Running Dogs Publishing has just announced the second printing of its Jam Tunes books for bluegrass guitar and mandolin. Each volume is accompanied by two audio CDs featuring 25 tunes. Each tune consists of 3 practice tracks: slow with melody, slow no melody, and fast with melody and a spot for you to solo. The books contain both standard notation and tablature, and were written by Rick Williams, who has over 18 years experience teaching guitar and mandolin at Guitar House of Tulsa in Tulsa,Oklahoma. From listening to the samples I would comment that Rick is a good player, and the recording quality is very good. The books teach solos, for their respective instruments, to each of the tunes on the CDs, but it seems the CDs would be a good practice tool for other instruments besides just the guitar and mandolin. Just a thought…

The books cost $39.95 each (including shipping in the US) and are available for purchase online.

Here is a list of the tunes included in the books and companion CDs:

Tunes include: Old Joe Clark, Arkansas Traveler,Turkey in the Straw, Redwing, Wildwood Flower, Blackberry Blossom, 8th of January, Bill Cheatam, Billy in the Low Ground, Cattle in the Cane, Fire on the Mountain, Fisher’s Hornpipe, Liberty, Lost Indian, Red Haired Boy, Sailor’s Hornpipe, Salt Creek, St. Anne’s Reel, Stoney Point, Temperance Reel, Whiskey Before Breakfast, LIttle Maggie, Bury Me Beneath the Willow, Banks of the Ohio,and Will the Circle Be Unbroken.