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Best mandolin books for beginners
Most mandolin books assume you already play guitar. Only one of these three starts at the beginning.
By Sawyer V. · Published · Last updated
Buy the Hal Leonard Mandolin Method, Book 1. If you want a second book, buy the Chord Finder, not another method. The reason is specific to this instrument: a surprising amount of mandolin instruction is written for people arriving from guitar, fiddle or banjo, and quietly assumes you can already read tab, hold a pick and find your way round a fretboard. The DelGrosso method#ad does not. At 64 pages it starts where a genuine beginner starts and it teaches standard notation alongside tab, which matters more on mandolin than anywhere else on this site.
Every pick states its Starter Path band, and we have not played any of them — the method is on how we pick. Authors, page counts, series and ISBNs come from Hal Leonard’s own product pages, cited at the bottom, and each book’s ISBN was matched against the listing we link to.
Start with the Hal Leonard Mandolin Method, Book 1, Second Edition (64 pages, Rich DelGrosso) — the only one of these three written for somebody who has never held the instrument, and it covers both tab and standard notation. Add the Mandolin Chord Finder (96 pages, 1,000 chords) when a song sheet names a chord the method did not teach, which is usually within a month. Add First 50 Songs You Should Play on Mandolin (112 pages, 50 tunes with tab, chords and lyrics) if interest is flagging — but neither of those two is a method, and neither will teach somebody to play. A guitar book is not a substitute: a mandolin is tuned G-D-A-E in pairs, like a violin.
Why mandolin books are unusually likely to be the wrong book
The mandolin sits between two worlds and its instruction materials are split along that seam.
The bluegrass side reads tablature, plays chop chords and learns from recordings. Books aimed here tend to open with roll and chop exercises and assume a working right hand.
The fiddle-tune side reads standard notation, because the repertoire is shared with violinists — a mandolin is tuned to the same four pitches as a violin and can read violin music directly. Books aimed here assume you read dots.
A complete beginner belongs to neither camp yet, which is why a method that teaches both notations is the right first purchase and why a book from either tradition can feel impenetrable for reasons that have nothing to do with difficulty.
The picks
The Hal Leonard Mandolin Method, Book 1#ad is the book to buy. Hal Leonard publishes 64 pages in the Second Edition, by Rich DelGrosso, in the Fretted series, softcover with a digital edition also available, and it covers standard notation and tablature together. It is also the cheapest of the three, which makes the ordering easy. Buy this if you or the player is starting from nothing. Skip it if they are an experienced guitarist who only wants repertoire, in which case the song book is the better spend.
The Mandolin Chord Finder#ad is 96 pages of diagrams by Chad Johnson, published as a thousand chords. It teaches nothing and is not meant to: it is an index, and the problem it solves is real and arrives quickly. A beginner needs perhaps fifteen of the thousand, and the value is that the sixteenth is in there when a song sheet asks for it. Small enough to live in a case pocket, and useful from week two to year ten. Buy this if the player is working from song sheets or playing with other people. Skip it if it would be the only book in the house.
First 50 Songs You Should Play on Mandolin#ad is 112 pages, fifty tunes arranged by Fred Sokolow with tab, chords and lyrics, and Hal Leonard names “Amazing Grace” and “Wagon Wheel” among them. It is the most expensive book here and the one that most reliably keeps somebody playing, because practicing exercises and playing a song are different activities and only one of them is fun in week four. Buy this if there is a method book already and motivation is the problem. Skip it if they cannot yet read tab or change a chord cleanly, because fifty songs you cannot play is discouraging rather than motivating.
What we did not list, and why
Play Mandolin Today! Level 1. A legitimate 48-page audio-led method from the same publisher, and we would happily have listed it as a fourth option. Its listing reads “temporarily out of stock,” and we do not ship a buy row we cannot confirm you can buy today.
Mel Bay’s Complete Mandolin Method. A serious book and the wrong shape for this page: the editions we could confirm were down to single-figure stock, and “complete” methods are compilations that take a beginner a long way past where they need to start.
Bill Monroe play-along volumes. Excellent, and for a player who already has the chop chord and the tremolo. Monroe is where mandolin players want to end up, not where they can begin.
Chord encyclopedias. We list one chord reference, not three. Past about a thousand chords the extra pages are voicings a beginner will never look up.
What a book will not do
Two mandolin-specific things, worth saying on the page that is selling the books.
