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 9781619110410. Duet arrangements of three well-known Vivaldi Concertos arranged for mandolin and guitar: Concerto in A (RV82), Concerto in C (RV425), and Concerto in D (RV93). Each arrangement in this collection has been reduced from soloist with string orchestra, to a duet for mandolin and guitar. The mandolin performs the solo part and the guitar part is a reduction of the strings. In the guitar part, chords have been added above the staff to allow for embellishment-a common practice of the Baroque era. Another C instrument such as flute, violin or another guitar can be easily substituted for the mandolin. Musicians will find these accessible arrangements excellent for performance in any setting from the recital hall to the local cafe.The score (guitar/mandolin) and mandolin solo part are available in hard copy while the guitar accompaniment part is available as a free internet download. The mandolin and guitar parts are presented in notation.

Take your blues playing to the next level with the MandolinBlues Book. A collection of 101blues riffs and solos ideal for all mandolinists looking to get a good grasp ofjamming the blues.

The book covers all the essential tools needed to playblues mandolin. Start by learning the 40stylistic riffs, then the 25 one and two bar blues riffs in multiple keys, andmove on to the longer 12 bar blues rhythm riffs and extended solos.

Most of the longer rhythm riffs and solos follow thestandard 12 bar blues form, so they are readily applicable to many genres,including country, rock, jazz, folk and bluegrass, to name a few.

To further deepen your mandolin skills, study themajor, minor, blues scales and arpeggios, as well as the library of mandolin chordsand blues chord progressions in all 12 keys.

No book covers everything, but with some practice, youwill be ready to take your mandolin, jam the blues with confidence, and showoff your new skills.

For free mandolin lessons, audio tracks and videos, pleasevisit my website:

http://www.brentrobitaille.com

or

Mandolin BluesBook - Kalymi Music (brentrobitaille.com)

Old Time Stringband Workshop for Mandolin is one in a set of four books, each with a matching collection of 40 traditional type fiddle tunes arranged to develop ensemble and jam session playing skills with other acoustic instruments, as well as to expand your repertoire of tunes. The music is presented in Notation and Tablature with annotations for playing techniques and variations. A bonus arrangement of Star of the County Down is available as a free download. See www.melbay.com/21765.