DVD-Butch Baldassari's Bluegrass Mandolin Workshop

Starring:Butch Baldassari
Studio: Homespun Tapes
Product Type: DVD

Book Description

This comprehensive, user-friendly mandolin method takes a beginner from bare-bone basics to solidly intermediate material in a single two-hour lesson. Includes 20 great repertoire tunes. 120-MIN DVD * INCLUDES MUSIC + TAB * BEGINNER LEVEL

Customer Reviews:

Great set of beginning Bluegrass Lessons.......2007-06-29

Butch is a very good teacher, who carefully presents well chosen material. He teaches the fundamental techniques and incorporates them into representative songs. He is a very accomplished player who has not forgotten what the learning process was like.

While this DVD seems to me like it would be most useful for players at a novice-intermediate level, complete beginners will also benefit as he is such a good teacher. Players who are very experienced in other genres--like celtic, jazz & etc.--might think this to be a bit too basic. However, it would still be a good foundation if they were moving into the bluegrass style. For these more advanced folks, the Ronnie McCoury DVD might be more appropriate.

An easy-to-follow mandolin instructional video.......2006-06-06

This video is PERFECT for the person who has a very basic knowledge of the mandolin (tuning, basic open chords) and is interested in advancing to performing some competent chops and leads as well as learning how and why certain bluegrass mandolin personalities approach the instrument to create his/her own style. The approach by Baldassari is perfect for those players (like this writer) who picked up the mandolin as a second instrument and do not need to be brought back to "dummy" status.

Baldassari has done time with numerous bluegrass bands, and his expertise on the mandolin has brought him into other situations, including founding the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble and a professorship at Vanderbilt University. It is perhaps the right combination of an eclectic music background and the distinguished teaching experience that make this video a welcome instructional tool. He is a musician who knows how other musicians learn, especially ones who have more experience on stage than in the classroom. Thus, the basics are kept to an absolute minimum, and are presented not as "mandatory" but as "proven to be most reliable" (such as in the case of holding the instrument, Baldassari explains his style, but does not gloat on it). He jumps into the bluegrass styles (the viewer is thankfully relieved of simple nursery-rhyme tunes and is given songs like "Arkansas Traveler" with which to begin).

A great teaching tool of Baldassari's is his four-step approach of creating a simple but effective lead on the mandolin. He uses the gospel classic "I'll Fly Away" to dissect, and presents a lead that parallels in style with how Mike Compton approached the song on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack. Baldassari also stresses how important Bill Monroe's style and work was for the advancement of the mandolin in bluegrass without it having a worshiping air. Also useful is his lesson on the importance of working in the key of B, which is a popular performing key but can prove to be tricky on the mandolin fret board. He also switches his choice of instrument a few times, which makes for visual eye candy, and recommends a number of CDs to listen to for inspiration.

Baldassari's intelligent yet relaxed approach to teaching the mandolin makes this video probably the best video to come out on learning the instrument in a long time. He does not stick to one style but shows off many. He moves at a comfortable pace, and he knows his audience and treats them as equals and not as students that need to be lead around by the hand. For anyone who has picked up the mandolin and learned the very basics, but perhaps has put the instrument aside due to various frustrations, this may be the most useful teaching to getting back into a positive attitude. (Matt Merta, The Bluegrass Journal)

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