There's a new blues mando book that is shown on the Cafe home page here. Any input? Unless there's any serious objections, I fear I'm out another twenty bucks for a book and shipping. Forget MAS----I have the mando for me. I keep buying instructional stuff looking for the "Holy Grail" that will put it all together for me. The books that Niles wrote 15+ years ago still come the closest.......if I put my part into the effort (practice!!!!). Jim Richter's videos are the best thing since cruise control on big trucks for me. Which reminds me, it's about time to go to JR.com and make another little donation. That way he can take off from work early to make another video lesson and still feed his family dinner.
Actually you are quite right, Gregjones, some of Jim's lessons are as good if not better than going to a teacher. It's only fair we should show some gratitude from time to time. I'll drop something in the post next week.
I had the same question about the Joe Carr book. It's probably good, but it's getting hard to compete with the free stuff you can get on the internet. I did buy the Rich DelGrosso book, though, and it's WELL worth the money. Great stuff, well-presented.
I appreciate the kind words. The one caveat I can say about the free stuff on the internet is that you get what you pay for, my stuff included. Joe and Rich truly are educators; I see myself more as a mentor. I'm more the guy you go to who has the chops and you go to tutelage under. Joe and Rich truly are the teachers.
By now, this is probably old news, but . . . I like the Joe Carr book. It doesn't have all the historical material that makes Del Grosso's book so great, but I think it's better organized from an instructional standpoint. Joe moves from simple to complex at a very easy pace, while Rich moves from old to new, and gets into some pretty advanced stuff right out of the gate. The other side of that coin is that much of what Joe covers would be old hat to most of you. I've only been playing for a year, and some of it was overly basic even for me -- though I've been playing blues harp all my life and know the idiom pretty intimately. One other point worth noting: Joe doesn't cover nearly as much of the jug band stuff as Rich, but he gets into Bill Monroe and Western swing, which Rich skips. I kind of prefer Joe's approach there too. After spending years largely avoiding bluegrass, learning mando has taught me that Monroe was one bluesy redneck. I love the way he wove blue notes into his solos, and guys like Mike Compton and Ronnie McCoury just knock me out. So getting a window on that is a plus for me. Likewise the swing stuff -- I can see myself using that more than jug band stuff. Can't beat the CD that comes with Rich's book, though. That alone is worth the price, and his historical insights are unparalleled. Hell, he played with those guys. -- Slim
