Alfred's Basic Mandolin Method 2: Mandolin Book & CD

Book 2 builds on solid foundational work with repertoire that actually sounds like mandolin music. The mix of folk traditions across cultures gives students real musical contexts for the new techniques they're learning, and the CD recordings let them hear professional execution before attempting each piece themselves.

This book opens up the mandolin's rhythmic and harmonic possibilities. Whether you're working through a spirited "Tarantella" with its rapid articulation or settling into the contemplative phrasing of "Greensleeves," you're discovering how much personality the instrument carries across different musical traditions.

Mandolin students ready to expand beyond the basics of Book 1. You're comfortable with fundamental hand position, basic chords, and single-note melodies, and now you're ready to tackle scales in multiple keys, rhythmic variation, and ensemble playing.

• Listen to the CD recording of each new lesson before playing it yourself. Mandolin articulation and strumming patterns have distinct character that's easier to absorb by ear first.
• Practice palm muting in isolation before applying it within songs. The muscle memory for dampening the strings takes repetition separate from the melodic or harmonic content.
• Work through transpose exercises slowly with reference to the major and minor scales presented in this book. Moving a familiar tune to new keys solidifies your understanding of the fretboard layout.
• Record yourself playing duets with the CD to check rhythmic alignment, especially with triplet and swing rhythms. The back-and-forth reveals timing issues that solo practice masks.

Assign Book 2 as students progress through your mandolin ensemble or private lesson sequence in the second semester or school year. The folk song arrangements work as concert program fillers or as warm-up material for intermediate mandolin groups, and the diverse cultural repertoire supports any world music unit or multicultural concert theme.

• Major and minor scales in multiple keys
• Transposition
• Power chords and double unisons
• Palm muting technique
• Triplet rhythm recognition and execution
• Swing rhythms and blues soloing
• Staccato (chop) articulation
• Sight-reading duet parts
• Strumming pattern variation and control