ISBN 9781610652421.

The non-jazz improvisation series is a concept that germinated in Dick Weissman's mind while he was attending music school. He wrote a 15-piece arrangement of the old square dance tune, Cripple Creek, and wanted the trombone to take a solo as part of the arrangement. When the trombonist kept playing a bebop solo that was totally unsuitable for the chart, Dick realized that - in addition to the many musicians who do not improvise - there are even jazz musicians who don't know how to improvise outside the limits of their own stylistic backgrounds. The non-jazz improvisation series mostly includes new original tunes that are intended to show how to improvise in many musical styles, including;* Blues* Country* American folk * Latin-American* World music including South American, Eastern European and Asian * Odd meters (playing in a variety of time signatures)* New Age* Classical * Folk-RockIn short, the books are an encyclopedia of virtually every musical style, excluding jazz. Includes access to online audio.

ISBN 9781610659864.

The mandolin is used in nearly every type of music today so it is a great choice of instrument whether you like jazz, folk, classical, country, bluegrass, rock, blues, Irish or many kinds of world music. Much of this music is available only in standard notation so that is where this book starts; TAB comes later. By learning the basic information presented in this volume, you will be prepared to approach any style. This book introduces the student to the instrument, explaining basics such as tuning and how to hold the instrument. The student is introduced to notes on each string and various left- and right-hand techniques. Chords, scales and arpeggios are introduced and students begin applying their new skills to real world repertoire in a variety of keys. 64 pages with access to online audio.