Mandolin For Dummies

Don Julin has a reputation for being one of the most eclectic mandolin players/instructors on the scene. Don has released over 20 albums and played on countless others. Don operates the online mandolin school Mandolins Heal The World (www.mandolinshealtheworld.com). He also teaches mandolin at music camps. Don enjoys connecting with musicians and believes that music should be a conversation, not a contest.

• Foreword xviiIntroduction 1About This Book 1Conventions Used in This Book 2Foolish Assumptions 3Icons Used in This Book 3Accessing the Audio Tracks 3Beyond the Book 4Part 1: Being Bitten by the Mandolin Bug 5Chapter 1: Becoming Acquainted with Your Mandolin 7Riding the Mandolin Wave 7Loving the mandolin sound 8Joining a vibrant community 8Enjoying a great choice of mandolins 9Meeting the Mandolin Family 10Reaching the highest notes: Mandolin 11Playing with an alto voice: Mandola 11Lowering the tone: Mando-cello 12Spotting the rarely seen mando-bass 13Accompanying the family: Octave mandolin 14Getting to Know Your Mandolin’s Anatomy 15Looking at the body 17Introducing the neck 18Using string vibrations to produce sound 20Chapter 2: Getting to Grips with Tuning and Terminology 21Coming to Terms with Musical Terminology 22Identifying musical notes with letters 22Sharpening up and flatting down your notes 23Stepping up to the mark: Distances between notes 23Scaling the heights with chords and scales 23Grasping the Tuning Basics 24Sounding Tuneful: Methods for Tuning Your Mandolin 25Using an electronic tuner 25Tuning your mandolin to itself 26Tuning to another instrument 28Chapter 3: Getting a Handle on Your Mandolin 29Sitting Down on the Job 30Playing While Standing Up 32Strapping Yourself in to Play 34Part 2: Starting to Play the Mandolin 37Chapter 4: Making Music on the Mandolin 39Playing without Having to Read Music 39Understanding tablature 40Reading chord diagrams 41Developing a musical ear 42Keeping the Musical Beat by Counting 43Feeling the beat 43Counting to four 43Dividing up beats 44Extending notes: Half notes and whole notes 45Dotting and tying notes 46Resting: Playing the silence 47Repeating sections of a song 48Simplifying time signatures 48Introducing Your First Five Chords 51Getting to grips with the G chord 51Choosing the C chord 52Discovering the D chord 53Adding the A chord 54Examining the E chord 55Strumming chords: Getting some rhythm patterns together 56Breaking Down the Parts of a Song 57Finding the beat: Rhythm 57Moving on to chord progressions 57Strumming the chords 58Performing the melody 59Playing along with other people 59Playing Your First Songs 60“Ode to Joy” theme 61“Down in the Valley” 62“Go Tell Aunt Rhodie” 63“Skip to My Lou” 63“Red River Valley” 64Chapter 5: Picking with the Right Hand 65Holding the Pick 65Supporting and Guiding Your Right Hand 66Touching the bridge 66Brushing the pinky 67Resting on the rib 68Arching your wrist while strumming 68Picking Up and Down 69Picking alternate strong and weak beats 69Getting down with down-strokes 72Visiting Ireland: Jig picking 72Rolling out the notes: Cross picking 73Developing Good Tone 74Finding the sweet spot 75Picking the right pick 76Keeping a loose grip 76Getting your pick angle right 77Following through: The rest stroke 77Keeping things loose: It’s all in the wrist 77Playing Louder Isn’t Always Better 78Understanding dynamics 78Knowing when not to play loudly 79Choosing when to play loudly 79Balancing act: Four strings are louder than one 79Sustaining a Note: Tremolo 80Staying in time: Measured tremolo 80Varying the pace: Free tremolo 82Playing melody with slow tremolo 83Practicing Your Skills 83Trying out alternate-picking exercises 83Keeping-time exercises 86Chilling out with rest exercises 88Becoming dynamic with volume exercises 88Stretching out with tremolo exercises 90Chapter 6: Fretting Notes and Chords with the Left Hand 93Positioning and Working with Your Left Hand 94Positioning your left hand 94Tying your fingers to the frets 96Exercising the left hand 97Creating effects with your left hand 97Discovering More Essential Chords 103Trying out a few major chords 103Becoming sadder with some minor chords 104Opening up to seventh chords 106Focusing on barré chords 106Trying out Left-Hand Techniques 