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The sound of Monroe's mandolin over his entire career is so idiosyncratic that close listening to live or studio recordings seems essential to learning his style. If you don't have a lot of Monroe recordings but are interested, this site ought to help.
These sound samples are not meant as a listing of the most significant or most instructional or most anything that Bill Monroe's played on the mandolin. I've just recorded bits that seem useful to me, as an average picker trying to dig into his sound. Most of the samples are about 600k in size; they should take about two minutes to download over a 56k phone line.
I have favored breaks and instrumentals that have been transcribed in TabEdit format on the Co-Mando web site. This site was created by mandolin players and includes standard notation and tab of Monroe material as well as many other styles of music played on the mando. One advantage of this format is that you can hear playback of the files at an adjustable speed, which is a great aid to those who learn by ear. Another resource is the archives of the Co-Mando list-serv. Try searching for posts that include "Monroe".
I encourage you to purchase recordings of Bill Monroe and Monroe style mandolin from sources like Mid-Continent Music, Rounder Records, County Sales, and your local independent music store.
I'm posting this site as a small contribution to the mandolin community on the web. I'm not planning on spending much time maintaining it or adding a lot on. If something's broken, send mail to thesoundofbill@hotmail.com. I'll check it occasionally. Enjoy!
For Co-Mando readers, here's the live Compton recording of
Water Street Waltz.