OK....I'm not a mando player, but I want to learn. Going for a Collings MT as my entry into mando world--not quite at the level of my Varnish CJA, but much more than enough for my current non-existent skill level...

My question is simple--other than lessons, which I plan on getting, what are the best "do it yourself" instructional dvds, books etc? Any advice appreciated. I do not want this instrument to go to waste, and any help that would keep that from happening would be appreciated.

I'm getting the one from Kim at Cotten that was a custom MT from the Summer NAMM show, if anyone wants to take a peek at it. It is #1 on the list, and shows as sold now. It sounded great with my feeble attempts to play, and really killer when real mando players showed me what to do in the shop...

Btw, I also played the D-1 she has in the shop (back to my areas of competence). That is a very good guitar, someone will have a very nice instrument if they pick it up.

Again, any help welcome--either on the list or private message.

thanks.

michael

michael,
congrats on the new purchase. when kim says a guitar or mandolin is special, she means it. and as marymary points out in another thread, those NAMM show instruments are special.
i like the sam bush 2 DVD set. you have to like bluegrass mandolin, but the songs get you working on your pickin hand. sam bush is quite a character, and a good teacher.
welcome to the mando-club.

I love bluegrass mando. My spouse is Irish, so I'll also need to learn some of the more Celtic things...but I think bluegrass style and technique will be my baseline.

Michael,

Congrats on the new instrument. As far as "entry level" goes, the MT is a very fine musical instrument that will take you awfully close to the top of the mountain.

Re instruction, the Jack Tottle mandolin book is a solid intro to bluegrass mandolin, and someone recently spoke highly to me of Butch Baldissari's dvd's. Here's one , and I think there's a 2 dvd set as well.

Cheers! B

tim o'brien's video is more along the lines of a celtic style. he uses octave mandolin for quite a few tunes/songs, however.

Thanks, I'll be looking into these this evening. And I didn't mean to make a disparaging remark about MTs...I thought the thing sounded great, even in my hands with no technique or skill level yet acquired. I'm fairly certain, in fact, that this mando will take me as far as I'm going to be able to to into mando world...

Now, one other question....how likely is it that I will need to have the pick guard put on it? I know Collings will do it for a buck and a half, but is it a matter of aggressive playing or playing style, or style of music that's most likely to require one?

I want to protect the top, and would rather not learn after the fact that I needed one...so what are the factors involved, and should I just go ahead and do it at the beginning rather than wait?

Try Eddie Collins books. He has two.
http://www.eddiecollins.biz/

Good info here:

http://www.mandolincafe.com/

I like Roland White's book and

Fretboard Roadmaps (Hal Leonard Publishing)