Book for learning Classical Mandolin

[Chessmaster7]

By classical, I mean Vivaldi, Bach et al as well as Italian folk. Most books I came across seem to be dealing with the bluegrass/jazz side of things.

[Jim Garber]

Easily available and excellent:

August Watters: Exploring Classical Mandolin

Marilynn Mair: The Complete Mandolinist

There are a lot of older method books for mandolin. This is an older method revamped and reissued a few years ago in two volumes: Calace Mandolin Method.

IMSLP.org is a good source for public domain free downloads of methods and musical pieces. (I linked here the google search for mandolin method.)

The Bickford Method Volume 1 is available for free download here. The other four volumes are available for a price here along with a few other mandolin books.

Those should keep you busy.

[Chessmaster7]

Hey, thanks for the quick reply! I shall check these out.

[Jim Garber]

I am sure that others will add more. Oh, actually for both classical and Italian, check out any of my friend Carlo Aonzo’s books. Not method books per se but excellent selections of music.

[Pittsburgh Bill]

If you have a local Mandolin Orchestra, JOIN! I had never played anything remotely classical until getting involved with a mandolin orchestra. My experience led me to many fine mandolinists that were very good at reading and playing very differently from my previous musical experiences. While never becoming as adept at playing classical and reading as many (perhaps most or all) in the orchestra, I did learn alot and my reading greatly improved.
If you do join a mandolin orchestra and if your experience in doing so mimics mine, you will meet many nice & helpful people that love the mandolin. Many of these people you may not ever have the opportunity to pick with at local music fests or jams.

[DavidKOS]

I also recommend all the books mentioned so far.

https://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Munier,_Carlo

Please don't overlook the Munier books.

http://www.mandoisland.de/eng_index.html

"In the following table you will find many historical mandolin methods which are generally not available today. "

It's a good list, check them out.

[David L]

Don't limit yourself to mandolin books. Violin books work just fine, although some pieces may need a bow, most don't. I have played the melodies of most of the Anna Magdelena Bach book, which is for piano. Almost any good tune can work.

[Tim Logan]

As a beginner I whole heartedly recommend August Watters: Exploring Classical Mandolin. It is excellent in every way - very good at giving a “ballpark picture” of classical mandolin techniques - excellent selection of exercises, and I very much like Mr. Watters arrangements of some selections. On the other hand I did not find Marilyn Mair’s book nearly as practical. I think that everything about mandolins is extremely individual - so try as many books as you can afford ��

[Tim Logan]

I think the Calace books edited by Mike Marshall and Caterina Lichtenburg are a great resource for specific technique work. Elderly has them.

https://www.elderly.com/products/the...nglish-edition