110Changing your left-hand position 110Moving up the mandolin’s neck 110Playing two notes simultaneously: Double stops 112Chapter 7: Playing “Jethro”-Style Three-String Chords 117Introducing Jethro Burns’s Three-String Chord Style 118Perfecting Three-String Major Chords 119Root-on-top major chords 119Third-on-top major chords 119Fifth-on-top major chords 120Mastering Three-String Minor Chords 120Root-on-top minor chords 121Third-on-top minor chords 121Fifth-on-top minor chords 122Trying on a Few Seventh Chords for Size 122Root-on-top seventh chords 123Third-on-top seventh chords 124Fifth-on-top seventh chords 124Seventh-on-top seventh chords 125Revving up for Jazzy Chords: Nice! 126Sounding unresolved with diminished chords 126Adding augmented chords to your mandolin armory 127Dressing up some minor chords: Minor sevenths 128Chapter 8: Playing Mandolin Music: Scales and Melody 133Understanding How to Play Melody 134Listening to the great players 134Speaking a tune 135Rising to the challenge of scales 135Exploring Some Major Scales 136Discovering the D major scale 136Accessing the A major scale 139Getting to grips with the G major scale 142Avoiding sharps and flats with the C major scale 144Trying Out Minor Scales 146Mining the A minor scale for two different approaches 147Playing solo with chord melodies 149Experiencing the Power of the Pentatonic 152Taking five with the major pentatonic scale 152Moving on to the minor pentatonic scale 154Part 3: Putting Playing Styles into Practice 157Chapter 9: Playing Music from Yesteryear: Old Time, Rags and Blues 159Searching out the Past: Old-Time Music 160Strumming for old-time fiddle tunes 161Waltzing on the mandolin 164Playing All Raggedy on Purpose: Ragtime 168Syncopating your mandolin melodies 169Practicing ragtime chord progressions and patterns 169Playing away Your Sorrows: The Blues 174Introducing the blues rhythm 174Chording up for the blues 176Playin’ the blues: Some tips and techniques 179Influencing other genres 183Chapter 10: Giving Your Mandolin a Speedy Workout: Bluegrass 191Getting a Grip on That Bluegrass Rhythm 192Gathering Together the Bluegrass Elements: An Original Mandolin Style 194Fiddling about with fiddle tunes 195Adding the blues style 197Using tremolo 197Adding extra bars: Irregular time 197Picking up Bluegrass Melodic Techniques 198Using the right hand 198Playing out-of-chord positions: The left hand 201Exploring other left-hand ornamentations 205Building Bluegrass Instrumental Breaks 208Learning the song 209Making your break sound like bluegrass 209Chapter 11: Travelling to the Emerald Isle: Irish Mandolin 213Following the Melody One Note at a Time 214Listening to learn Irish tunes 214Swinging with triplets and the lilt 215Discovering the Irish Music Modes 217Using a standard major scale (Ionian mode) 217Tackling a standard minor scale (Dorian mode) 217Meeting the other major scale (Mixolydian mode) 218Encountering the relative minor scale (Aeolian mode) 219Playing Irish Rhythms and Tunes 219“Reeling in the Years” 220Jigging around the dance floor 222Slipping in a jig 224Being all at sea in a good way: The hornpipe 226Playing Irish Tunes with Other Musicians 228Chapter 12: Taking a Quick World Tour 229Returning to the Mandolin’s Birthplace: Italy 229Strolling to play 230Making great use of tremolo 230Varying the tremolo speed 233Visiting the Concert Hall: Classical Mandolin 233Gliding towards acquiring a classical mandolin technique 233Exploring arpeggio uses in classical music 234Introducing mandolin orchestras 238Heading to Brazil 238Getting hold of some basic choro rhythms 239Trying out some choro chord progressions 241Considering choro melody 241Chapter 13: Swinging to Those Jazzy Rhythms 245“It Don’t Mean a Thing .”: Swingin’ the Melody 246Introducing swing 246Respecting the mighty eighth note 247Using syncopated rhythms 247Playing in all 12 keys 249Simplifying Jazz Chords 250Working with Jazzy Chord Progressions 253Keeping it moving: The 1-6-2-5 progression 253Getting the blues, jazz style 254Achieving a good swing feel 257Swingin’ with rhythm changes 258Changing keys with the 2-5-1 progression 261Accompanying yourself: Chord melody 261Mixing Things up: Jazz with Other Styles 264Heading down to Texas: Western swing 264Waltzing