MARILYNN MAIR: author, composer, mandolinist, professor, poet

MelBay Presents

The Complete Mandolinist, A Comprehensive Method

by Marilynn Mair

Mel Bay presents Brazilian Choro/Choro Brasileiro:

A Method for Mandolin and Bamdolim

by Marilynn Mair and Paulo Sa

Concert performer, recording artist, professor of music, mother of two musically talented kids, director of America’s pre-eminent summer school for mandolin and guitar — any one or two of these can be a full-time job, but Marilynn manages to do them all. MORE MANDOZINE

BLUEBELL BOOKS INTERVIEWS

MARILYN MAIR

JAMIE: What made you decide to write and publish this book?

MARILYNN: I have been playing and teaching mandolin, both classical and Brazilian music, for many years. It had been nearly a century since a good American mandolin method book had been published, and there had never been a book written to teach Brazilian mandolin technique, so I decided to write them. I published "The Complete Mandolinist" in 2007 and "Brazilian Choro-- A Method for Mandolin" (a bilingual book written with my Brazilian colleague, Paulo Sa) in 2010.

JAMIE: What type of books do your write?

MARILYNN: They are both instruction books on mandolin technique, that also focus on the artistry of playing classical and Brazilian music.

JAMIE: How long have you been writing?

MARILYNN: I have been writing poetry since I was a child, music since I was in college, and books on music since 2007.

JAMIE: What made you choose Mel Bay Publications as your publisher?

MARILYNN: I published my books with Mel Bay Publications because they are the largest publisher of books for plucked strings and they have international distribution. I hope these books will continue to be available for many decades. They are both currently available on Amazon.com and many music sites.

JAMIE: What costs did you incur?

MARILYNN: The cost was time. Each book took me years to compile and edit. And each book includes a CD of examples so it cost to have those recorded. But Mel Bay helped with the recording costs, and after publication I have received royalties for sales that has far exceeded the costs.

JAMIE: What advice do you have to share on getting published?

MARILYNN: Look around in the field you are working in to see what is missing, what would help make things more interesting. Then find a publisher you think might agree with you and approach them.

JAMIE: What fires your creative imagination?

MARILYNN: Great art, music, and poetry inspire me to create.

JAMIE: Do you plan to publish any more books?

MARILYNN: I think I have one more mandolin book in me. As for poetry, for now I am happy publishing a weekly poem on my blog, Celebrating a Year. I did write a poetry/novel manuscript for NaNoWriMo last fall, but I have yet to edit it. I have thought about publishing a calendar book with excerpts, poems, and photographs from my blog, but that is in the future.

FOR MORE ON MARILYNN including a video of her playing mandolin, link HERE.

Jamie Dedes

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