Don Julin (Traverse City, Michigan) is an accomplished mandolin player, instructor, and recording artist; a composer for television and film; and a studio engineer. He has over 20 years of experience recording a wide variety of music ranging from delta blues to orchestral music and has worked and played with artists such as Dave Brubeck, Kid Rock, and David Grisman.

Foreword xvii

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Conventions Used in This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 3

Icons Used in This Book 3

Accessing the Audio Tracks 3

Beyond the Book 4

Part 1: Being Bitten by the Mandolin Bug 5

Chapter 1: Becoming Acquainted with Your Mandolin 7

Riding the Mandolin Wave 7

Loving the mandolin sound 8

Joining a vibrant community 8

Enjoying a great choice of mandolins 9

Meeting the Mandolin Family 10

Reaching the highest notes: Mandolin 11

Playing with an alto voice: Mandola 11

Lowering the tone: Mando-cello 12

Spotting the rarely seen mando-bass 13

Accompanying the family: Octave mandolin 14

Getting to Know Your Mandolin’s Anatomy 15

Looking at the body 17

Introducing the neck 18

Using string vibrations to produce sound 20

Chapter 2: Getting to Grips with Tuning and Terminology 21

Coming to Terms with Musical Terminology 22

Identifying musical notes with letters 22

Sharpening up and flatting down your notes 23

Stepping up to the mark: Distances between notes 23

Scaling the heights with chords and scales 23

Grasping the Tuning Basics 24

Sounding Tuneful: Methods for Tuning Your Mandolin 25

Using an electronic tuner 25

Tuning your mandolin to itself 26

Tuning to another instrument 28

Chapter 3: Getting a Handle on Your Mandolin 29

Sitting Down on the Job 30

Playing While Standing Up 32

Strapping Yourself in to Play 34

Part 2: Starting to Play the Mandolin 37

Chapter 4: Making Music on the Mandolin 39

Playing without Having to Read Music 39

Understanding tablature 40

Reading chord diagrams 41

Developing a musical ear 42

Keeping the Musical Beat by Counting 43

Feeling the beat 43

Counting to four 43

Dividing up beats 44

Extending notes: Half notes and whole notes 45

Dotting and tying notes 46

Resting: Playing the silence 47

Repeating sections of a song 48

Simplifying time signatures 48

Introducing Your First Five Chords 51

Getting to grips with the G chord 51

Choosing the C chord 52

Discovering the D chord 53

Adding the A chord 54

Examining the E chord 55

Strumming chords: Getting some rhythm patterns together 56

Breaking Down the Parts of a Song 57

Finding the beat: Rhythm 57

Moving on to chord progressions 57

Strumming the chords 58

Performing the melody 59

Playing along with other people 59

Playing 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” 64

Chapter 5: Picking with the Right Hand 65

Holding the Pick 65

Supporting and Guiding Your Right Hand 66

Touching the bridge 66

Brushing the pinky 67

Resting on the rib 68

Arching your wrist while strumming 68

Picking Up and Down 69

Picking alternate strong and weak beats 69

Getting down with down-strokes 72

Visiting Ireland: Jig picking 72

Rolling out the notes: Cross picking 73

Developing Good Tone 74

Finding the sweet spot 75

Picking the right pick 76

Keeping a loose grip 76

Getting your pick angle right 77

Following through: The rest stroke 77

Keeping things loose: It’s all in the wrist 77

Playing Louder Isn’t Always Better 78

Understanding dynamics 78

Knowing when not to play loudly 79

Choosing when to play loudly 79

Balancing act: Four strings are louder than one 79

Sustaining a Note: Tremolo 80

Staying in time: Measured tremolo 80

Varying the pace: Free tremolo 82

Playing melody with slow tremolo 83

Practicing Your Skills 83

Trying out alternate-picking exercises 83

Keeping-time exercises 86

Chilling out with rest exercises 88

Becoming dynamic with volume exercises 88

Stretching out with tremolo exercises 90

Chapter 6: Fretting Notes and Chords with the Left Hand 93

Positioning and Working with Your Left Hand 94

Positioning your left hand 94

Tying your fingers to the frets 96

Exercising the left hand 97

Creating effects with your left hand 97

Discovering More Essential Chords 103

Trying out a few major chords 103

Becoming sadder with some minor chords 104

Opening up to seventh chords 106

Focusing on barré chords 106

Trying out Left-Hand Techniques 110

Changing your left-hand position 110

Moving up the mandolin’s neck 110

