Master teachers and performers of the mandolin, Brian Wicklund and Ben Winship have crafted this beginning mandolin method book based on the solid system created by Wicklund for the best-selling books, The American Fiddle Method. Using clear illustrations and lucid explanations, the authors guide beginning mandolin players through necessary skills such as efficiently holding the mandolin, fretting, picking technique, creating good tone, chop chord and open chord backup. Students learn the techniques while mastering over thirty common jam tunes, which they can practice with using the accompanying audio.