# General Mandolin Topics > Mandolin Cafe News Discussions >  Article: Aaron Weinstein On His Mandolin Chord Melody System Book on Mel Bay

## Scott Tichenor

You can view the page at http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/co...ook-on-Mel-Bay

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## J Walsh

Yes!! This is great news!

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## Scott Tichenor

Kudos to Don Stiernberg who wrote a really great intro for the book. I've had an electronic copy for awhile in preparation for the interview and spent quite a bit of time working through the material. What an eye opener. A really great resource.

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DSDarr, 

Tommcgtx

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## Tommcgtx

Cool, I can't wait to get my hands on one!

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## JH Murray

If you Google 'bow tie rights activist', you will see Aaron's photo. Well done!

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Scott Tichenor

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## Perry

Very much looking forward to this!

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## JeffD

> In a recent publicity photo, Chris Thile was wearing a bow tie, hand tied, not a clip-on. Your response?
> 			
> 		
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
> 			
> 				There's a reason he is a MacArthur genius.


Cracked me up.  :Laughing:

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## Beanzy

I'm not the type to normally splash out on something unseen, but had no qualms about buying this ebook.

The content looks good at a first browse (apart from a text mashup on page 4 of the PDF) 
Aaron W definitely has a good way of explaining things to make them clear.

Looking forward to working through it.

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Tommcgtx

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## Scott Tichenor

> I'm not the type to normally splash out on something unseen, but had no qualms about buying this ebook.
> 
> The content looks good at a first browse (apart from a text mashup on page 4 of the PDF) 
> Aaron W definitely has a good way of explaining things to make them clear.
> 
> Looking forward to working through it.


The folks at Mel Bay asked me to share this:

We noticed the customer comment about the text on page 4. The issue has been corrected on the eBook and all they need to do is re-download the eBook to get the corrected version.

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## Beanzy

Thanks Scott I've just done that and all sorted.

Pretty quick out of the blocks, great to see such attentiveness.

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## Rick Jones

Just curious - was there any prediction when this will be available in printed form?

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## Tommcgtx

> Just curious - was there any prediction when this will be available in printed form?


Well, at Elderly, it says "on order, expected arrival date 10/26/15". I ordered one directly from Mel Bay, and my order status is "backorder". I imagine if Elderly expected them today, it shouldn't be too long.

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## Scott Tichenor

When I was having a discussion with my contact at Mel Bay last week they said they thought Nov. 1 would be the print availability date. I suppose that could have changed since then but I think unlikely.

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Tommcgtx

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## Ted Eschliman

My experience as both writer and retailer for MB, they have 21st Century printing technologies that produce books VERY quickly, but you still have the 20th Century infrastructure of shipping (& receiving) and purchasing agents to deal with. Nov 1 would be admirably quick.

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Tommcgtx

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## Scott Tichenor

My contact at Mel Bay just answered an email at 7:15 a.m. and told me 11/1 was still the date they were looking to have it in print.

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Tommcgtx

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## Flattpicker

So, the e-version is ready to download now?  And I can print from that if need be?

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## JonZ

As usual, there are not enough sample pages on the Mel Bay website to evaluate the book.

Perhaps Mandoline Cafe can coax the author into sharing a little more here.

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## Scott Tichenor

> So, the e-version is ready to download now?  And I can print from that if need be?


Someone above noted purchasing the eBook from Mel Bay yesterday. Believe it's just a PDF so should be able to print from it if desired.

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## JonZ

> Someone above noted purchasing the eBook from Mel Bay yesterday. Believe it's just a PDF so should be able to print from it if desired.


I know that one could print after purchase. I would like to see one complete sample lesson before purchase.

It seems like with most other books you can read whole chapters online before buying. But it seems that with music books, you often have no idea what the teaching method is, and how the book executes it.

I suppose it has something to do with royalties to the music publishers. Even if the actual music was blacked out, it would be helpful to read the discussion of how the piece is approached.