Playing two notes simultaneously: Double stops 112

Chapter 7: Playing “Jethro”-Style Three-String Chords 117

Introducing Jethro Burns’s Three-String Chord Style 118

Perfecting Three-String Major Chords 119

Root-on-top major chords 119

Third-on-top major chords 119

Fifth-on-top major chords 120

Mastering Three-String Minor Chords 120

Root-on-top minor chords 121

Third-on-top minor chords 121

Fifth-on-top minor chords 122

Trying on a Few Seventh Chords for Size 122

Root-on-top seventh chords 123

Third-on-top seventh chords 124

Fifth-on-top seventh chords 124

Seventh-on-top seventh chords 125

Revving up for Jazzy Chords: Nice! 126

Sounding unresolved with diminished chords 126

Adding augmented chords to your mandolin armory 127

Dressing up some minor chords: Minor sevenths 128

Chapter 8: Playing Mandolin Music: Scales and Melody 133

Understanding How to Play Melody 134

Listening to the great players 134

Speaking a tune 135

Rising to the challenge of scales 135

Exploring Some Major Scales 136

Discovering the D major scale 136

Accessing the A major scale 139

Getting to grips with the G major scale 142

Avoiding sharps and flats with the C major scale 144

Trying Out Minor Scales 146

Mining the A minor scale for two different approaches 147

Playing solo with chord melodies 149

Experiencing the Power of the Pentatonic 152

Taking five with the major pentatonic scale 152

Moving on to the minor pentatonic scale 154

Part 3: Putting Playing Styles into Practice 157

Chapter 9: Playing Music from Yesteryear: Old Time, Rags and Blues 159

Searching out the Past: Old-Time Music 160

Strumming for old-time fiddle tunes 161

Waltzing on the mandolin 164

Playing All Raggedy on Purpose: Ragtime 168

Syncopating your mandolin melodies 169

Practicing ragtime chord progressions and patterns 169

Playing away Your Sorrows: The Blues 174

Introducing the blues rhythm 174

Chording up for the blues 176

Playin’ the blues: Some tips and techniques 179

Influencing other genres 183

Chapter 10: Giving Your Mandolin a Speedy Workout: Bluegrass 191

Getting a Grip on That Bluegrass Rhythm 192

Gathering Together the Bluegrass Elements: An Original Mandolin Style 194

Fiddling about with fiddle tunes 195

Adding the blues style 197

Using tremolo 197

Adding extra bars: Irregular time 197

Picking up Bluegrass Melodic Techniques 198

Using the right hand 198

Playing out-of-chord positions: The left hand 201

Exploring other left-hand ornamentations 205

Building Bluegrass Instrumental Breaks 208

Learning the song 209

Making your break sound like bluegrass 209

Chapter 11: Travelling to the Emerald Isle: Irish Mandolin 213

Following the Melody One Note at a Time 214

Listening to learn Irish tunes 214

Swinging with triplets and the lilt 215

Discovering the Irish Music Modes 217

Using a standard major scale (Ionian mode) 217

Tackling a standard minor scale (Dorian mode) 217

Meeting the other major scale (Mixolydian mode) 218

Encountering the relative minor scale (Aeolian mode) 219

Playing Irish Rhythms and Tunes 219

“Reeling in the Years” 220

Jigging around the dance floor 222

Slipping in a jig 224

Being all at sea in a good way: The hornpipe 226

Playing Irish Tunes with Other Musicians 228

Chapter 12: Taking a Quick World Tour 229

Returning to the Mandolin’s Birthplace: Italy 229

Strolling to play 230

Making great use of tremolo 230

Varying the tremolo speed 233

Visiting the Concert Hall: Classical Mandolin 233

Gliding towards acquiring a classical mandolin technique 233

Exploring arpeggio uses in classical music 234

Introducing mandolin orchestras 238

Heading to Brazil 238

Getting hold of some basic choro rhythms 239

Trying out some choro chord progressions 241

Considering choro melody 241

Chapter 13: Swinging to Those Jazzy Rhythms 245

“It Don’t Mean a Thing .”: Swingin’ the Melody 246

Introducing swing 246

Respecting the mighty eighth note 247

Using syncopated rhythms 247

Playing in all 12 keys 249

Simplifying Jazz Chords 250

Working with Jazzy Chord Progressions 253

Keeping it moving: The 1-6-2-5 progression 253

Getting the blues, jazz style 254

Achieving a good swing feel 257

Swingin’ with rhythm changes 258

Changing keys with the 2-5-1 progression 261

Accompanying yourself: Chord melody 261

Mixing Things up: Jazz with Other Styles 264

Heading down to Texas: Western swing 264

Waltzing with the Muppets 266

Blending jazz with other genres 267

Chapter 14: Blending Styles: Dawg Music 271

