A number of companies who offer products to the bluegrass market are offering contests and giveaways to celebrate May as Bluegrass Music Month. In one such promotion, Mel Bay Publications has partnered with Michael Kelly Mandolins and will be giving away a Legacy Elegant?© model at the end of the month.

No purchase is necessary to enter the drawing, and online registration is available. Only a single entry is allowed per person, and the contest is limited to legal residents of the United States. The contest deadline is May 31, 2009 and a winner will be selected by random drawing in mid June.

The Legacy Elegant?©, valued at $1285, is a solid wood mandolin with a hand carved top, a radiused ebony fingerboard and gold plated hardware.

You can find more details about this model on the Michael Kelly web site, and full contest rules and online registration at the Mel Bay site.

Mel Bay has a couple of new instructional books that will be of interest to the bluegrass community.

First Jams: Dobro is a starter book (with audio CD) designed for young players who want to learn some simple, familiar songs on resonator guitar. It will also be suitable for a beginner at any age, offering tab and standard for the basic melody of 20 jam session standards.

The First Jams series includes similar books for guitar, mandolin, banjo, ukulele and mountain dulcimer, each showing the melody of the same popular tunes, selling for $14.99.

Also new from Mel Bay is Bluegrass On Hammered Dulcimer, which contains arrangements of 24 familiar bluegrass songs for malletheads. This one was written for intermediate to advanced players, and is written in standard notation.

8 vocal popular pieces are included along with common instrumentals, taken from the traditional repertoire and from The Father of Bluegrass himself. Jerusalem Ridge, Big Mon, Rawhide and Bluegrass Stomp appear from Bill Monroe’s legacy of great tunes.

The book sells for $14.95.

Mel Bay Publications has just released the first book in a new series called “School Of.” This particular book is the School of Mandolin: Basic Chords and Soloing.

Taught by veteran educator Joe Carr, the book presents 16 tunes (some with multiple variations) intended to introduce the player to a variety of essential techniques.

I spoke with Joe via email about the book.

This is the first book in a new series that will include titles on bluegrass, blues, Irish and more. This book is not specifically bluegrass focused, but is intended for beginners who want to use primarily Amercian folk material as a starting place.

Emphasis is on correct pick direction – a crucial skill, sections on standard notation reading, and basic scales.

The idea is to ground players in good technique and teach them the skills to continue “self-guided development” on their instrument.

Having studied guitar under Joe for three years, while attending South Plains College, I can attest to the efficacy of his teaching. Students at any level would be well served by following Joe’s instruction. This book is aimed primarily at beginners, but more are soon to follow for both differing genres and skill levels.

Music instruction publisher Mel Bay recently re-released one of their mainstay titles, Mel Bay’s Complete Mandolin Method.

Originally released in book form only, the updated product is now available with an accompanying DVD. The product teaches the basics of mandolin technique, note-reading, music theory, and a large number of tunes ranging from classical pieces such as Chopin’s Prelude, Op.28 No.20, to traditional tunes favored by bluegrass and old-time players such as Carry Me Back To Old Virginny, Grandfathers Clock, Shenandoah, and everything in between.

The tunes are presented in a variety of keys. Standard notation is the only presentation of the music in the book, no tab.

Complete Mandolin Method is available for $12 as book only, or $20 for the book and DVD.

Just as we head into the frantic holiday shopping season, Mel Bay Publications has a new book/CD set designed as a companion purchase for parents who will put a new banjo under the tree for their young children.

Easiest Banjo Tunes for Children was written by Larry McCabe, who has several other Mel Bay instructional products for banjo to his credit. This slim volume was created to offer simple, fun and easy to play versions of familiar banjo tunes, arranged with smaller hands in mind.

The book will be available from retailers who carry acoustic and bluegrass instructional materials, as well as online resellers.