Start off by learning how to bulid simple chords and using them in your own music.

Alfred's Basic 5-String Banjo Method 1 continues the Alfred Music tradition of easy-to-use, thorough, and enjoyable instruction for the absolute beginner. The basics of right-hand picking are covered, including pinches, different kinds of rolls, and backup patterns. Basic left-hand techniques are introduced, including hammer-ons and slides, and chord diagrams are provided for both G-tuning and C-tuning. Important topics such as setting up the banjo, tuning, banjo heads, fingerpicks, strings, and capos are taught as well. Illustrations, diagrams, and photographs throughout the book make learning easy and fun. Learning to play has never been more fun than with Alfred's Basic 5-String Banjo Method 1---the best choice for today's beginning banjo students.

A one-of-a-kind collection of more than 100 songs you love to play and sing, including music and chords for piano and guitar and lyrics for singing right along. The Great Family Songbook lays flat with a convenient spiral binding, so everyone can follow along. Hours of family fun and entertainment featuring 100 carefully selected songs from every era and for every occasion, from She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain and Clementine, to Amazing Grace and Simple Gifts. Easy music and chords for piano and guitar make even a novice feel accomplished, while accompanying full color illustrations add charm and humor. Whether your group loves swinging show stoppers, American standards, or gentle folktunes, The Great Family Songbook will hold the key to hours of fun.

This is our first collaboration with Fitzcarraldo Editions, a UK publishing house that will be bringing Dan's book out just before the US edition. They're known for doing beautiful work, and should generate good buzz to jumpstart the conversation here. Pretentiousness fits in well with our other recent forays into essay, especially Sidewalks and Cats. The trim size will be small, and the book will have french flaps, making it an appealing object, and, we hope, cash register impulse purchase. The title (emphasized in the design) is intentionally provocative. Dan has a tremendous platform with Frieze, so there should be no lack of coverage and interest in the art world. The book is conversational and never jargon-y-this isn't writing for an academic audience-and it should have crossover appeal Dan's background in journalism means he's well-versed in pitching, excerpting-the gamut of publicity tools-and he'll be a pro at deploying them. The book should appeal to the same readers who bought On Bullshit

What is pretentiousness? Why do we despise it? And more controversially: why is it vital to a thriving culture? In this brilliant, passionate essay, Dan Fox argues that it has always been an essential mechanism of the arts, from the most wildly successful pop music and fashion through to the most recondite avenues of literature and the visual arts. Pretentiousness: Why it Matters unpacks the uses and abuses of the term, tracing its connections to theatre, politics and class. From method acting to vogueing balls in Harlem, from Brian Eno to normcore, Fox draws on a wide range of references in advocating critical imagination and open-mindedness over knee-jerk accusations of elitism or simple fear of the new and the different. Drawing on his own experiences growing up and working at the more radical edges of the arts, this book is a timely defence of pretentiousness as a necessity for innovation and diversity in our culture.

Learn to play mandolin and open up a brand new world of musical knowledge with this exciting method from Alfred. Beginners of all ages can start their journey to a lifetime of musical enjoyment. Beginning with the fundamentals, you will learn about the history of the mandolin, its components, picks, how to tune it, and getting acquainted with standard musical notation. You will then move right along to playing different notes, scales, and songs, lesson by lesson, all while continuing to increase your ever-growing knowledge of reading and understanding standard musical notation. You will learn important mandolin techniques such as tremolo, cross picking, and more. Upon completion of the book, you will be able to play your favorite songs on the mandolin, know how to read music, and play with a musical group in many different styles, including folk, blues, country, and even pop.
The book features the following resources for reference during and after your lessons:
* Mandolin accompaniments
* Mandolin chord dictionary
* Mandolin fingering chart
Be your own teacher, and let Alfred be your resource every step of the way.