Search - DVD-The Bluegrass Mandolin of Ronnie McCoury on DVD

Ronnie's talent, Monroe's legacy...a great combination!

elvisNoir | Portland Oregon | 05/28/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I found this DVD when was looking for an instructional presentation that covered bluegrass in general and some Monroe in particular. In that respect, this is an excelent product. In comparison to some other bluegrass and general instructional material that I have (Sam Bush/Monroe, Chris Tile, Butch Baldassari/bluegrass), this is my favorite.

Ron McCoury comes out of the Monroe tradition, and appears here with his father, Del, a former Monroe Band member. Del does solid backup work on the songs. Ronnie shows some great tunes, including some Monroe music and some Monroe-influenced McCoury originals. You feel that you are getting some authentic music here, from people who know what that is all about.

Ronnie is a very good instructor, and his tab is note-for-note accurate. Only a couple of breaks are not included. In addition, Ronnie covers some mando basics, various playing techniques, and offers some sage advice. All of the songs are played through at normal and slower speeds, and are also gone over section-by-section at slow speed. With that and the tab, almost anyone can play these songs. With practice, of course.

The tunes are well chosen, the McCoury originals are interesting and fun, and the old-timey offerings are solid, and useful for the mandolin player's overall skill package. The guitar accompaniment is great. Del knows bluegrass guitar. His guitar adds a lot to the presentation of the songs (thanks, Dad!).

My only (minor) gripes: I would have liked to have a few more bluegrass standards, and the video quality could be better--although the playing is easy to see (audio is perfect). But for that, I would have given a 5-star rating."