It will not get the instrument in tune. Eight strings in four pairs, and each pair has to be in tune with itself as well as with the others — which is twice the tuning work of a guitar and the reason a cheap mandolin can sound wrong even when the player is right. Our page on how to tune a mandolin covers it, and a clip-on tuner is on our mandolin accessories page.
It will not fix a bad setup. A budget mandolin frequently arrives with the strings far enough from the fretboard that pressing them down hurts, and no amount of practice from a book will make that pleasant. That is a setup problem and it is fixable, and it is the single commonest reason a new mandolin ends up in a cupboard.
Quick picks
Buy this one first
Sixty-four pages by Rich DelGrosso, and the only book here that assumes you have never held a mandolin. Teaches standard notation and tab together. For: any complete beginner. Skip if: nothing — this is the starting point.
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hal Leonard Mandolin Method — Book 1, Second EditionSixty-four pages by Rich DelGrosso, and the only book on this page that starts from nothing. | The first mandolin bookThe honest floor | 8.2 | $10.99 · View on Amazon #ad How we’re funded |
The usual second purchase
Ninety-six pages of chord diagrams, published as a thousand chords. It teaches nothing and solves the real week-three problem: a song sheet names a chord the method never covered. For: anybody playing along with songs. Skip if: this would be their only book.
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mandolin Chord FinderNinety-six pages of chord diagrams by Chad Johnson, covering a stated 1,000 mandolin chords. | Looking up the chord the song needsThe honest floor | 7.4 | $8.99 · View on Amazon #ad How we’re funded |
The one that stops them giving up
One hundred and twelve pages, fifty songs arranged by Fred Sokolow with tab, chords and lyrics. For: a beginner who needs to play an actual tune to stay interested. Skip if: they cannot yet read tab or hold a chord.
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  First 50 Songs You Should Play on MandolinOne hundred and twelve pages of fifty tunes arranged by Fred Sokolow with tab, chords and lyrics. | The book that makes practice feel like playingEnough | 7.6 | $18.99 · View on Amazon #ad How we’re funded |
The picks in full
Hal Leonard Mandolin Method — Book 1, Second Edition
Hal LeonardBest for: The first mandolin book
Sixty-four pages by Rich DelGrosso, and the only book on this page that starts from nothing. It teaches both notation and tab, which matters on mandolin because the instrument is split between bluegrass players who read tab and fiddle-tune players who read dots.
Published specifications
- Author:
- Rich DelGrosso
- Pages:
- 64
- Edition:
- Second Edition
- Format:
- Softcover, with a digital book also available
- Notation:
- Standard notation and tablature
- Publisher inventory:
- HL 00699296, ISBN 9780793585861
What it gets right
- Genuinely starts at the beginning, which most mandolin books do not
- Covers both notation and tab, so it suits either side of the mandolin world
- Hal Leonard method layout, which anybody who has used their guitar or banjo method will recognize
- Cheapest of the three and the one to buy first
Where it gives ground
- Sixty-four pages is not a long book for the money once you are past the basics
- Repertoire is traditional; no modern tunes to pull a teenager in
- The audio is online rather than in the book, which needs a device to hand
- Takes the tuning and setup of the instrument as given
What it is not good at
Chord reference. It teaches the chords it needs when it needs them and is not organized for looking one up, which is why a chord book is the usual second purchase rather than a luxury.
How the specs score against a beginner’s needs
Scores are our reading of the published specifications above against what a beginner physically needs. They are not test results — we have not played this instrument.
Mandolin Chord Finder
Hal LeonardBest for: Looking up the chord the song needs
Ninety-six pages of chord diagrams by Chad Johnson, covering a stated 1,000 mandolin chords. It teaches nothing and is not supposed to: it is the book that sits open on the stand when a method book does not happen to contain the chord in front of you.
Published specifications
- Author:
- Chad Johnson
- Pages:
- 96
- Coverage:
- Published as 1,000 mandolin chords
- Series:
- Fretted
- Type:
- Chord reference, not a method
- Publisher inventory:
- HL 00695739, ISBN 9780634054228
What it gets right
- A thousand diagrams in a book that costs less than most single method books
- Solves the actual day-to-day problem: a song sheet names a chord the method never taught
- Compact enough to live in a case pocket
- Useful from week two to year ten, which very few music books are
Where it gives ground
- Teaches nothing — useless as a first and only book
- No audio, and no indication of which voicing to prefer
- A beginner needs about fifteen of the thousand chords
- Dry reference pages; nobody reads it for pleasure
What it is not good at
Teaching somebody to play. There is no instruction, no exercises and no sequence — it is an index, and buying it alone for a complete beginner gives them a dictionary and no lessons.
