First Lessons Mandolin teaches the absolute basics of learning to play mandolin from holding the pick to performing easy mandolin tunes. It doesn't get any easier than this! Students learn how to hold the mandolin correctly, how to read mandolin tablature, basic note reading, the most popular mandolin chords, how to play easy melodies in several musical styles, basic picking technique, how to tune the mandolin, and much more. Along the way students will learn about the greatest mandolin players and their music. The main emphasis of First Lessons Mandolin is to get the student up and playing immediately and to have fun doing it!
Dix Bruce, a musician, composer, and writer from the San Francisco Bay Area, was born and raised in the Midwest. His interest in American folk music, jazz, and original composition are blended into a unique vocal and instrumental sound. His compositions are fresh and his energetic, exuberant stage personality, along with his driving rhythm and lead work, set the tone for a warm and exciting performance.
He began playing guitar at age twelve. After college, he relocated to the Bay Area where his interest in hybrid acoustic string music led him to David Grisman's prototype quintet in the mid-1970's. Bruce eventually teamed up with the mandolinist and edited the magazine Mandolin World News from 1978 until 1984.
In 1978 Bruce formed the band Back Up and Push to explore the emerging possibilities of swing and jazz on acoustic stringed instruments. The band toured the west coast throughout the 1980s and accompanied Bruce on his release Tuxedo Blues, which features many of his original instrumental and vocal compositions.
Dix Bruce has done studio work on guitar, mandolin, and banjo and has recorded two albums with mandolin legend Frank Wakefield, six big band CDs with the Royal society Jazz Orchestra, and his own collection of American folk songs entitled My Folk Heart on which he plays guitar, mandolin, and autoharp as well as sings. In 1991 he contributed two original compositions to the soundtrack of Harrod Blank's acclaimed documentary Wild Wheels. he has released two CDs of traditional American songs with and originals with guitarist Jim Nunally.
Dix arranged, composed, played mandolin, and recorded music for the CD-ROM computer game "The Sims" for the Maxis Corporation. His music is featured on a virtual radio station within the game.
Mr. Bruce currently has over twenty publications in print with Mel Bay. He has also written for Acoustic Guitar Magazine, FRETS, Bluegrass Unlimited, and The Fretted Instrument Guild of America.
