Bluegrass Books Online

About The Books

Bluegrass Guitar Jam Tunes and Bluegrass Mandolin Jam Tunes are my arrangements of 25 of the most common and most often played picking tunes, and are intended for the advanced beginner to the upper intermediated player. These are not for the beginner who is just starting out. Both books are written in standard notation and tablature, and are accompanied by 2 CD's each, with 3 practice tracks per tune, totaling over 2 hours of practice material. Each CD track has a guitar, mandolin and bass rhythm section. The 1st track is slow, with the melody and rhythm, so you can learn the melody and practice your rhythm playing as well. The 2nd track is the same as the 1st, but with the melody removed. Now you have a slow, backup band to solo over, to play my version of the melody or make up one of your own. The 3rd track is faster and goes 3 times through the tune starting with a mandolin solo, then a guitar solo, and then rhythm only, so you have a place in the tune to play your solo, just like in a real jam session.

The slow versions are at 106 beats per minute, slow enough to learn, but not plodding. The faster version is fast enough to give you a good workout, but not up to performance speed. It is at 170 beats per minute. My students and others have told me, the tempos I've chosen are the perfect "in between speeds" for practicing, than other books/cds they've purchased to learn with. Not too slow and not too fast. Try it for yourself on the FREE SAMPLES page.

The tunes included in the books are:

Old Joe Clark, Arkansas Traveler, Turkey in the Straw, Redwing, Wildwood Flower, Blackberry Blossom, 8th of January, Bill Cheatham, Billy in the Low Ground, Cattle in the Cane, Fishers Hornpipe, Fire on the Mountain, Liberty, Lost Indian, Red Haired Boy, Sailors Hornpipe, Salt Creek, St. Anne's Reel, Stoney Point, Temperance Reel, Whiskey Before Breakfast, Little Maggie, Bury me Beneath the Willow, Banks of the Ohio, Will the Circle be Unbroken.