John Tauxe's Mandolin Page

This is my web page for mandolin stuff. I hope you enjoy it!
https://mando.tauxe.net

Here is a useful one-page Adobe Portable Document Format (.pdf) collection of several mandolin chords (rev 1.32, REVISED 9 Nov 08).

I have also exported each of these chords into its own little vector graphic image in Portable Network Graphics (.png), and have assembled them into this zipped archive: mando_chords_png.zip (a 700 kB zip file, REVISED 9 Nov 08).

For those using Windows, you might like the Windows Metafile (.wmf) format: mando_chords_wmf.zip (a 1.6 MB zip file, REVISED 9 Nov 08).

Now you can import the chords into a word processor for making music cheat sheets, with just the words and chords (as done below). I recommend LibreOffice Writer. Here's an example: Eyes_of_the_World.odt

Here is a new special effort, where I scanned a folk and popular song book called Winds of the People, converted it to PDF, and ran it through optical character recognition (OCR) to make it searchable. There are so many great songs in here!

Here are some mandolin chord arrangements that I have devised for some of my favorite songs. Check back later, as I add more. These are in PDF:

• Acadian Driftwood, by Robbie Robertson. REVISED 23 Feb 13
• Eyes of the World, by Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia. REVISED 31 Mar 24
• Sugar Magnolia, by Bob Wier and Robert Hunter. REVISED 23 Feb 13
  This arrangement of Sugar Magnolia is not only fun to play, with a fun rhythymic chop, but it's also a good exercise in chord theory. One can get comfortable with the relationships between the chords in a lower voicing, then the same chords in a higher voicing. Parallels emerge!
• Song for a Deckhand's Daughter, by James McMurtry. REVISED 12 Mar 24
• Jack Straw, by Robert Hunter and Bob Wier. REVISED 31 Mar 24
  This is one of my favorite Dead songs, and the first one done here with the PNG format chord images.
• Unbroken Chain, by Robert Peterson and Phil Lesh. REVISED 31 Mar 24
  A real challenge to suitably match Lesh's eclectic chord progressions, but I think it worked out well. You're on your own as far as the time signatures, and must listen carefully for things like a bar of 3/4 or even 3/8 time thrown in with the 4/4.
• Tennessee Stud, in D and in G, by Jimmie Driftwood. REVISED 31 Mar 24
• A Pirate Looks at Forty, by Jimmy Buffett. 15 Dec 07
• Box of Rain, by Phil Lesh and Robert Hunter. 19 Dec 07
• Crazy Fingers, one of my all-time favorites, by Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia. REVISED 4 Jan 24
• Maybe, by Gordon Kennedy and Phil Madeira, as in "Maybe you can play in E-flat minor." Corrected songwriters in 21 Jul 2023
• What a Wonderful World, by Bob Thiele (as “George Douglas”) and George David Weiss, if the original F and in D. REVISED 31 Mar 24
• Hallelujah, by Leonard Cohen. REVISED 23 Feb 13
• Over the Rainbow, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, music by Harold Allen. This one was really hard to arrange, and is definitely a challenge to play. REVISED 23 Feb 13
• Garota de Ipanema (Girl from Ipanema), music by Antonio Carlos "Tom" Jobim, lyrics by Vinícius de Moraes. 28 Jan 13
• Southern Cross, by Stephen Stills, Richard Curtis, and Michael Curtis. 23 Feb 13
• So Far from the Clyde, by Mark Knopfler. REVISED 6 Sep 2015 when I realized that this piece is in B-flat minor, not A minor as all the guitar chord web sites would have you believe. They are just being lazy. This is no more difficult a key.
• You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive, by Darrell Scott. REVISED 7 Apr 13
• Take Five, by Paul Desmond. REVISED 7 Sep 15
• Melissa, by Gregg Allman. REVISED 31 Mar 24
• Melissa for octave mandolin, by Gregg Allman. REVISED 12 Mar 24
• Imagine, by John Lennon. ADDED 5 Oct 15
• Highwayman, by Jimmy Webb. ADDED 6 Jul 23
• Pancho & Lefty, by Townes Van Zandt. REVISED 31 Mar 24
• The Lost Mine of the Chisos, by Bill Staines. The original is in B-flat minor. REVISED 31 Mar 24
• The Lost Mine of the Chisos in A minor, by Bill Staines. A minor may be an easier key for beginners. REVISED 31 Mar 24
• Wagon Wheel, by Bob Dylan and Ketch Secor of the Old Crow Medicine Show. ADDED 31 Dec 23
• Camerado, by Mark Knopfler. REVISED 30 Mar 24
• Isis, by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy. ADDED 8 Mar 24
• Katie's Been Gone, by Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson. REVISED 31 Mar 24
• Tangled Up In Blue, by Bob Dylan. ADDED 8 Mar 24
• Up to Me, by Bob Dylan. ADDED 8 Mar 24
• Walker Behind the Wheel, by Bill Staines. ADDED 8 Mar 24
• Who Built the Moon, by Shinyribs. ADDED 20 Jun 24