Book excerpt: The Mandolin Primer Book For Beginners Deluxe Edition with DVD & 2 Jam CDs by Bert Casey is designed for the beginning mandolin student who desires an easy to follow, step by step instruction method for getting started on the mandolin. Starting with the basics, the student will learn the parts of the mandolin, left & right hand technique and playing scales. Later you will learn how to play 12 popular bluegrass songs using techniques such as hammer-ons, slides, pull-offs, and double stops. The course also includes a section on how to play rhythm on the mandolin (the famous mandolin "chop"). All exercises and songs and demonstrated at three speeds on the DVD. In addition, this course includes 2 Jam CDs where each of the songs is played along with a bluegrass band at 5 different speeds.