Banjo and Mandolin Instruction
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Banjo Books

First Lessons Banjo
by Jack Hatfield

First Lessons Banjo is a very easy instruction manual for beginning five-string banjo played in G tuning, three finger style. It can be used by those with no previous experience with the banjo or music of any sort. It is so basic it can be used even by small children. The book features very detailed descriptions of even the most basic aspects such as wearing the picks properly, the correct picking motion, and noting the strings properly. These are aspects that are so basic most manuals skip over them. There are many detailed photos, several from the player's point of view, not from in front of the banjo. First Lessons on Banjo covers the most basic rolls, plus the three basic chords and the relative minor chord. All musical examples are presented in tablature, with melody notes in bold type. All arrangements include lyrics. There are tips and suggestions that will help students learn to play by ear and arrange their own songs. The 'finale' arrangement is Cripple Creek, a popular banjo standard that should give the novice both a challenge, and a great sense of accomplishment. The accompanying CD includes all tabbed examples, with the rhythm instruments and lead banjo in separate channels. The songs are played at three tempos, from very slowly up to performance speed. The up- tempo accompanied versions are all together at the end of the recording so it the final tracks be used as a listening recording. CD included.

Lesson 1 Playing A Simple Melody From Tablature, GO TELL AUNT RHODY
Lesson 2 Counting Time - Lesson 3 The Pinch, GO TELL AUNT RHODY (with Pinches)
Lesson 4 The Eighth Note, TOM DOOLEY - Lesson 5 The Roll, The Alternating Thumb Roll
Lesson 6 Playing a Song with the Alternating Thumb Roll, TOM DOOLEY (with rolls)
Lesson 7 The Three Basic Chords - GOOD NIGHT LADIES, Proper Position Checklist
Lesson 8 The Slide - Rests, Pickup Notes, OLD TIME RELIGION
Lesson 9 The Forward Roll, Recognizing Rolls by Shape, Licks, COTTON-EYED JOE
Lesson 10 The Hammer-On, E Minor Chord, Caution Marks, Repeat Marks, CUMBERLAND GAP
Lesson 11 Forward Roll #2, The Tag Lick, WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN
Lesson 12 The Pull-Off, CRIPPLE CREEK

First Lessons Banjo - $7.95

The Art of the Mountain Banjo
by Art Rosenbaum

  A complete survey of traditional banjo styles complete with tunings, playing tips, and the author's explanatory drawings. Progresses from easy tunes for the beginner to more difficult pieces. The styles include up-picking or Pete Seeger's basic strum; two-finger picking; three-finger picking; and what had variously been called frailing, clawhammer, knocking, rapping, overhand, fram-style, flayin' hand, and other Appalachian names, here called down-picking. 96 Pages - CD included

Black-Eyed Susie, Buck Creek Girls,Charming Molly Brannigan, Cottage In The Grove, Country Blues, Don't Let Your Deal Go Down, Dry And Dusty, Goin' 'Cross The Sea, Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad, Got A Little Home To Go To, Grey Eagle, Grub Springs, Had A Little Fight In Mexico, Harlan County Farewell Tune, Hell On The Wabash,In The Pines, John Brown's Dream, John Henry, Kicking Mule, Liberty, Little Birdie, Make Me A Pallet, Mississippi Sawyer, Muskrat, Old Joe Clark, Old Molly Hare, Old Ruben, Rise When The Rooster Crows,Rocky Island, Sally Goodin, Sandy River, Seneca Square Dance, Smoky Mtn Cass Moore's Tune, Soldiers Joy, Spanish Fandango, Stony Point,Sweet Nora Lee,Teetotaler's Fancy, Tennessee Line Hard Times, Texas Rangers, The Arkansas Traveler, The Green Beds, Turkey In The Straw, Waterbound

The Art of the Mountain Banjo - $22.95

Starting Bluegrass Banjo From Scratch
 by Wayne Erbsen

This is a very good book on bluegrass banjo techniques that will take you from the basics up to intermediate/advanced techniques. Includes a history of the banjo, vintage photographs, many valuable tips. 80 pages. Instructional CD included.
"I had tried several other books but yours was the one that really got me started on the right track. Thanks!" Rodney Thompson

Skip to My Lou, Bury Me Beneath the Willow, Walking Cane, Ground Hog, Jesse James, Cripple Creek, Bile Em Cabbage Down, Cumberland Gap, Sourwood Mountain, When You And I Were Young Maggie, What a Friend We Have in Jesus, Grandfather’s Clock, Pretty Polly, Little Maggie, Old Joe Clark, Lonesome Road Blues, Down in the Valley, Down in the Willow Garden, Wildwood Flower, John Hardy, Devil’s Dream, Banks of the Ohio

Starting Bluegrass Banjo from Scratch - $17.95

Basic Clawhammer Banjo
by Ken Perlman

A compilation of favorite solos on Irish, Scottish and New England fiddle tunes arranged for banjo by one of America's foremost clawhammer banjoists, Ken Perlman. The tabs for these tunes are fully notated for fingerings and frailing technique, but some basic familiarity with clawhammer style of play is necessary. All songs in the book are on the included CD.

