Mandolin For Dummies - For Real

[notrelatedtoted]

Has anyone purchased the ebook and read on the basic kindle?

[A 4]

Has anyone purchased the ebook and read on the basic kindle?

I did. I returned it, and bought the paper copy. There were a couple of problems. I was reading on an e-ink Kindle Touch, and pictures really don't work very well in that format. The problem is that the music shows up as a picture. You can enlarge them, some, but it really didn't work that well. There were some typographic issues, as well, where sharp and flat signs didn't show up properly.

The main reason to prefer the paper version to the Kindle version, at least for me, is that is seems like a book that rewards flipping around from place to place, since there is a ton of info in there. That doesn't work well on a Kindle, either.

[notrelatedtoted]

I did. I returned it, and bought the paper copy. There were a couple of problems. I was reading on an e-ink Kindle Touch, and pictures really don't work very well in that format. The problem is that the music shows up as a picture. You can enlarge them, some, but it really didn't work that well. There were some typographic issues, as well, where sharp and flat signs didn't show up properly.

The main reason to prefer the paper version to the Kindle version, at least for me, is that is seems like a book that rewards flipping around from place to place, since there is a ton of info in there. That doesn't work well on a Kindle, either.

That makes sense, and is precisely what I was wondering about. But I want it now, dammit!

[A 4]

That makes sense, and is precisely what I was wondering about. But I want it now, dammit!

I didn't know that one could return things on the Kindle, but you can, within seven days. That's what convinced me to try it. Once I had the kindle version, I saw there was enough good stuff in there to make we want the book, but it was too hard to read. Without the return policy, I might still be hemming and hawing over which to get. The sample that you can get for the Kindle is only the introductory material, which was not enough music/notation content to see how well it would work.

[Gelsenbury]

I fully intend to use this book as the encyclopaedia that it is, but for the moment I'm reading from cover to cover just out of interest. While doing so, I came across a couple of claims in the chapter on Irish music that puzzled me.

First, when introducing modes, Dorian is characterised as "often just called minor" (p. 213) and Mixolydian is referred to as "modal" (p. 214). Admittedly, I am learning about Irish music in England (which in itself may be considered a faux pas), but this doesn't tally with my experience and even strikes me as confusing. From all the musicians around me, I know major (Ionian) as "major", minor (Aeolian) as "minor", Dorian as "Dorian" and Mixolydian as "Mix". Does anyone know why and how Irish musicians may follow a different nomenclature?

Second, I have read many times (on this forum and again in the book) about a strict policy in Irish sessions of "one chord-playing instrument only". Again, this is not quite the same in my experience. Just in order to encourage newcomers considering a session - and picking up a misleading vibe of sessions being scary, hyper-regulated experiences - I would like to say that the members of my local session have actively encouraged me to find a way into the music by strumming a few chords if I don't know the melody, and that it is fairly common for the guitar and an octave mandolin to share the accompaniment. This may not be typical, but it shows that exceptions to every rule exist. The key - and I think this really is a law without exception - is to be polite and sensitive to the practices of the local session.

[Don Julin]

I would like to thank all of you that have purchased "Mandolin For Dummies". It is indeed selling quite well and I am currently working on a follow up book called "Mandolin Exercises For Dummies" which will be full of intermediate to advanced exercises including scales, arpeggios, chord inversions, chord progressions, and even some exercises that are very useful for the improvisor.

Gelsenbury, the Irish mandolin chapter was very challenging to write when it came to using certain terms. I come from a jazz background and using terms like Dorian to indicate a mode is very commonplace. What I gathered by interviewing musicians who play Irish Traditional Music is that there are traditions in an Irish music session that may seem odd to us modern musicians. Irish music, like all forms of music evolve over time and the rules change a bit. One thing I found very interesting about this type of music is that you can have a variety of musicians playing a variety of instruments playing the melody in unison. No solos, no jamming, no blues licks, just melody. Usually one player supplies the rhythm in a chordal or modal style and is free to embellish and even improvise a bit around the melody. This is in stark contrast to the American style of session were the players one at a time are free to interpret the melody while the others all play rhythm in unison. In a contemporary session it may be fine to play chords on a mandolin or even refer to a mode by name. My point is that this beautiful music has been played for hundreds of years by ear and passed down from generation to generation without the use of terms common among music scholars.

I would also like to apologize for not being very present on the cafe lately. Some of you know that I have been playing full time in a duo with Billy Strings and between our touring schedule and trying to finish a second mandolin book, I have barely had time to shower or shave, let alone post on the cafe. I do read the cafe every day and will return as a regular contributor as soon as I can. Watch for us as we may be coming to your town for a concert and/or a mandolin workshop. http://donjulin.com/Schedule.html

[dhbailey]

After the recent observation of the first anniversary of this book, I went out and bought it and am enjoying it immensely!

Don, you've done a great job with this book, and I'm looking forward to working through it!

Thanks for this great resource!

[Tezzerh]

Love the book, Don. Can't wait for the next one.

[Londy]

Ditto on the book Don. I will be back at you soon to continue lessons.

[George R. Lane]

Don,
I was leery of buying another "lesson book", but yours answers my questions in simple terms I can understand. I will spend this upcoming cold Montana winter delving deeply into it. Thanks for your hard work.
George R. Lane

[padawan]

I'm a big fan MFD because without it I would still just be a mandolin owner instead of being a mandolin player. I've absorbed more from it than from all the rest of my mandolin literature combined ...and I haven't even gotten very far into it yet.

[Tina MBee]

so instead of reading every message I'll just ask - so the book doesn't come with a CD - you have to download the files. Is that something that occurs when you buy it the book, or after you get the book in the mail you go on-line and download? I'm thinking I'll get this book for my cousin for Christmas. He just got bit by the mandolin bug. Just trying to figure out how it all works.....

[dhbailey]

Inside the book is a link to download the mp3 files from.

[Mandolin Cafe]

Noting that today is the actual anniversary of the publication of Mandolin For Dummies, still one of the best resources.

[Mark Gunter]

I got the Mandolin Exercises book recently; awesome resource.