Meeting David Grisman 272

Groovin’ to Some Dawg Music 272

Heading down south: Dawg Latin 272

Get up, get on up: Dawg funk 274

Accenting Your Grooves, Dawg-Style 276

Scratching like the Dawg 276

Stretching out with one long chord 277

Part 4: Purchasing and Caring for Your Mandolin 281

Chapter 15: Selecting and Buying a Mandolin 283

Exploring the World of Mandolins 284

Finding out about F-style mandolins 284

Assessing A-style mandolins 285

Rounding out F- and A-style mandolins 286

Tossing around pancake and other flat-top mandolins 287

Plugging in with electric mandolins 287

Bandying about with a bandolim 288

Noticing Neapolitan mandolins 288

Spending the Right Amount 290

Discovering What Makes One Mandolin Better than Another 290

Barking up the right tree: Types of wood for mandolins 290

Polishing off the types of finish 291

Getting comfortable: Mandolin playability 291

Making it up: Types of mandolin manufacture 292

Aging well: New versus used mandolins 293

Locating Mandolins for Sale 293

Buying in bricks-and-mortar shops 293

Going online 294

Putting a Mandolin through Its Paces 295

Chapter 16: Building Your Accessories Kit 297

Gathering Together the Must-Haves 297

Picking extra picks 298

Clipping on an electronic tuner 298

Strapping on the mandolin 298

Protecting your mandolin 299

Stringing along your mandolin 300

Buying Extras That Improve Your Playing 301

Keeping steady with a metronome 301

Taking lessons from books, DVDs, and online courses 301

Leaning on a music stand 301

Recording made easy 302

Playing along with backing tracks 302

Slowing down the music 303

Using a webcam for online lessons 303

Bringing on the Bling 304

Attaching accessories to your mandolin 304

Making life easier in other ways 306

Chapter 17: All Change: Replacing Your Mandolin’s Strings 307

Preparing to Change Your Strings 307

Knowing when to change strings 308

Selecting the right strings 308

Removing the Old Strings 310

Re-stringing Your Mandolin 312

Chapter 18: Caring for and Repairing Your Mandolin 317

Maintaining Your Mandolin’s Health 317

Wiping down your mandolin 318

Controlling the climate 318

Getting a good case or bag 319

Keeping an instrument stand handy 319

Setting Up Your Mandolin Yourself: Only for the Brave 320

Adjusting the action 321

Tackling the truss-rod adjustment 322

Slotting the nut 323

Setting the bridge: Intonation 324

Turning to the Professionals 325

Dressing or replacing the frets 325

Repairing cracks 326

Part 5: The Part of Tens 327

Chapter 19: Ten (or So) Tips on Becoming a Good Mandolin Player 329

Listen to Mandolin Music 330

Get a Good Teacher 330

Keep Your Mandolin Nearby 330

Play Your Mandolin Every Day 331

Find People to Play Music With 331

Practice with a Metronome 332

Go to Mandolin Camps or Workshops 332

Practice Slowly Using Good Technique 332

Develop a Musical Ear 333

Acquire Some Music Theory 333

Record Yourself 334

Have Fun! 334

Chapter 20: Ten Mandolin Players You Need to Know 335

Bill Monroe (1911–1996) 335

Chris Thile (Born 1981) 336

Jethro Burns (1920–1989) 336

David Grisman (Born 1945) 337

Dave Apollon (1897–1972) 338

Jacob do Bandolim (1918–1969) 338

Yank Rachell (1910–1997) 338

Mike Marshall (Born 1957) 339

Caterina Lichtenberg (Born 1969) 340

Carlo Aonzo (Born 1967) 340

Chapter 21: Ten Ways of Tapping into the Mandolin Subculture 341

Attending Acoustic Music Concerts 341

Trying Out Mandolin Workshops 342

Visiting Mandolin Camps 342

Going to Acoustic Music Festivals 343

Checking Out a Jam Session or Orchestra 344

Joining the Online Mandolin Community 344

Finding Courses on the Internet 345

Joining a National Organization 346

Exploring Your Own Town 347

Spreading the News 347

Part 6: Appendixes 349

Appendix A: Chord Charts 351

Appendix B: Reading Standard Musical Notation 355

Meeting the Musical Staff 355

Starting at the beginning: Treble and bass clefs 356

Signing in with the key signature 356

Timing is everything: Time signatures 357

Getting the speed right: Tempo 357

Knowing the style 358

Following the Musical Directions 359

Noting the Musical Notes 361

Pitching in with high and low notes 361

Discovering note duration 362

Dotting and tying notes 363

Getting louder and quietening down: Dynamics 364

Articulating your playing 365

Appendix C: Audio Tracks 367

Discovering What’s on the Audio Tracks 367

Index 373

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