Best album for new mandolin players

[AlBlackDavidson]

Hi,

I have been playing for about 6-8 months. I know the basic chords and scales but would like to start playing along to some recordings. I have used mando lessons, banjo ben and books like Celtic World Collection by Brent Robitaille. I'm into the country, modern Celtic (Flogging Molly) and folk styles. Any suggestions would be great. thank you in advanced.

[Pup]

Oh my.. do you mean stuff to listen to for inspiration and to internalize the whole Bluegrass feel, or are you looking for stuff to pick apart and learn melodies?
In either case you should go ahead and listen to everything possible so you get a sense of what kind of stuff you like. Even among super straight-ahead Bluegrass players there's a difference. In the millions of players and records rattling around in my mind for you right now, I want to suggest that Ronnie McCoury gives you a taste of everything. He's cross-picking and jumping strings on one tune and running blazing tremolo solos in another. Always tastefully and almost always from the tradition of the fiddle tune licks.

[Steve Repinec]

If you are looking for backing tracks to practice playing with, take a look at the Free Bluegrass Backing Tracks website. He has some sections with Old Time and Celtic songs. I also use You Tube a lot. I record the songs into the Any Tune Pro app I have on my phone so that I can slow them down as I learn them and change key if needed.

[MikeZito]

Along the lines of what both Pup and Steve said above; I think your choice of music listening is totally dependent on what you want to accomplish at this point.

Do you want to play along with and learn other people's particular styles, songs or licks? If so, you can get started by simply picking 2 or 3 of your favorite artists and try to play along with the songs that most suit your intended style.

If you want to get used to freely playing with different genres of music, then Free Bluegrass Backing Tracks is a good resource.

Being the lousy player that I am, who hopes to someday establish a 'style of my own', I have recently taken a completely different route. I instead of playing along with other mandolin songs, or songs that lend themselves well to a mandolin accompaniment - I have been playing to records that have absolutely no business using a mandolin! Music of just about every genre. I have tried my hand at coming up with arrangements for Julie London, Ricky Nelson, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Queen, The Beatles, Linda Ronstadt, etc. I am not sure that any of it is pleasurable to anyone who is within earshot of me and my cheap Washburn - but I am certainly experimenting, and doing some learning at the same time.

No matter what you decide; as long as you do it with your best intent, and do it often - you won't go wrong

[AlBlackDavidson]

Thank you everyone

[onassis]

I don't really know much mando-centric music that falls into the country, modern celtic or folk headings, but I would suggest just playing along with the music that you already dig. You can often find chord progressions for songs on the net, then you just follow along til you have the rhythm down reliably. At this point, you should know what key the song is in, so you can start trying to pick out the melody from the scale.

For folky stuff, you can't go wrong listening to Mandolin Orange. No blazing tempos, lots of gorgeous melodies, usually straight forward keys (G, A, C, etc). Occasionally a "weird" chord or two, but easily worked around. I've spent some time playing along with their Youtube videos, which gives the added bonus of being able to actually see the chords. Highly recommended.

[Swimbob]

Another suggestion, although I don't know if they fit in your genre would be Jay Unger and Molly Mason. They don't play a lot of fast songs but play beautiful melodies and are not too hard to pick up.

And Mike I like your approach too. I just stumbled onto Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" and it turns out to be a really fun song to play. Now if I can just get that ending...

[CES]

Onassis beat me to it: Mandolin Orange. Old Crow Medicine Show is another band that's fun to play with. They tend to have straight forward keys/chords as well, though the fiddler plays in several alternate tunings, iirc. No mandolin specifically, but easy to work it in. They get maligned for Wagon Wheel, which appears to be becoming the bluegrass/folk "FREEBIRD!" But, they're a good band...

The Avett Brothers are another group that springs to mind. Their later albums have been more polished, with a little more rock influence, but still very accessible. And, many of their songs sound great played very simply, but can be spruced up as your skills develop.

Have fun!

[UsuallyPickin]

Take a listen to Skaggs and Rice....... it is simple Country 'grass but you can hear Skaggs mandolin work clearly and there is a great deal to learn from his timing taste and touch. R/

[JeffD]

Hi,

I have been playing for about 6-8 months. I know the basic chords and scales but would like to start playing along to some recordings. I have used mando lessons, banjo ben and books like Celtic World Collection by Brent Robitaille. I'm into the country, modern Celtic (Flogging Molly) and folk styles. Any suggestions would be great. thank you in advanced.

A quick thought. Stay clear of mandolin recordings. (For a while I mean, not for ever. ) Get a lot of stuff you like, vocals, fiddle, button box, whatever it is.

I sometimes think we mandolinners listen to each other too much and there is a certain sameness that creeps into our playing. I am especially fond of trying to phrase a line like a vocalist.