with the Muppets 266Blending jazz with other genres 267Chapter 14: Blending Styles: Dawg Music 271Meeting David Grisman 272Groovin’ to Some Dawg Music 272Heading down south: Dawg Latin 272Get up, get on up: Dawg funk 274Accenting Your Grooves, Dawg-Style 276Scratching like the Dawg 276Stretching out with one long chord 277Part 4: Purchasing and Caring for Your Mandolin 281Chapter 15: Selecting and Buying a Mandolin 283Exploring the World of Mandolins 284Finding out about F-style mandolins 284Assessing A-style mandolins 285Rounding out F- and A-style mandolins 286Tossing around pancake and other flat-top mandolins 287Plugging in with electric mandolins 287Bandying about with a bandolim 288Noticing Neapolitan mandolins 288Spending the Right Amount 290Discovering What Makes One Mandolin Better than Another 290Barking up the right tree: Types of wood for mandolins 290Polishing off the types of finish 291Getting comfortable: Mandolin playability 291Making it up: Types of mandolin manufacture 292Aging well: New versus used mandolins 293Locating Mandolins for Sale 293Buying in bricks-and-mortar shops 293Going online 294Putting a Mandolin through Its Paces 295Chapter 16: Building Your Accessories Kit 297Gathering Together the Must-Haves 297Picking extra picks 298Clipping on an electronic tuner 298Strapping on the mandolin 298Protecting your mandolin 299Stringing along your mandolin 300Buying Extras That Improve Your Playing 301Keeping steady with a metronome 301Taking lessons from books, DVDs, and online courses 301Leaning on a music stand 301Recording made easy 302Playing along with backing tracks 302Slowing down the music 303Using a webcam for online lessons 303Bringing on the Bling 304Attaching accessories to your mandolin 304Making life easier in other ways 306Chapter 17: All Change: Replacing Your Mandolin’s Strings 307Preparing to Change Your Strings 307Knowing when to change strings 308Selecting the right strings 308Removing the Old Strings 310Re-stringing Your Mandolin 312Chapter 18: Caring for and Repairing Your Mandolin 317Maintaining Your Mandolin’s Health 317Wiping down your mandolin 318Controlling the climate 318Getting a good case or bag 319Keeping an instrument stand handy 319Setting Up Your Mandolin Yourself: Only for the Brave 320Adjusting the action 321Tackling the truss-rod adjustment 322Slotting the nut 323Setting the bridge: Intonation 324Turning to the Professionals 325Dressing or replacing the frets 325Repairing cracks 326Part 5: The Part of Tens 327Chapter 19: Ten (or So) Tips on Becoming a Good Mandolin Player 329Listen to Mandolin Music 330Get a Good Teacher 330Keep Your Mandolin Nearby 330Play Your Mandolin Every Day 331Find People to Play Music With 331Practice with a Metronome 332Go to Mandolin Camps or Workshops 332Practice Slowly Using Good Technique 332Develop a Musical Ear 333Acquire Some Music Theory 333Record Yourself 334Have Fun! 334Chapter 20: Ten Mandolin Players You Need to Know 335Bill Monroe (1911–1996) 335Chris Thile (Born 1981) 336Jethro Burns (1920–1989) 336David Grisman (Born 1945) 337Dave Apollon (1897–1972) 338Jacob do Bandolim (1918–1969) 338Yank Rachell (1910–1997) 338Mike Marshall (Born 1957) 339Caterina Lichtenberg (Born 1969) 340Carlo Aonzo (Born 1967) 340Chapter 21: Ten Ways of Tapping into the Mandolin Subculture 341Attending Acoustic Music Concerts 341Trying Out Mandolin Workshops 342Visiting Mandolin Camps 342Going to Acoustic Music Festivals 343Checking Out a Jam Session or Orchestra 344Joining the Online Mandolin Community 344Finding Courses on the Internet 345Joining a National Organization 346Exploring Your Own Town 347Spreading the News 347Part 6: Appendixes 349Appendix A: Chord Charts 351Appendix B: Reading Standard Musical Notation 355Meeting the Musical Staff 355Starting at the beginning: Treble and bass clefs 356Signing in with the key signature 356Timing is everything: Time signatures 357Getting the speed right: Tempo 357Knowing the style 358Following the Musical Directions 359Noting the Musical Notes 361Pitching in with high and low notes 361Discovering note duration 362Dotting and tying notes 363Getting louder and quietening down: Dynamics 364Articulating your playing 365Appendix C: Audio Tracks 367Discovering What’s on the Audio Tracks 367Index 373