Coleraine, Denis Murphy's Slide, Drowsy Maggie, Elsie Marley, Fisher's Hornpipe, Grand Old Dame Britannia, Grand Old Dame Britannia, Haste To The Wedding, Mrs. Mccloud's Reel, Napoleon Crossing The Rhine, Paddy On The Railroad, Poor Old Woman, Ricketts' Hornpipe, Sheebeg Agus Sheemore, Sonny's Mazurka, Speed The Plough, Staten Island, Swallowtail Reel, The Boys Of Blue Hill, The Gaspe Reel, The Gravel Walk, The Green Fields Of America, The Little Beggarman, The Liverpool Hornpipe, The Road To Lisdoonvarna, The Rocky Road To Dublin, The Rose Tree, The Spanish Lady, The Wind That Shakes The Barley, Tralee Gaol

Basic Clawhammer Banjo - $17.95

Mandolin Books

First Lessons Mandolin
by Dix Bruce     

First Lessons Mandolin teaches the absolute basics of learning to play mandolin from holding the pick to performing easy mandolin tunes. Students learn how to hold the mandolin correctly, how to read mandolin tablature, basic note reading, the most popular mandolin chords, how to play easy melodies in several musical styles, basic picking technique, how to tune the mandolin, and much more. Along the way students will learn about the greatest mandolin players and their music. The main emphasis of First Lessons Mandolin is to get the student up and playing immediately and to have fun doing it!

Introduction The Mandolin and its Parts Let's Play How to use the CD First Chords Skip to My Lou Careless Love The Blue Tail Fly Red River Valley Billy Boy In the Pines Chords and Music Theory St. James Infirmary Poor Wayfaring Stranger John Henry My Home's Across the Blue Ridge Mountains Seventh Blues Go Down Moses Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child Moving Closed Position Chords

Playing Melodies Camptown Races Just a Closer Walk With Thee My Walking Cane The Great Speckled Bird Lonesome Valley Buffalo Gals Bluegrass Oh, Them Golden Slippers Soldier's Joy East Virginia Blues, Basic Version East Virginia Blues (Note fill-in version) Roving Gambler Great Big Bad Bluegrass Chop Chords Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms This Train Tremolo Greensleeves Chord Dictionary Wrapping Things Up

First Lessons Mandolin - $7.95

Easy Mandolin Solos
 by Dick Weissman & Mike Connolly

This book of tunes is intended for the beginning mandolin student who can already read music or tab and play basic chords, but wants to learn new techniques and have fun in the process. Each selection has a specific purpose - teaching hammer-ons and pull-offs, crosspicking, the Phrygian mode, or some other essential musical or technical element. Accompaniment chords and performance notes are provided for each tune written in notation and tab, with mandolin chord diagrams. A companion CD is included.

Arpeggios In Wonderland, Can You Pull It Off?, Cross Country, Four O'clock Boogie, Greek To Me, Greensleeves, Hammers #2, Minor Blues, Minor Waltz, Motorcycle #2, October Breeze, Rainy Day Jig, Rest For The Weary, Rocky Mountain Waltz, Rolling Scales, Sally Get Your Shoes On, Some Clues On The Blues, Steffi's Polka, Suspensions, The Goose Is Gone, The Phrygian Phantom, Three Plus Two, Tie One On, Toss The Accordion, Where The Rivers Change Direction

Easy Mandolin Solos - $10.95

Painless Mandolin Melodies
by Wayne Erbsen

A simple method that will get anyone started playing melodies on the mandolin. Clear and concise instruction that starts with the very basics. Easy to read and use tablature. Comes with cassette.
"Your Painless Mandolin Melodies book is very helpful. Thanks to your easy-to-follow instructions I can now pick out a few tunes that are not in your book. I've never played an instrument before but your book makes it easy." Kenneth Klein

Includes: Shortening Bread, Frere Jacques, Go Tell Aunt Rhody, Oh Susanna, Columbus Stockade, Hush Little Baby, Jimmy Crack Corn, Old Time Religion, Yankee Doodle, She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain, Buffalo Gals, I’m a Little Tea Pot, The Old Grey Mare, Cripple Creek, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, Turkey in the Straw, Golden Slippers, Old Joe Clark, Wildwood Flower, When the Saints Go Marching In.

Painless Mandolin Melodies - $12.95

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