At the annual meeting of the Executive Board of the Classical Mandolin Society of America in October, 2012 we discussed ways that we might encourage the members of the American String Teachers Association to consider using the mandolin in their school programs and ensembles. We talked about how ASTA is already embracing other plucked string instruments (guitars, harps) and how the mandolin is closely related to the violin in its tuning and fingering.
Dr. Jim Bates, an active ASTA member, suggested to me that I might arrange one or two of my existing mandolin ensemble compositions for a grouping of 2 mandolins, guitar, cello and bass. The idea being that it should be relatively easy for a teacher to find two young violinists willing to try the mandolin and play in a small group with guitars, cellos and bass. Jim offered to take these arrangements to the annual ASTA conference and share them with interested members. I have created this page as a place to make these "mandolin and strings" arrangements easily available.
Although I am the creator of this music and I retain all rights to its use, I am making these pieces freely available here under the guidelines of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 license described below. If you have any questions about the music or its use please contact me via email ([email protected]). I am, of course, especially interested in hearing about any performances of these pieces and I would be happy to talk with you about the possibility of composing a piece for your ensemble.
This music is free for your non-commercial use as outlined in the Creative Commons License below but I am, with some hesitation, offering the opportunity to make a small donation via PayPal (whether you have a PayPal account or not) to help support this kind of publishing. Print out the music, try it with your group, it really is free. If you want to make a donation any amount is fine. You might consider asking each member of your orchestra or ensemble to donate a dollar, or you could "pass the hat" at a rehearsal or performance. No donation is necessary, my main interest is in sharing the music.
It's also perfectly all right to send a donation via personal check to: John Goodin, 408 Center Ave., Decorah, IA 52101.
Created on February 23, 2013