# General Mandolin Topics > Mandolin Cafe News Discussions >  The Beatles for Solo Mandolin

## NewsFetcher

The Mandolin Cafe has posted the following news release:
The Beatles for Solo Mandolin

The Hal Leonard Corporation has announced the publication of The Beatles for Solo Mandolin, arranged by Bill LaFleur.



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## DavidKOS

Chord-melody solos, huh? I wish the vendors had a "look inside" feature, I'd like to see how those are written.

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## mandrian

I would assume they mean melody lines along with chords.

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## DavidKOS

Obviously - I wanted to see what style and how good the arrangements are.

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## David Lewis

The Dylan one only has chords.

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## EdHanrahan

> Chord-melody solos, huh? I wish the vendors had a "look inside" feature ...





> I would assume they mean melody lines along with chords.





> The Dylan one only has chords.


I had optimistically assumed (yeah, I know!) that the cover blurb was referring to the jazz technique of "chord/melody" where the melody is defined thru a series of harmonized multi-string "chords", in which case the _whole book_ would be "only" chords, although probably a bit removed from the familiar I, IV, V, etc.

David, can you comment on how the _non-Dylan_ songs are presented?  If it's just the melody in notation or tab with the backing chords shown in mandolin grids, then 98% of us could get by on the guitar books that we already have.

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## mandrian

Yes, that was what I thought David had assumed.

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## DavidKOS

> I would assume they mean melody lines along with chords.


I would have thought full chord-melody solo style arrangements. Other than that, as noted, you could play out of any Beatles book.

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G7MOF

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## crisscross

Hal Leonard already offers a Beatles for Mandolin book with a notated/tabbed melody and chord grids, the one by Bobby Westfall. http://www.amazon.com/The-Beatles-Ma...CFZA3ZWAGP1EEX
So maybe this new one offers real chord melody arrangements similar to those "Beatles for classical guitar" books.
Too bad neither Hal Leonard nor Amazon lets you catch a glimpse inside the book.
On the Dylan book, it says "Mandolin chord songbook", whereas on the Beatles songbook it says "for solo mandolin" and "arranged for chord melody mandolin."
Well, I guess the Beatles' music lends itself more to instrumental arrangements without words than Dylan's songs. :Wink:

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## crisscross

Just had a quick look to the ukulele colleagues:
There is a book that is similar in appearance to the simple chord book for mandolin http://www.amazon.com/Beatles-Ukulel...EAW4ABJ1R8YQYK
The one with fingerstyle solo arrangements is similar to the new mandolin book http://www.amazon.com/Beatles-Finger...EAW4ABJ1R8YQYK

So I would guess, the Beatles for Solo Mandolin book is more than just melody with chord diagrams, it's rather instrumental arrangements.

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## jimmy powells

I would have thought that rhythms which sit well with mandolin would have been a consideration, such as "And I love her" or "If I fell" to name only two

Just because you can get through a Beatles melody doesn't mean it's going to sound really good on a mandolin.

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## DavidKOS

> Just because you can get through a Beatles melody doesn't mean it's going to sound really good on a mandolin.


Hence my curiosity about how the chord-melody arrangements were written.

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## Sandy Beckler

The very first thing that comes to mind, when I see that front cover ( of the Fab Four )
is the taste of bubble gum....I chewed an awful lot of bubble gum to get those "Beatle Cards"  :Laughing:

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## jaycat

I am holding out for "The Dave Clark Five Goes Mando!"

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## Scott Tichenor

This may be only vaguely related to the book, but I found this Bill LaFleur (the book author) video on YouTube and it's really interesting to watch from a musical standpoint. Take away from what I Googled is this isn't some guy that with an unrelated day job that wanted to publish a Beatles mandolin book. He's a career music professional with a very broad background in the industry working with a broad range of musicians and styles. Be fun to contact him to see if he'd be willing to answer some of the questions. I dig his teaching style, just my opinion.

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darylcrisp, 

Drew Egerton, 

Ed Rosney, 

EdHanrahan, 

Mark Gunter, 

Simon DS, 

Tommcgtx

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## mandocrucian

Learn the guitar solos, or the rhythm/accompaniment guitar parts.  Learn the harpsichord break on _"In My Life",_ the trumpet part on _"Penny Lane"_ or the string lines from _"Eleanor Rigby". _ Or tap out Ringo's drum grooves with your feet (while you play the other stuff...if you can).

The *ONLY* Beatles book you'll ever need!

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Brad Sicotte, 

Mark Gunter

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## DavidKOS

> [IMG]
> Learn the guitar solos, or the rhythm/accompaniment guitar parts.  Learn the harpsichord break on _"In My Life",_ the trumpet part on _"Penny Lane"_ or the string lines from _"Eleanor Rigby". _ Or tap out Ringo's drum grooves with your feet (while you play the other stuff...if you can).
> 
> The *ONLY* Beatles book you'll ever need!


If you can read the parts and come up with your own mandolin arrangements, that IS the only Beatles book you need!

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## Eddie Sheehy

> If you can read the parts and come up with your own mandolin arrangements, that IS the only Beatles book you need!