I guess that if there is a money back policy on the e-books that would solve it.

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## Isaac Revard

I just bought this yesterday...as I was kinda having blah practice sessions and wanted a new challenge.  What got me interested was the new beatles chord melody book just released.  So I have these both to work on now.  Its an exciting new challenge.  For $15 bucks and a pdf download, its pretty high yield I would say.  I knew not much of Aaron beyond watching his videos on youtube and what was mentioned by Don Stiernberg to introduce the book. Which was enough for me to make the purchase, again $15 bucks is pretty cheap compared to some instruction books.  I would say that the lesson/structure of the book is challenging in a good way.  Concepts are explained well, yet not so much as to spoon feed you...which is challenging. I'm not real familiar with a lot of the chords in the book, which is also exciting and challenging, forcing me to move my fingers is different ways.  Aaron shuffles along like some sort of fretboard ninja, its incredible.  Chapter One goes something like this:  What makes up a chord, Whats a chord voicing and how do we make it, chord voicings.  Chapter Two gets into the left hand techniques a bit.  Thats all the further I am at this point. Seems, just as the title says, an intelligent and thoughtful system/approach for learning this technique.  For myself, its more than that, its challenging me to learn the fretboard and million chord shapes on it.  I would say go for it...if you're afraid you wont like it, purchase the print version so you can resell it on the classifieds. I should note, I am not a jazz mandolin player.  Hope this helped?

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## morganpiper

I was hoping for an accompanying CD, or some YouTube demo's, especially for the etudes section. Any plans on that end? Love the book! Brett

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## AaronWeinstein

I just wanted to chime in for a moment to thank you all for the nice comments I've received about this book.  Also, if anyone has questions as you're working through it, feel free to post them here or in the forum and I'll do my best to answer.  Thanks again!

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DSDarr, 

Isaac Revard, 

J-45er, 

lowtone2, 

tkdboyd, 

Tommcgtx

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## Scott Tichenor

> I know that one could print after purchase. I would like to see one complete sample lesson before purchase.
> 
> It seems like with most other books you can read whole chapters online before buying. But it seems that with music books, you often have no idea what the teaching method is, and how the book executes it.
> 
> I suppose it has something to do with royalties to the music publishers. Even if the actual music was blacked out, it would be helpful to read the discussion of how the piece is approached.
> 
> I guess that if there is a money back policy on the e-books that would solve it.


I've seen you repeat this same opinion enough times that it's getting a bit tired. We get it. Instead of continuing to fill up the forum space with the same comment over and over suggest you contact the publishers and take your concern directly to them.

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DougC, 

Tommcgtx

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## Tom Haywood

I bought the online version a couple of weeks ago. Certainly worth the money. I'm not much interested in jazz mandolin, but I think these lessons will have broad application. They have quite a lot of info compressed into a concise space, and they make it all look pretty simple. I would like what my students ask from me: suggested fingerings, an audio file to hear the music as written and to slow it down, and a short video to watch the hand techniques.

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## JonZ

> I've seen you repeat this same opinion enough times that it's getting a bit tired. We get it. Instead of continuing to fill up the forum space with the same comment over and over suggest you contact the publishers and take your concern directly to them.


If you get it, an interview that delves into the methodology in adequate detail would be another solution.

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## Scott Tichenor

> If you get it, an interview that delves into the methodology in adequate detail would be another solution.


Well, good then. Glad you said that. We've ironed this all out then and won't need to discuss further. You don't think publishers include enough free samples for your personal tastes for a $15 product, and you don't like the work I do on interviews for products such as this. 

Carry on.

 :Smile:

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## mandroid

How does this differ from the Chordal  melodic motion of Trad Jazz Tenor Banjo players techniques ?

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## Manfred Hacker

> Someone above noted purchasing the eBook from Mel Bay yesterday. Believe it's just a PDF so should be able to print from it if desired.


