concept, rather than say, a chicken peck that involves thumb joint movement. And it is very good for tremelo practice.

You may abandon resting the subsequent string at a certain speed, but that motion of follow through stays with you. Then again, if you watch Bush and Skaggs, it almost seems like the rest is what they are doing at 120+. Maybe someone else can comment. The all down rest excercise can help with Monroe stuff.

I use that rest concept for a similar drill on guitar to get warmed up, it works on mando also. Mando example...

Spacing may be off, but two notes on top string, one note on the next:

D course: du ud du ud
A course: d- u- d- u-
Do this on other strings combinations.

Then starting with the A this time:
D course: d- u- d- u--
A course: du ud du ud

Begin slowly with the rest stroke idea to get a swing going, then try other pick attacks. Go for accuracy and tone.

It helps.

[Gerry Hastie]

Check out youtube, there's a lot of stuff there or click on the freemandolinvideos.com link advertised on the links beneath the mandolin cafe menu bar.

Good luck - you're in for a whole world of fun!

[mandozilla]

Hey iolas, welcome to whacky world of the mandolin and the GREAT Mandolin Cafe.

Since this your first musical instrument experience, you might want to consider finding a good mandolin teacher and taking a few lessons. ;)

It's VERY important to learn good basics before you take off! And a good teacher can set you on the right path. :confused:

Out of curiosity, what musical genre are you interested in delving into? Knowing that might makie it easier to suggest instructional materials to you. :grin:

:mandosmiley:

[Wheel Man]

I have had good luck with the instructlional material from these three players in the following order of progression. 1. The Bert Casey method, 2. Roland White method, and 3. Butch Baldassari method. I think all three of these are great for beginners. Good luck and keep on picin'.

[Alex Orr]

the emphasis was as a drill and a warm up, not so much that you would always rest on the next string, especially up to speed. It is an end to a means. It gets your right hand and brain used to a pendulum concept, rather than say, a chicken peck that involves thumb joint movement. And it is very good for tremelo practice.

You may abandon resting the subsequent string at a certain speed, but that motion of follow through stays with you.
Aaaah...that makes more sense. Yeah, I can see it being a good practice technique.

Actually, in the opposite vein, one of the better flatpick guitar practice techniques I've tried was SK's wide-swing technique. Kauffman suggested starting out your practice playing a basic version of a fiddle tune you know very well but instead of using an economic right-hand motion, you should REALLY swing that pick out. It should be a controlled motion, but a WIDE swing. In addition to warming up your right-hand, the idea is to learn to gain accuracy and control precisely through an awkward motion. I used to do this when I was serious about flatpicking and after a few weeks of adding it to my practice sessions, I could tell a noticeable diference in my speed and fluidity. If you can play accurately and with some speed when your pick is moving a good four or five inches past the string, then when you go back to a tight and controlled picking motion, you feel like you can really fly.

[Man of Wax]

I don't think you can beat the Greg Horne beginner and intermediate mando books.

Anyone else have thoughts on the intermediate book?

[Joel Spaulding]

Anyone else have thoughts on the intermediate book?

I only have the intermediate version of that particular series and I find it very useful. It covers a number of styles and offers exercises that help build chops in each style. I still use some of the dexterity exercises daily (for over a year now).

Since the OP was asking about DVDs, my only instructional DVD is The Sam Bush Mandolin Method. I would rate it as intermediate. I think you have to have a pretty good handle on most of the basics to just start playing along with Sam on this one.

[mando.player]

There's a difference between the Horne/Fugate books and the Kaufman/White/Casey books. The Horne/Fugate series offers more instructional material. They are method books. The Kaufman/White/Casey books are much more tune oriented. Depending on your learning style and personal objectives you might like one over the other.

[Alex Orr]

There's a difference between the Horne/Fugate books and the Kaufman/White/Casey books. The Horne/Fugate series offers more instructional material. They are method books. The Kaufman/White/Casey books are much more tune oriented. Depending on your learning style and personal objectives you might like one over the other.
Agreed. Diferent books with diferent aims, but I think they actually compliment each other really well. If you're new to the mando and want to play bluegrass, them you might as well start learning basic fiddle tunes and sight reading from day one. The SK PLP books have soe REALLY easy versions of fiddle tunes. I recall in one of the CDs SK even mentions how it became something of a chellenge to simplify someof the tunes enough so that they were beginner-ready but also still sounded like the correct song.

[mando.player]

I agree there is a place for both types of books. Looking back on my own "self-taught" journey, I would have been much better off starting with the first two Horne books. But that's just me.

[Charley wild]

A newbie/oldbe question. I pounded around on a mandolin back in the early 70's and haven't touched one since. I'd like to try it again but I'm more interested in learning old style stuff. Monroe, Lilly, etc. Most courses teach you how to flat pick fiddle tunes. Or that seems to be the objective. That's fine but I would rather play something more like you'd play on ballads and mountain waltzes rather than just flat pick. Is there any learning material available to get me started in that direction?

[ald]

Tom F, could you elaborate a bit more on rest stroke exercises, particularly with reference to the tremelo?