ISBN 9781619119512.

The octave mandolin is valued for its rich tone and wide range of potential use in a variety of musical settings. This book contains 27 easy to intermediate pieces from the Baroque era that have been carefully chosen and arranged to benefit from the longer scale and deeper voice of the big mandolin. The music is presented in both standard notation and tablature, making it easily playable on the mandocello, mandola or standard mandolin. Thirteen composers are represented, including six pieces by J. S. Bach, four by G. F. Handel and three by G. P. Telemann.

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 9781609742577. This encyclopedia is designed to provide mandolin players with a wide variety of chords in different voicings. This book is intended as both a starting point of learning chord voicings and patterns, as well as a dictionary of common mandolin chords. Each key section includes the first position scale for that key, as well as the chord formula and notes for each chord. If you want to learn to be a bluegrass rhythm player it helps to have a guide or 'map' to take you through the initial learning stage. This book provides a small but powerful set of starter chords used in this style of music. Once these chords are learned, you'll be able to jam with other musicians in no time. These are the same chords used by greats like Bill Monroe, Doyle Lawson, David Grisman and hundreds of other bluegrass players in this genre. While there are only a few chords presented in the "map" section, they form the foundation of bluegrass mandolin and with them you can play literally thousands of songs in every key. Chords are presented by key.

ISBN 9781619118416.

Between 1755 and 1761 James Oswald composed and published two sets of 48 Airs for the Seasons, 96 pieces in all. Each air included from two to four separate movements in different time signatures and tempos, almost always in the same key. Each was printed on a single page with the melody on one staff and a bass line (with figures) on a second staff. Additionally, each piece was named after a plant and organized into groups of twelve for each season. This book contains a selection of 24 Oswald airs, 6 for each season, in standard notation and arranged for solo mandolin. Originally intended for the flute or violin, in most cases the original key has been changed to better accommodate the modern mandolin. Oswaldas Scottish heritage is evident in the number of movements that are actually slow airs, jigs, reels or menuets. Altogether, this is a delightful collection of 18th century melodies suitable for solo performance, teaching or private enjoyment.