I have purchased many so-called eBooks from Mel Bay, and against better knowledge I may buy this one too. (TBAS - tune book acquisition syndrome)

eBook:
I think we should stop calling their simple PDF files "eBooks", and they should do that, too. 

Printing:
With *some* of the PDF files I have bought Printing did not work. I had to use special software to get it printed.

Several emails I sent in that regard have never been answered.

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## bigskygirl

Manfred, I too have sent emails about the printing issue and not received a response.  A dumb, dumb, dumb policy and until they remedy this I will no longer buy ebooks from MelBay.

If I want to print I can always take a screen shot and print that way, a pain but one way to get around the print issue.  Seems this is an issue with iPads and tablets, one can print from Adobe on a PC.

Also, the book is 20% off thru 11/30...Aaron is the featured author.

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## Manfred Hacker

bigskygirl, it is not just a tablet issue. While it worked ok with some, with other files I have tried everything: Laptop, PC, they would not print from Adobe. I used a pdf-editing software (not Adobe) to export the content and then print it. 
Screenshots !!! OMG what a pain.

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## bigskygirl

> Manfred, I too have sent emails about the printing issue and not received a response.  A dumb, dumb, dumb policy and until they remedy this I will no longer buy ebooks from MelBay.
> 
> If I want to print I can always take a screen shot and print that way, a pain but one way to get around the print issue.  Seems this is an issue with iPads and tablets, one can print from Adobe on a PC.
> 
> Also, the book is 20% off thru 11/30...Aaron is the featured author.


I wanted to update this...

This morning I receved an email from Mel Bay saying that these files are supposed to print from any computer using Adobe...I then asked about tablets and iPads and I have not yet received a response on that.

I was provided with a way to print my purchases so I would encourage anyone with a print issue to contact Mel Bay for resolution.

I'll update post when/if I receive word about printing from tablets/iPads.

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## bigskygirl

> I wanted to update this...
> 
> This morning I receved an email from Mel Bay saying that these files are supposed to print from any computer using Adobe...I then asked about tablets and iPads and I have not yet received a response on that.
> 
> I was provided with a way to print my purchases so I would encourage anyone with a print issue to contact Mel Bay for resolution.
> 
> I'll update post when/if I receive word about printing from tablets/iPads.


Below is the response (posted here with permission) from Mel Bay on printing from tablets, thanks Gerald for a prompt, helpful response.

*Our system is not as stright forward as it could be when working directly from a tablet, but you can download, print and listen to the audio straight from your iPad. In order to work directly from your iPad you must first download a unzip app that allows you download and open our download files that are in a .zip folder, iZip is a free app available in the iTunes store. If you have any trouble downloading or printing the eBooks you purchased directly from your iPad let us know and we'll be glad to help.

Regards,

Gerard Lammert
Mel Bay Publications, Inc.
Gerard@melbay.com
www.melbay.com*

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## meow-n-dolin

> I just wanted to chime in for a moment to thank you all for the nice comments I've received about this book.  Also, if anyone has questions as you're working through it, feel free to post them here or in the forum and I'll do my best to answer.  Thanks again!


Well, first off, I downloaded the PDF version with no problem at all. 

And, I want to thank you for this book. I am not a Jazz musician, and my occasional clumsy forays into Swing don't make me one, even if I do know a couple of Bebop scales. 

 I have been looking for ways to incorporate more Jazz voicings into the tunes we play, which means everything from Pink Floyd to Floyd Cramer to Bob Wills, but whenever I pick up a book on Jazz, it seems I need a BA in music as a primer. 

This is different. I LOT different, and I have learned more applicable theory since I bought this (yesterday), than I have in -- I don't know how long.

This might be the most useful music book I have purchased since Pete Seeger's book back in the 1960's.

So, again, Thanks!

Al

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## AaronWeinstein

I'm so glad you're getting something out of this text.  Thanks for letting me know. 


