I am a beginner 5 string banjo student. My teacher was thrilled when I brought this book in, it is so complete in excercises etc.... and some classic songs too.

At 144 pages, this book gives a more leisurely tutorial than a comprable shorter book. This book is intended for those who can read music already, and is only really useful for a d whistle (the whistle used by most beginners anyway). This book is filled with excellent music. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to pick up the tin whistle.

For the uninformed Jethro Burns was half of the country comedy team Homer & Jethro. More importantly he was the most inovative mandolin player of our times.

If you have never picked up a mandolin and would like to learn this unique little instrument then this book is for you. The book is thorough and very clearly written. It begins with explaining how to read music and walks you through the steps to gradually develop this skill. At the same time Mel Bay provides musical examples to develop your technique. By studying from this book in it's entirety the student will aquire both the technique and musical knowledge to learn and play a variety of styles on the mandolin. Highly recommended.

I found Mel Bays Complete Method for Autoharp or Chromaharp to be an ideal book for learning to play the autoharp or chromaharp. It starts with the basics of how to read music and takes the reader through an understanding of the autoharp/chromaharp; how to tune it, how to develop various strumming styles and music styles and how to make adjustments to the instrument should the player desire to do so. This book contains well written text as well as photos, charts and illustrations. The photos and illustrations are clear and understandable, a definite help for those who learn better from seeing something done. The selection of music included offers a variety of styles and tastes and takes the learner beyond the beginner stage. Lessons also include some music theory. In my opinion, this is a must-have book for learning either the autoharp or the chromaharp.

I have been playing the drums for 10 years and this book showed me things i didn't know i could do on a drumset every drummer should have one.

Ray Valla's book Deluxe Bluegrass Mandolin Method is by Mel Bay and it is a cool book and on the cover it has a picture of an F Style Mandolin with the fancier scroll.

I've read and owned lots of bass guitar books, but this is the one book that seems to cover everything. Starting with the most basic introductory material such as "how to hold the bass guitar", the book advances all the way down to things like "Lydian Augmented scales in the 12th position". Besides the expected subjects (scales, modes, progressions, intervals, key signatures, etc.) there are even lessons on bass duets and general subjects like relative pitch training for your ears. The book indirectly teaches better sheet music reading by cleverly making each successive exercise more rhythmically complex as the book goes on. Of course, when you cram so much information into a single book, the material inevitably moves a bit fast (otherwise, you'd have to write the book twice as long). So my only complaint is that it's not very user-friendly as a beginner's total self-instruction book. And I know there are many who don't particulary like the typical Mel Bay methods of instruction. Still, the book is perfect if you have an instructor helping you along, or you're a moderate or advanced player who just wants to review certain sections and maybe pick up something new. I've been playing bass for over a dozen years, but I still like to occasionally review sections and play some of the exercises for practice. Despite its fast pace, the incredible span of information in this single book makes me give it 5 stars. If you had to buy just one bass book to last your whole lifetime, I recommend this one without a doubt.

All pedal-steel player should read this great book. It contains the best I ever read about steel guitar. Buy this fine book!

Assuming that the reader followed the lessons of book #1, Mel Bay's Bass #2 continues to guide beginners through formulating basic riffs to accompany guitarists. Echoing the rockabilly style of his time, Bay provides scale patterns as well as simple, but fun, walking lines (without tab). If a beginner is looking for a throroughly educating book, this is the one!