Product Description

Travel back in time as acclaimed mandolinist Rich DelGrosso, author of the best-selling Hal Leonard Mandolin Method (00695102), traces the history and music of America's rich blues tradition through the eyes of the mandolinist. Follow the lives of players like Yank Rachell, Howard Armstrong and Charlie McCoy, and then learn their timeless music with standard notation, tablature, and an accompanying full-band CD of all the tunes in the book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #123000 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 80 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780634072499
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

A book to open up new doors & change your direction in music just the way it did for its author
Mandolinist Rich DelGrosso is a self-professed "blues freak." After first hearing the strong, expressive blues mandolin of Johnny Young, he began a journey to research and revive that type of music. Nominated by The Blues Foundation for a 2006 Best Instrumentalist Award, DelGrosso has put together a charming overview of music, history, lessons and photos. "From Memphis to Maxwell Street" is the story of America's black mandolinists who nurtured the growth of blues music, complemented and energized jug and string bands of the South, and inspired such composers Scott Joplin and W.C. Handy. In the early 20th-Century, Memphis was where touring mandolin players like Vol Stevens, Will Weldon, Eddie Dimmitt and Charlie McCoy played. In nearby rural areas, W. Howard Armstrong and Carl Martin and their Tennessee Chocolate Drops played medicine shows, parties, picnics and fish fries. In the 1960s, they revived their string band sound in Martin, Bogan & Armstrongs. From rural Tennessee, Yank Rachell travelled with guitarist Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon. In this book, "Yank Rachell's Blues" and "Early This Morning" show how his music was more modal than melodic.

After introductory info about the style itself, DelGrosso's clear perspective focuses on blue notes, harmonies based primarily on seventh chords, predictable 8- or 12-bar progressions, and rhythms driven by back beats. Three kinds of rhythmic dance music (rags, drags, stomps) are demonstrated. Using standard notation and tab, the author gives us some great melodic examples of these forms (Dallas Rag, Jackson Stomp, Knox County Stomp, State Street Rag, Vine Street Drag). Many of these tunes are derived from the music of Howard Armstrong, a man who befriended, inspired and mentored DelGrosso until Howard's passing in 2003. "Betty and Dupree" illustrates Armstrong's masterful melodic technique with double-stops. The book also explores the music of others in the Memphis collective of musicians. "Vol Steven's Blues" is a good study in phrasing and how to use flatted and natural notes. Also playing the Memphis and saloons of the 1920s and 30s were Will Weldon, Eddie Dimmitt and Charlie McCoy. Strong, hard-driving, passionate blues from each of these guys are offered. Phrasing, syncopation and the use of blues notes were their strengths.

As blacks migrated north, so did their music. Chicago's Maxwell Street became a center for blues folks. Carl Martin and Johnny Young were seen playing with guitarists and harmonica players from the windy city's South Side. Originally from Mississippi, Young moved north in search of work about 1940. "Johnny Young's Blues" and "Young's 8-Bar Blues" are taught. DelGrosso concludes the book with his own "DelGrosso's Blues (It's Funk)" and a selected discography for further exploration. Through the pages of Mandolin World News, I was familiar with blues mandolin and some players examined. However, this book pulls it all together into one place. It's a joy that may open up new doors for you and change your direction in music, just the way it did for its author. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

Incredibly great book
This is a really great piece of writing. It starts out teaching you how to play 12-bar blues in the keys of C and G (there are two nice duets in the key of G). Next comes sixteen beautiful blues songs written in traditional music and tablature.
Everything is played nicely in the accompanying CD.
The book also contains some interesting information about mandolins and about the composers of the songs used in the book -- and a list of blues mandolin recordings that are (hopefully) available.
I am VERY happy with this book.

It's about time ...
I love this book. Not only is it outstanding music instruction, it's also a great (and interesting) history lesson. The book is short on theory and technique, focusing instead on teaching by example, which suits me just fine. The transcribed tunes are stylistically comprehensive and run the spectrum from easy to fairly challenging (I would say this is an intermediate level book). I particularly liked the author's funky-blues composition at the end. Very cool.

The mandolin has its place in so many styles of music and it's a real pleasure to see an instruction book that focuses on something other than bluegrass or celtic music (not that there's anything wrong with bluegrass or celtic, but I think the market's a bit saturated!). If you like blues, this is a very fun book.