...and have good eyesight, the print is pretty small...

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## DavidKOS

> ...and have good eyesight, the print is pretty small...


That's true! The print is small, but the music is pretty well transcribed.

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## Perry

FWIW there are quite a few Beatles chord melody videos up on Mike Marshall's Artistworks school site.

Well worth a three month subscription to see them

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## Tommcgtx

I received my copy this evening in the mail, and have only had a chance to glance through it. The arrangements are indeed chord melodies, meaning that the melody is made up of chords and double stops. At the top of each song, there are chord diagrams, and the chords are also indicated above the music. I haven't had a chance to play through any yet, but they look fun and a little challenging, but I've only been playing a little less than two years.

Edit:
I've played through a few, and they aren't as difficult as I thought for the most part.

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bigskygirl, 

Brad Sicotte, 

darylcrisp, 

Dave Weiss, 

DavidKOS, 

EdHanrahan, 

George R. Lane, 

Kevin Stueve, 

Mandocarver, 

Mark Gunter

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## Mandocarver

Thanks for the review Tommcgtx. Now I just need to find a retailer in Europe that has it in stock. The interest in this thread shows the need for chord melody materials for GDAE-tuned instruments (hint to any other authors out there). I've had months of enjoyment out of the great Joe Craven version of "In my life" over on Mandozine and I'm looking forward to more challenges.
Dean

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Homer Savard, 

Simon DS

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## Eddie Sheehy

I've seen Don Julin, Mike Marshall, Tim Connell, Mike Mullins, Joe Craven all perform Beatles and other pop tunes using solo chord arrangements and I believe they offer online tuition...

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## Scott Tichenor

Mike Marshall was reading this discussion and offered this via an email. 

__.

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40bpm, 

bigskygirl, 

Billgrass, 

bro.craig, 

ccravens, 

dang, 

darylcrisp, 

DSDarr, 

Eddie Sheehy, 

EdHanrahan, 

Francis J, 

Gary Leonard, 

hdismal, 

Mandocarver, 

mandolinfox, 

Mark Levesque, 

Phil Vinyard, 

Rosemary Philips, 

Ryk Loske, 

Tommcgtx, 

vates, 

zebozi

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## ccravens

This is great! Working through "I Will" now.

Thanks Mike and Scott!

 :Smile:

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## CES

Thanks, Mike! 

I have the other Beatles for mandolin book mentioned, and agree it offers pretty simple melody lines and chords. Fun to play, good for beginners, but lacking for more advanced players. Hope to see this one on a shelf sometime so I can take a peek before I buy.

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## Marc Woodward

Yesterday anyone?

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atbuckner21, 

August Watters, 

bennyb, 

bigbendhiker, 

bigskygirl, 

Colin Braithwaite, 

crisscross, 

Darren Bailey, 

des, 

Eddie Sheehy, 

Gary Leonard, 

George R. Lane, 

Isaac Revard, 

Mark Gunter, 

Patrick Melly, 

Tommcgtx, 

yoshka

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## blaf

Hi Everyone, Sorry, late to the discussion, but I just discovered the forum. I did the "Beatles for Solo Mandolin" arrangements and yes, they are chord/melody style arrangements. I had done the "Beatles for Jazz Guitar" book as well as a large number of note-for-note Beatles transcriptions for Hal Leonard and they asked me to do the Mandolin book. Hal Leonard sent the song list to me as well as a few books to model the arrangements after. I couldn't make them too advanced, but not too simple either, it's tricky to get right. And I agree, the "look inside" feature is the best, wish the sites would use it more.

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40bpm, 

bigskygirl, 

Jess L., 

John Flynn, 

journeybear, 

Mandocarver, 

mandolinfox, 

Mark Gunter, 

rebus, 

Richard J, 

Rosemary Philips, 

Scott Tichenor, 

StuartE, 

Tommcgtx, 

yoshka

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## Mandocarver

I'd just like to say that this book is great. I buy many books that get opened only occasionally but I use this one on a daily basis. I've been looking for chord melody arrangements for GDAE-tuned tenor banjo and octave mandolin for years and this is perfect, despite being labelled for mandolin. I find the arrangements challenging but rewarding. It takes me weeks to get certain tunes under my belt but I'm learning a lot on the way.
Top marks to the author!

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cunparis, 

Jess L.

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## Mark Gunter

> Hi Everyone, Sorry, late to the discussion, but I just discovered the forum. I did the "Beatles for Solo Mandolin" arrangements and yes, they are chord/melody style arrangements. I had done the "Beatles for Jazz Guitar" book as well as a large number of note-for-note Beatles transcriptions for Hal Leonard and they asked me to do the Mandolin book. Hal Leonard sent the song list to me as well as a few books to model the arrangements after. I couldn't make them too advanced, but not too simple either, it's tricky to get right. And I agree, the "look inside" feature is the best, wish the sites would use it more.


A big thanks to Tommcgtx for the review on page one this thread, and to Bill LaFleur for taking time to register and comment.  :Smile:

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Tommcgtx

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## atbuckner21

This version is gorgeous!!!!!

