ISBN 9781619115453. 8.75 x 11.75 inches. If you've heard jazz guitarists like Joe Pass play chord melody, you may think that the style requires an encyclopedic knowledge of music theory, musical super-powers, or making a deal with the devil. But fear not! This book will show you how to create your own satisfying chord melody arrangements on the mandolin...and will do so in a practical, applicable, non stroke-inducing way. "Aaron Weinstein has many musical accomplishments. I am very proud to have played a small part with some of them. When he was only 12 he made his first recordings and asked me to play mandolin on them. I was knocked out to encounter someone that young that was conversant in both old-time or contest fiddling and Joe Venuti style jazz. Not long after that Aaron became interested in the mandolin and chords and he came by every so often to play and discuss voicings, improvisation and the like. I showed him some of the Jethro Burns chord melody arrangements that Jethro showed me. I've been teaching those for decades in hopes of one day playing them smoothly myself! Fast forward a few more years and Aaron has a Berklee degree, traveled the world playing hot violin music and is hobnobbing with the greatest NYC jazz stars. And oh yeah, one other thing: he took the art of chord-melody mandolin style to an entirely new level! The rich harmonies of the standard jazz and show tune repertoire, the swinging bass lines and connecting chords and independent voice movements (doing more than one thing at a time) are all present in Aaron's style, thanks to his great ear, open mind and gift at locating things on the fretboard. And now Aaron has documented, explained and shared his discoveries and approach with all of us in this book. Thank you Aaron! This is truly a step-by-step method that you will enjoy. You'll find yourself saying 'oh, of course!' as the author gets you playing and understanding things that sound very detailed and complex. The first section I would call the mandolinistic stuff: the how-to on getting things moving and connected on the fretboard. This part is laid out in a very logical manner with clear explanations and fun activities. After working through these etudes you will know the fretboard better and be a better mandolin playing musician regardless of what style of music is your favorite. As I looked this part over I recalled the parable about 'give someone a fish and he will have a meal. Teach him to fish and he'll eat the rest of his life..' The second part puts your new-found chops to work playing some great solo chord melody tunes Weinstein style. Again the author walks us gently into the material by providing two versions of each piece, the basic structure followed by a more developed version. In the history of mandolin playing there have been many examples of techniques, arrangements and music that might be thought of as 'chord-melody' style. Consider works by Raffaele Calace, or 'Duo' style from the early twentieth century American stylists and then again as modernized by Evan Marshall in the current era. Bach on the mandolin, as played by virtuosi such as Caterina Lichtenberg, Mike Marshall, Carlo Aonzo, Chris Thile and others also illustrates harmony and melody simultaneously. And of course Jethro Burns did so much in the way of bringing jazz and standards to life with chord-melody mandolin that it is often referred to as 'Jethro Style'. The book you have in your hand presents a unique and accessible route to these types of techniques and sounds. Bravo, Aaron! And thank you, my friend." Don Stiernberg.

Né à Hamburg en 1699, Johann Adolf Hasse, surnommé « il Sassone » étudie auprès de son père, organiste de Bergedorf, puis à Naples auprès de Porpora et se lie d?amitié avec Alessandro Scarlatti, Farinelli, Galuppi, Jommelli, Haydn et même Jean Sebastien Bach, qu?il rencontre en 1731. Dès son premier opéra, Antigonus, Hasse connait le succès et commence alors une carrière de compositeur, musicien et chef d?orchestre qui le fera voyager dans toute l?Europe avant de s?installer à Venise. Auteur de 58 opéras, oratorios, cantates, concertos et sonates en toute genre, la quasi totalité de son ?uvre est détruite par l?incendie du siège de Dresde par les Prussiens en 1760. Malgré la stabilité de ses principaux traits, le style de Hasse, nettement préclassique, connait de légères évolutions au cours de sa carrière mais il reste un compositeur au goût prononcé pour le lyrisme, y compris dans son écriture instrumentale, comme le démontre le largo de son Concerto in sol Maggiore per Mandolino e cordi. De facture Vivaldienne, cette oeuvre date très certainement de la période napolitaine de Hasse et il y développe une écriture fluide et virtuose pour le petit luth, alors très en vogue dans les cours et les salons princiers de ce XVIIIe siècle florissant. Le choix de la tonalité, le discours rythmique et l?orchestration légère, constitue la preuve que le compositeur connaissait parfaitement les possibilités de la mandoline pour lequel il a sans doute composé d?autres oeuvres, malheureusement disparues aujourd?hui. Born in Hamburg in 1699, Johann Adolf Hasse, nicknamed "il Sassone", studied with his father, organist from Bergedorf, then in Naples with Porpora and became friends with Alessandro Scarlatti, Farinelli, Galuppi, Jommelli, Haydn and even Jean Sebastian Bach, whom he met in 1731. From his first opera, Antigonus, Hasse enjoyed success and began a career as a composer, musician and conductor which would take him throughout Europe before settling in Venice. Author of 58 operas, oratorios, cantatas, concertos and sonatas of all kinds, almost all of his work was destroyed by the fire of the siege of Dresden by the Prussians in 1760. Despite the stability of its main features, Hasse's style, clearly preclassical, underwent slight evolutions during his career but he remained a composer with a pronounced taste for lyricism, including in his instrumental writing, as demonstrated by the largo of his Concerto in sol Maggiore per Mandolino e cordi. Vivaldian in style, this work most certainly dates from Hasse's Neapolitan period and he developed a fluid and virtuoso writing for the small lute, then very fashionable in the courts and princely salons of this flourishing 18th century. The choice of tonality, the rhythmic discourse and the light orchestration constitute proof that the composer perfectly knew the possibilities of the mandolin for which he undoubtedly composed other works, unfortunately lost today.