> whenever I pick up a book on Jazz, it seems I need a BA in music as a primer. 
> 
> This is different. I LOT different, and I have learned more applicable theory since I bought this (yesterday), than I have in -- I don't know how long.
> 
> This might be the most useful music book I have purchased since Pete Seeger's book back in the 1960's.
> 
> So, again, Thanks!
> 
> Al

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## bohemianbiker

> I have purchased many so-called eBooks from Mel Bay, and against better knowledge I may buy this one too. (TBAS - tune book acquisition syndrome) ...    [snip]


Manfred, I too have TBAS, altho I tend to call it MBAS (mandolin book acquisition syndrome) because it's not just "tune" books I've purchased.  I've been frequently disappointed with my purchases, and it's taken me way too long to realize that it's not a lack of books that's holding me back.  So I haven't gotten any books in some time, although I did get this one on Christmas, and I'm hopeful I'll learn to be able to incorporate chord melodies into tunes/breaks.

I believe you and I have jammed together at a now defunct jam in Arlington, corner of Glebe and Washington Bvld.  bb

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## geoffreymbrown

The value of this book would be greatly enhanced by a few mp3 demonstrations.  Overall, a good, but somewhat terse book -- more like a great outline for the book I'd like to see.

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## John Flynn

One bit of advice: I recommend strongly against buying the Amazon Kindle version of the book. It would not even download to my Kindle Reader apps, such as the one on my laptop. The Amazon site said they were "unsupported" even though I download to them all the time and I have never seen that problem before except with this book. It would only open on Kindle Cloud and my actual Kindle. On the Cloud Reader, the page size was so small, I couldn't read it. It would not let me enlarge it or can't print it. It was completely useless IMHO. I immediately "returned" it and ordered the paperback version, which has shipped. 

I am looking forward to getting it.

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gtani7

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## CHASAX

Waiting for the book via 
Amazon.
Meanwhile I will be looking for my bow ties.

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## CHASAX

> Well, first off, I downloaded the PDF version with no problem at all. 
> 
> And, I want to thank you for this book. I am not a Jazz musician, and my occasional clumsy forays into Swing don't make me one, even if I do know a couple of Bebop scales. 
> 
>  I have been looking for ways to incorporate more Jazz voicings into the tunes we play, which means everything from Pink Floyd to Floyd Cramer to Bob Wills, but whenever I pick up a book on Jazz, it seems I need a BA in music as a primer. 
> 
> This is different. I LOT different, and I have learned more applicable theory since I bought this (yesterday), than I have in -- I don't know how long.
> 
> This might be the most useful music book I have purchased since Pete Seeger's book back in the 1960's.
> ...


+1    Maybe after Weinstein's book I can go back to those jazz books that are gathering dust.

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## JH Murray

And for those seeking to emulate Aaron's amazing choice of bowties here is an EBAY option

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## Mandolin Cafe

Noting that today is the one year anniversary of this fine publication!

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## Werner Jaekel

Thank You, Aaron, for this book and sharing your work. Just what I wanted, after investing many hours exploring this subject 
I think it is a GREAT book.

Maybe you share more of your ideas ? Very interesting

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## Mgottlieb

> Well, good then. Glad you said that. We've ironed this all out then and won't need to discuss further. You don't think publishers include enough free samples for your personal tastes for a $15 product, and you don't like the work I do on interviews for products such as this. 
> 
> Carry on.


Just ordered the book, looks great for me, a 66 yr old newbie with 5.5 months of focussed melodic practice under his belt.  THANKS!

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## Mandolin Cafe

Noting today's anniversary of this interview.

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g-mac

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## Mandolin Cafe

Noting the 5 year anniversary of this remarkable book. Aaron just keeps getting better and better!

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DSDarr

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## Mandolin Cafe

A quick note to observe the anniversary of the publication of this fine book this date 2015.

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DSDarr

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