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## Darren Bailey

Hey Marc, just beautiful stuff - fantastic to listen and inspiring as a fellow player to hear and hope to emulate. If you have any more keep them coming.

I've ordered the book and look forwatd to giving it a try. I was initially put off by the one and only review it has on Amazon which is utterly damning. If you've found it to be a good product it might help the author if you leave him a positive comment to overcome what I'm sure will put other people off as it did me.

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## Gary Leonard

If my dive into choro ends, I will pick this book back up and continue work on Blackbird. I really like what I see here, and look forward to tackling the songs when I do not have so much on my mandolin plate!

And I had to laugh at that review, "..most of which aren't compatible with the mandolin..."  lol!

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## Tim C.

Here's my Here Comes the Sun - I'd be curious to see some another take on this.  I have Yesterday and Something as well.

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crisscross, 

Eddie Sheehy, 

EdHanrahan, 

mandrian, 

Mark Gunter, 

Phil Vinyard, 

Simon DS, 

Tom Wright

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## Mark Gunter

Tim, thanks for sharing the sheet music, very generous. I visited your site to see how I might find others, and noticed that you had included an mp3 of this version in a blog post. Great resource. Sending PM.

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## Darren Bailey

Had a go at Nowhwere Man - inspired by this new book. Rosie and Jim like it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjeayuJF__Y

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crisscross, 

cunparis, 

Dave Weiss, 

Isaac Revard, 

Mandocarver, 

Mark Gunter, 

Tommcgtx

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## crisscross

I received my copy the day before yesterday, and this evening found the time to leaf through the book. I had the sudden inspiration to try one of the arrangements on my tenor banjo tuned CGDA, but not wanting to disturb the silent night, I opted for my tenor Tele played over headphones. "Eight Days a Week" seems to work. https://soundcloud.com/tele1310/eight-days-a-week-1
Can't wait until the Holidays are over and I can get out my tenor Banjo and start practicing this nice arrangement seriously, especially the tremolo parts.

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Isaac Revard, 

Mark Gunter

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## Isaac Revard

Nice job guys!
Here's my go at "I will"  Next up...Blackbird!

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crisscross, 

Mandocarver

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## crisscross

Today, with all those new year's firecrackers exploding prematurely, I dared to bother my neighbors with my tenor banjo. I added some ukulele as a back-up.

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Mandocarver

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## Mark Gunter

Finally got a copy of this and took a few minutes last night exploring a few of the arrangements. They're just great. Kudos Bill LaFleur!

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## crisscross

Here's my version of the song for a lady who turned 50 last December, slightly simplified and sans tremolo 


on my tenor banjo

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cunparis, 

Mandocarver

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## Mark Gunter

Enjoyed both of yours here on banjo and uke; also the other vids posted in this thread.

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## Mandocarver

> Finally got a copy of this and took a few minutes last night exploring a few of the arrangements. They're just great. Kudos Bill LaFleur!


Couldn't agree more. I bought this book just after it came out and am still finding it fantastic. There's a real shortage of intermediate-level chord melody arrangements out there and I hope Bill LaFleur will consider writing more.

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## brunello97

Just ordered it.  Y'all have me convinced.... :Smile: 

Mick

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## Dweinsh289

I have this book. It is excellent. Especially Blackbird and Michelle. I am presently looking for other Mando chord books he has put together. No luck so far...

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## Dweinsh289

..

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## Dweinsh289

> Hi Everyone, Sorry, late to the discussion, but I just discovered the forum. I did the "Beatles for Solo Mandolin" arrangements and yes, they are chord/melody style arrangements. I had done the "Beatles for Jazz Guitar" book as well as a large number of note-for-note Beatles transcriptions for Hal Leonard and they asked me to do the Mandolin book. Hal Leonard sent the song list to me as well as a few books to model the arrangements after. I couldn't make them too advanced, but not too simple either, it's tricky to get right. And I agree, the "look inside" feature is the best, wish the sites would use it more.



We want more!  Have you done any similar mandolin chord stuff?

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## blaf

> We want more!  Have you done any similar mandolin chord stuff?


Thanks to all for the kind feedback! I haven't done any other chord/melody mandolin books, although I'd like to. Been working on a Mandolin Fake Book for a while now, over 300 tunes - but they are basic fake book style melody with standard chords. Also, talk of a Bill Monroe play-along book in the works.

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biologyprof, 

GuyIncognito

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## GuyIncognito

Enjoying the Beatles book, I'd love to see some more chord melody/jazz books from you!

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## biologyprof

This book comes in a Kindle version. Amazon lets you download a sample of their Kindle books before you buy. I just downloaded the free sample of the Beatles book. In addition to the table of contents it contains the full score for the first 5 songs in the book. The Kindle reader is also a free download so you can read it on a phone or notebook. I have mine on an iPad. Very nice! 
Greg

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cunparis

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## gregorx

I have been hunting for a book like this for the Mandolin. 

Thanks guys, much appreciated. I get my copy this Thursday and CAN'T WAIT.  :Mandosmiley:

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