ISBN 9781609742959. Most of the music in this book comes from editions or manuscripts from England in the late 1500ICOs. There are also a few French pieces. The cittern was popular in Italy, England and France. Aside from various tunings, there were two main kinds of instruments being played during the 16th and 17th centuries: the 4 course (four sets of doubled strings), and the 6 course cittern with several editions of music to go along with both. The pieces I have chosen for this book were all written for the 4 course instrument and fall into three main categories: dance music, song arrangements and free pieces. The free pieces are basically preludes that explore the melodic range of the instrument. As the title suggests these pieces can be played very freely and need not have a very strict tempo. The dance pieces are not really meant to be danced to, but rather take their form and rhythm from the popular court dances of the time. These can be played with a wide range of overall tempo, but once a tempo is chosen, should be strictly adhered to. The song arrangements are settings of popular songs of the time as well as more formal vocal settings. Care should be taken in making the melody clear and singing. Since the range of the cittern and mandolin are the same, John Holenko has kept the melodies intact. Because of the difference in tuning however, the voicing of the harmonies have been changed so as to fit on the mandolin.

ISBN 9781619113916. Fretboard Studies for the Improvising Mandolinist presents a collection of tools to help improve one's knowledge of the fretboard. Scales, arpeggios, patterns, intervallic exercises and progressions are included. Exercises help the player build muscle memory and musical ideas anywhere on the fretboard. A collection of tunes is also included. Connect the physical with the theoretical and become a better improviser!

ISBN 9781619117242.

Anyone who is serious about learning Irish traditional music will eventually come across O'Neill's Music of Ireland, a collection of well over 1000 tunes. This book contains a selection of one hundred tunes from this collection, arranged into sets for mandolin which can be used at sessions, and for dancing. The book includes hints, tips and comments for playing the tunes and some of the tunes also have alternative melodies and harmonies for added variety and interest. At the back of the book, there are guitar chords with standard and open D tuning, and a mandolin fretboard chart that you might find useful.

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.