How the specs score against a beginner’s needs
Scores are our reading of the published specifications above against what a beginner physically needs. They are not test results — we have not played this instrument.
Specifications from Hal Leonard — Mandolin Chord Finder: author Chad Johnson, 96 pages, Fretted series, published as a comprehensive guide to 1,000 mandolin chords, HL 00695739, ISBN 9780634054228.
First 50 Songs You Should Play on Mandolin
Hal LeonardBest for: The book that makes practice feel like playing
One hundred and twelve pages of fifty tunes arranged by Fred Sokolow with tab, chords and lyrics. It is not a method and will not teach technique, but it is the book that answers the question a beginner asks in week three, which is "can I play an actual song yet".
Published specifications
- Arranger:
- Fred Sokolow
- Pages:
- 112
- Contents:
- 50 songs with tab, chords and lyrics
- Named examples:
- Hal Leonard lists "Amazing Grace" and "Wagon Wheel" among them
- Type:
- Song collection, not a method
- Publisher inventory:
- HL 00155489, ISBN 9781495056635
What it gets right
- Fifty songs for roughly the price of one method book
- Tab, chords and lyrics together, so it works for a singer as well as a picker
- Sokolow arrangements are pitched at players who have just started, not at intermediates pretending to be beginners
- The single most effective thing for a beginner who is losing interest
Where it gives ground
- No instruction at all — it assumes you can already hold the instrument and read tab
- The most expensive book here
- Standards and traditional tunes; a teenager may not recognize many
- Fifty songs at beginner level means some are very simple arrangements
What it is not good at
Starting somebody. There is no technique, no sequence and no explanation, so bought on its own for a complete beginner it is fifty songs they cannot yet play.
How the specs score against a beginner’s needs
Scores are our reading of the published specifications above against what a beginner physically needs. They are not test results — we have not played this instrument.
Questions people actually ask
What is the best mandolin book for a complete beginner?
The Hal Leonard Mandolin Method, Book 1#ad, and it is not a close call — it is the only one of the three that starts from nothing. A large share of mandolin instruction is written for people who already play guitar or fiddle, which is fine if you do and useless if you do not.
Should I learn tab or standard notation on mandolin?
Both, eventually, and that is a genuinely mandolin-specific answer. The instrument sits across two traditions: bluegrass players mostly read tab, and the fiddle-tune repertoire is written in standard notation because it is shared with violinists. The Hal Leonard method teaches both, which is the main reason it is the pick.
Do I need a chord book as well?
Not immediately, but it is the usual second purchase for a reason. A method book teaches the chords its own exercises need, in the order it needs them, and is not organized for looking one up. By about week three a beginner is holding a song sheet with a chord on it the book has not covered, and that is what the Chord Finder#ad is for.
Can I use a guitar book for mandolin?
No. A mandolin has four pairs of strings tuned G-D-A-E, the same intervals as a violin and nothing like a guitar’s E-A-D-G-B-E. Chord shapes, scale patterns and tab numbers are all different. The one thing that does transfer is a guitarist’s right hand and sense of rhythm, which is why mandolin is a fast second instrument and a normal-speed first one.
Is First 50 Songs a beginner book?
It is pitched at beginners but it is a song collection, not a method: there is no technique, no sequence and no explanation. Bought alongside a method it is probably the single most effective thing for a beginner losing interest. Bought alone, it is fifty songs somebody cannot yet play.
Do these books cover the F-style and A-style mandolins differently?
No, and nothing needs to. The decorative scroll on an F-style body does not change the scale length, the tuning or the fingering — it changes the price. Our page on beginner mandolins covers what the body shape does and does not affect.
Sources
- Hal Leonard — Hal Leonard Mandolin Method, Book 1: Second Edition: author Rich DelGrosso, 64 pages, Fretted series, softcover with digital book also available, HL 00699296, ISBN 9780793585861
- Hal Leonard — Mandolin Chord Finder: author Chad Johnson, 96 pages, Fretted series, published as a comprehensive guide to 1,000 mandolin chords, HL 00695739, ISBN 9780634054228
- Hal Leonard — First 50 Songs You Should Play on Mandolin: 112 pages, 50 accessible must-know favorites arranged by Fred Sokolow with tab, chords and lyrics, HL 00155489, ISBN 9781495056635
Still deciding?
Every recommendation on this site is built the same way, and the method is published in full — including what we do not do and what would get a pick dropped.
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