Anyone Try those Homespun courses?

[Manne Doughe Lin]

Those Homespun courses here at Mandolin Cafe look interesting. Anyone here give them a try yet? If so I'm curious of your opinion. I'm so sick of weeding through youTube that I'm willing to pay a few bucks for some quality video mandolin instruction.

[Charlieshafer]

I have the Mike Marshall DVDs and like them quite a lot. Every now and then I'll go back and watch a few parts just to remind myself to watch a few details so I don't let my habits fall into ill repute.

[bgjunkie]

I have the Mike Marshall set, the Sam Bush set (new one), and Tim O'brien's Mandolin/Bouzouki one. The quality is great and I like the PDF with the tabs - definately beats the little books that come with the DVDs (or used to). I need to spend more time using them though. I sometimes wonder if I am becoming a collector of lessons rather than a user of them.

[Manne Doughe Lin]

Thanks guys. For some reason I couldn't find my thread after I posted it.

[MOJOHAND40]

I've bought so many Homespun tapes, videos and DVDs over the last twenty years that Happy Traum should buy me dinner. (I've played a lot of different instruments over that twenty or so years...jack of all trades, master of none..heh.)

I've been working through the Butch Baldassari "Bluegrass Mandolin Workshop" one lately. It's a really good one, IMO, sort of just beyond the beginner stage, some intermediate. Lot's of nice little stuff even if you've played for awhile. Some nice tips on Monroe style stuff on there.

I also have Butch's "You Can Play Bluegrass Mandolin Vol I" from Homespun. It's well done, but a bit more beginner then I needed at the time. Not a bad place to start for a more newbie though.

I also have Baldassari's "20 Fiddle Tunes for Mandolin" from a lonnng time ago, though I see that Homespun has since redid it and it's now "30 tunes..."...
Good stuff there!!!

I haven't tried the other Mandolin stuff from Homespun yet. I always really liked Butch Baldassarri's playing so I kind of stuck with his stuff.

[montana]

I've combed Ebay for the past two years trying to find tapes and dvds for mando. Here's what I've found:

Sam Bush Mandolin $5.00 Great covers a lot of stuff from Bluegrass, Texas fiddle tunes, crosspicking,newgrass.
Jesse McReynolds $5.00 Great for Jesse style learned a lot about crosspicking.
Ronnie McCorrey $5.00 Great Bluegrass bluessy Monroe style.
Bill Monroe 2 dvds $29.00 Great for watching Bill and learning Bill's tunes from Sam Bush on dvd2.
Tim O'brian $9.95 Nice folky mando and a nice Irish Slipjig.
Norman Blake mandolin $12.50 My least favorite ok for learning some fiddle tunes but not great fiddle tunes. Good for beginner.
Just won Steve James 2 dvd blues set for $22.50 don't know how it is but if I pick up a couple of things it's worth it'
I figure if you take a lesson It will cost you $25.00 so these are Great!!!

[catmandu2]

I've bought so many Homespun tapes, videos and DVDs over the last twenty years that Happy Traum should buy me dinner.

RSVP one more, here..

...good idea fj. Here' mine that i can recall-

Fiddle:
Brad Leftwich (20 years ago!)
Michael Doucet
Kevin Burke

Bass:
Rob Wasserman
Todd Phillips
Mark Schatz
Rufus Reid

Banjers:
Mike Seeger
Buddy Wachter

Drums (but I don't think all of these are on HS):
Dave Weckl
Peter Erskine
Alex Acuna
Giovanni Hidalgo

And the bouzouki/button box one, but I don't recollect who it is..

And one other, definitely not HS though: Townley and Paul, "How to Repair Your Diatonic Accordian or Concertina" -- a couple of guys consume half a bottle of vodka while discussing some of the subtler aspects...

I also have the pedal steel one laying around here that someone gave me.

[farmerjones]

RSVP one more, here..

Me 2.

Let's see. . .
Sam Bush,
Sam Bush talking about Bill Monroe,
Bill Monroe (with John Hartford),
John Hartford,
Bruce Molsky,
Vasser Clement,
Kenny Kosek.

I can't say i do any one particular thing, or play a tune, because of what i've seen on any of these. But they all do serve to inspire and sometimes that's needed.

[mandocrucian]

One of the best Homespun (audio) courses was: Learn The REAL Cajun Fiddle with Michael Doucet.

Before doing it, Mike asked me for ideas concerning the presentation of ideas and techniques. If you liked the way material was developed in (my) Bluegrass Up The Neck, you'll see a similar method of taking basic ideas and developing them and combining techniques layer by layer. I did the book of transcriptions, at Mike's inisistance, and the book was far more thorough and detailed than many (most) of the other Homespun sets. (No financial interest on this, I got a one-time flat fee for doing it.)

It's "fiddle" but I can tell you (from personal experience), you can really put the Cajun element into your mandolin working with this set.

Niles H

[catmandu2]

One of the best Homespun (audio) courses was: Learn The REAL Cajun Fiddle with Michael Doucet.

Yep, that's been about my favorite. The Giovanni Hidalgo is excellent as well, and the Mike Seeger three-set series "Southern Banjo Styles" is essential for OT banjo enthusiasts.

You know how there is always a contingent of hardcores on these forums? Over on the Fiddle Forum, some folks denigrate Michael as a mere pasticher, and worse. I, however, have used the hell out of that video beginning about 20 years ago. I like MD and Bouseleil a lot. I'm no cajun--so I'm not inclined to offer what is authentic, and what is not--but I've had much success playing fiddle with techniques that I learned from MD.

I haven't used the book/notes, though..

[Dobe]

Yep ! Sammy's 1st one really launched my playing. Got Bela's & Jerry's, Really like Vassers !! Tony Rice, Mike Dowling, Jorma...........

[Marcus CA]

I've bought so many Homespun tapes, videos and DVDs over the last twenty years that Happy Traum should buy me dinner.

You, me, and how many others???

Seriously, I've got shelves of their audio and video lessons, and they're all great! I've even bought a few for instruments I can barely play just to get a better sense of what the masters are doing (e.g., Dr. John teaching piano).

If the topic sounds good to you, get it!

[Charlieshafer]

You, me, and how many others???

Seriously, I've got shelves of their audio and video lessons, and they're all great! I've even bought a few for instruments I can barely play just to get a better sense of what the masters are doing (e.g., Dr. John teaching piano).

If the topic sounds good to you, get it!

Dr. John taught you to play piano, too? It worked wonders for me. Now I'm the life of the party, have generated new hair growth, lost weight, and.. but wait, there's more!

[dimaklis]

This is not exactlly what you are asking but I would like to share with you a project I am starting quite relevant to mandolin. It is an effort to release finally some quality and detailed bouzouki sheet music, tablature/standard notation. Check out my project’s page on indiegogo if you like http://www.indiegogo.com/nine-eight and the project's web page http://nineeight.wordpress.com/.
Thanks for your attention

[Aran]

I just got Butch Baldassari "Bluegrass Mandolin Workshop" with the online thingy (link on cafe home page). It's instant so no waiting for weeks for it come accross the pond.

I think it's rather good! About the price of a lesson (if there was anyone teaching Bluegrass, mandolin in Dublin which there isn't) but you get to go over it as many times as you like. I found the pdf's of the music much easier to see and navigate than using a book.

I have only watched it all the way through once and have already got loads of nice little hints and tips from it.

So a big thumbs up from me...