• Progressive Melodies for Mandocello: 40 Studies for Sightreading and Technical Development

    Available for Kindle and print version.

    Progressive Melodies for Mandocello by August Watters is a new collection of original, unaccompanied solos for the baritone member of the mandolin family. It is designed to cultivate musical reading skills, as well as technical facility, and to build skills essential to ensemble playing and solo performance.

    The book is designed for use on any computer, using Amazon's free Kindle Reader software.

    About the book, Watters told us: "By design, this is intended as a method for building sight-reading as well as technical skills. For that reason this is standard notation only. Plus, it’s already a challenge to format music for the small screen, so everything is visible without stopping to scroll!

    "I've looked at a lot of music books on Kindle, and most of them seem to be direct transfers of a print book, which means the music is laid out in portrait mode and thus too small to read easily, once fit to a computer screen that's landscape mode by design. So I've laid out the Kindle version in landscape mode, to match the computer screen. As it turns out, the Kindle format gives the user very little control over how graphics will look, so the book really needs to be formatted with Kindle in mind. When it's time for the print-on-demand book, I'll lay it out differently."

    About the Author

    August Watters is a multi-stylistic mandolinist, composer/arranger, and teacher, with a special interest in the historical roots of the American mandolin. He focuses on instruments of the mandolin family, including mandolin, mandola, and mandocello.

    As an international clinician and soloist, August has performed in Europe, Canada, and the United States. He has presented to a variety of academic and music conferences, including the American Association for Italian Studies, the International Association of Jazz Educators, and the Classical Mandolin Society of America. He has also performed and taught at many music festivals, including Steve Kaufman's Kamp (Tennessee), the Vermont Mandolin Festival, the J. D. Crowe Bluegrass Festival (Tennessee), Mandolin Camp North (Massachusetts), and Ashokan (New York).

    August is the author of Exploring Classical Mandolin, (Berklee Press, 2015), New Solos for Classical Mandolin, (Hal Leonard Publishing, 2019), and Progressive Melodies for Mandocello: 40 Studies for Sight-reading and Technical Development (self-published on Kindle, 2019).

    August taught at Berklee College of Music for 18 years, where he held the title of Professor of Ear Training. At Berklee, his "Acoustic String Project" Ensemble trained roots-oriented musicians for fifteen years (2000-2014). He also taught a variety of string performance labs for the Berklee String Department, as well as private mandolin lessons.

    Additional Information

    Comments 16 Comments
    1. August Watters's Avatar
      August Watters -
      This book is designed for use on any computer, using the free Amazon Kindle Reader software.
    1. Classicalcomp's Avatar
      Classicalcomp -
      Hey August, do you have a print date planned yet? I’d love to get a hard copy or printable copy. Thanks.
    1. August Watters's Avatar
      August Watters -
      Shouldn't be too long until the print-on-demand version is ready; maybe another week! Meanwhile, the online version is available, for those who prefer to use it on their devices. I prefer a print book, but am guessing there will be more and more music instruction books designed for online use, using the Kindle Reader interface, as it catches on.
    1. Classicalcomp's Avatar
      Classicalcomp -
      Yeah, I like to print mine off and bind them myself so any print on demand version is great for me. I really look forward working through them! Thank you for creating more studies for the Mandocello!
    1. Jim Imhoff's Avatar
      Jim Imhoff -
      It's a great time to be a mandocello player! Thank you August, and people should also check out John Goodin's Winter Suite for Mandocello.
    1. Mandolin Cafe's Avatar
      Mandolin Cafe -
      Now available in print on amazon.com.

      https://www.amazon.com/Progressive-M...dp/170039309X/
    1. August Watters's Avatar
      August Watters -
      One tip about using the online version--The design of the Kindle Reader software is that you have to set the screen width to "maximum' -- it's in the KR font control. If not, the staves will appear narrow on the page. With screen width set to maximum, the staves will extend all the way across the page, using the entire width of your screen. As more people get accustomed to music books formatted this way, I'm sure this will seem more familiar!
    1. rongreen's Avatar
      rongreen -
      Quote Originally Posted by August Watters View Post
      One tip about using the online version--The design of the Kindle Reader software is that you have to set the screen width to "maximum' -- it's in the KR font control. If not, the staves will appear narrow on the page. With screen width set to maximum, the staves will extend all the way across the page, using the entire width of your screen. As more people get accustomed to music books formatted this way, I'm sure this will seem more familiar!
      Hello August,
      I have your print version of Progressive Melodies, but I also have ForScore on my Ipad. Is there any way currently to get a version I can upload to ForScore?
      Thanks,
      Ron Green
    1. August Watters's Avatar
      August Watters -
      Hi Ron -- sorry, but there's only the print version available at this point. Turns out, there were some cross-platform issues with the Kindle version. I may release an online version later, but for several reasons I think the content of this book is probably best suited to the print format. Enjoy! Also -- there is a Progressive Melodies group over on facebook, so feel free to join.
    1. rongreen's Avatar
      rongreen -
      Quote Originally Posted by August Watters View Post
      Hi Ron -- sorry, but there's only the print version available at this point. Turns out, there were some cross-platform issues with the Kindle version. I may release an online version later, but for several reasons I think the content of this book is probably best suited to the print format. Enjoy! Also -- there is a Progressive Melodies group over on facebook, so feel free to join.
      Hi August,
      I LOVE your book. I'll check out the Facebook group.
    1. Michael Richmond's Avatar
      Michael Richmond -
      Any plans for a re-print of this book?

      I've been trying to buy a copy but have not found anywhere that has it available.
    1. August Watters's Avatar
      August Watters -
      The Second Edition book will be available very soon -- some of the tunes have developed quite a bit in three years.

      In the new edition:
      - several melodies have new variations;
      - new appendices have been added;
      - there are five new pages of comments on using the tunes;
      - many melodies have been updated with performance details: fingerings, articulations, dynamics, extended form.

      Otherwise the melodies are essentially the same as before. I plan to have the new edition available within just a few days.

      Thanks for asking!
    1. Joe Bartl's Avatar
      Joe Bartl -
      There are several copies on Alibris. Not cheap ... but available.

      [Edit: While writing this, August replied as above. Guess it would be better to wait for the new edition ... ]
    1. Michael Richmond's Avatar
      Michael Richmond -
      Quote Originally Posted by Joe Bartl View Post
      There are several copies on Alibris. Not cheap ... but available.

      [Edit: While writing this, August replied as above. Guess it would be better to wait for the new edition ... ]
      I have placed orders for the copies on Alibris. A few weeks later the seller cancels the order but does not update their stock list. (Posting this experience to save others from the same cycle.)
    1. Michael Richmond's Avatar
      Michael Richmond -
      Quote Originally Posted by August Watters View Post
      Otherwise the melodies are essentially the same as before. I plan to have the new edition available within just a few days.
      Wonderful news. Thanks for the update.
    1. August Watters's Avatar
      August Watters -
      The new "Progressive Melodies for Mandocello, 2nd Ed." is now available in print, on the KDP website. The subtitle is unchanged from the first edition: "40 Studies for Sightreading and Technical Development."

      The book presents new music, composed specifically for mandocello, as well as a technical guide to playing the instrument. It's called "Progressive Studies" because each melody focuses on a specific skill set, gradually introducing new challenges. The book is in bass clef, and although it is not designed for beginners, there is much to help musicians transfer their skills from other instruments to mandocello.

      The 40 melodies are mostly unchanged from the first edition, although several pages of new variations have been added, along with small additions (such as interpretation details and form) that have grown over the past three years. The second edition adds ten pages of new content, all together, including new practice and study resources.