Solo Mandolin

[kidtwist]

I'm mainly a guitarist. A pretty bad guitarist, actually. But for the past couple of years I've been toying with the idea of getting a mandolin and trying my hand at it. I haven't done it yet because I'm wondering whether it's really a suitable instrument for someone like me. I usually love the sound of the mandolin in a band context, but solo I figure it might not work so well. The thing is, I play guitar by myself. I don't know any other musicians, and if I did, I wouldn't be comfortable playing with them if they were better than me (and everyone is better than me)

So since I'm just a living room guitarist, I wonder if I could get any pleasure out of being a living room mandolinist. Are many of you are mainly solo players, and, if so, how well does the mandolin work as a solo instrument?

[Igor The Cat]

Most of us start out as "living room mandolinists" and improve from there http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
But the important is if your having fun thats what it all about, right!?!

I would reccomend you try it and if you have fun then keep on practiceing until you can move out to the back yard. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif

[harwilli55]

Go for it!!!! The fingerboard is meant for noodling and the scales lay under your fingers so easily. I have had more fun actually playing tunes, rather than strumming and humming, since I impulsively for no reason other than curiosity, bought a cheapie mando.

However, beware, for these small things tend to cause intense desire to learn that can border on the obssesive. Before you know it, you will find yourself putting off that which needs to be done so that you can play more. LOL

Harlan
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Harlan

[bluegrassjack2]

I think you will enjoy the mandolin much more than the guitar. I playe the guitar also but after I got the mandolin few years ago, i have trouble picking up the guitar anymore. The mandolin is the most fun instrument to play there is I think.

[Dagger Gordon]

Frankly Mark, I don't really see your problem. I've always enjoyed playing the mandolin solo in the house, and as it sounds like you want it for your own amusement rather than playing with others or doing gigs, then that's exactly what you should do. As you play more, you'll find that you get better.

[Stephanie Reiser]

I believe alot has to do with which genre of music you intend to pursue. Although I love bluegrass from a spectator's point of view, as a mandolinist I am simply not driven to learn that type of music. And I play an F-5, to boot. Odd, I know.
I do play solo type music by default, since I play alone - rarely with others. And the type of music I love most is Vivaldi, Bach, and Thile, as composers, so it only makes sense this way.

[Jim Garber]

Listen to Jethro Burns' Tea for One, Evan Marshall and some of the cuts on Tone Poets for some solo "acapella" mandolin. If you want to go deeper and further back in time, there is a lomg tradition of what is called duo style classical mandolin where the player can make it sound as if it is two mandolins playing at once.

Jim

[Brady Smith]

I've had a much more enjoyable time with the mandolin then I've ever had with the guitar. Couldn't hardley force myself to play the guiatar and can't lay the mando down.

[mythicfish]

Don't underestimate the value to playing with other musicians. Many years ago I had the great fortune to fall in with a group of people at a weekly jam. The fiddle player was a magnet for seasoned players as well as beginners
who were eager to learn and improve. Eventually I joined a group and played with them for about ten years.
Now I'm back in the shed learning new genres and correcting old (bad) habits. At the very least, try to find a like-minded guitar player. When you play with musicians who are better than yourself, you can learn a lot. Eventually
you will be playing with rank beginners who will learn something from you.

[Celtic Saguaro]

I think most of us here agree that the mandolin works fine as a solo instrument. I do like the guitar better for accompanying myself singing. But as a lead or solo instrument the mandolin wins hands down for me. It's more straight forward for solo work, it's versatile, transposing to other keys is easy, and frankly, I worry less about lugging it around on a whim to that spot in the house where I know I'll be comfortable playing for myself.

[Eugene]

Frankly, some of it can be rather difficult, but there is a substantial body of full-voiced solo mandolin repertoire for as long as the modern mandolin has existed. #Lengthy sets of variations started appearing in the 1760s. #Somewhere, there's a whole heap of discussion of solo mandolin and classical duo style.

[Breakfast]

I have been playing mando for about seven years. A significant portion of my playtime is spent by myself in the living room, and I'm having a ball. I used to play around with the guitar, but I could never play it to my satisfaction. I soon discovered that the mandolin is an instrument of relatively simple patterns. It is far simpler for me than the guitar was.

I can't leave the thing alone at this point!

[Brad Weiss]

What kind of music do you want to play?? Playing solo mandolin for certain kinds of music requires a good deal of skill before it sounds even half-way listenable (chord melody playing jazz standards), but some music is wonderful on unaccompanied mandolin (lots of classical genres, some, jigs and reels).

The main thing is, by all means PLAY WITH OTHER PEOPLE!! First, you'll probably be one of the few, if not the only mandolin player, so you'll be welcome- it's not hard to find someone looking to improve, and so willing to play with you, and there is no better way to improve than to play in some wider context than just noodling on your couch- which we all do a lot of with a great deal of pleasure. Have fun, but be a bit adventurous, too!

[johnwalser]

Since I have a voice like a frog and very few other musicians among our mountain communities, I am relegated to playing solo most of the time. I found the mandolin much easier to play melody line compared with the guitar I had played for the previous 15 years because of its shorter scale length and more logical layout of musical notes. I learned to play single line melody and then quickly learned I needed to develop a tremolo to break up the monotony of a "one trick pony". Learning to play tremolo at the level I wanted took me three years and a great deal of frustration. Recently at a Mike Compton workshop I decided I could use some down stroke drones to add even more texture to my jazz, Broadway, gospel, and "old time" rock and roll solo play. Mike even got me interested in playing some of his old timey type tunes. I played at a mountain resort last night for an Italian Dinner and play at chapel quite often. I have played guitar as backup for singers for many years and now even that duty has been taken over by my mandolin. Have Fun!!
John

[B. T. Walker]

What BradW said. I've learned more from playing with other musicians than I ever picked up from a book or noodling.

[JEStanek]

I primarily play alone. I recieve a great deal of satisfaction, pleasure, and growth as a player when I play with other people. If you are starting as a guitarist, even a bad one, you have a leg up on many of your fellow posters here who came to the manodlin as their first fretted instrument. Enjoy the mandolin, it may consume you. Let the music out!

Jamie

[fiddler]

Like many who have responded here I play alone at home. I've become addicted to Bach's sonatas and partitas for solo mandolin (well, his cover sheet says "violino" but what the heck...). No other form of (attempted) music making on my part has brought me more pleasure that this, and brought me closer to a deeper and detailed understanding of this kind of music.

The guitars have been sold and the violin is promised to a young player. I'm sticking to the mando for the duration!

[250sc]

What do you have to loose?

If your already a bad guitarist and don't mind that, you should easily be able to achieve the same results on the mandolin.

[ira]

like any instrument, if you enjoy playing it, you will spend alot of time playing it alone. the mando, like the guitar is nice, because it is portable, and you can strum while you sing along or watch tv, sit on the computer, hang around outside or on the couch, etc....

[kidtwist]

Thanks for the input, folks. It's a hard decision to make because I've got 14 years invested in the guitar, and if I take up the mandolin I'll most likely quit the guitar. Anyway, the mandolin that I was looking to buy, just got sold to someone else, so I'll have to think on it some more.

[Eugene]

I have even a bit more time committed to the guitar. #I don't really understand why, as a 14-year veteran, you'll "most likely quit the guitar" if you take up mandolin. #I play several types of each and wouldn't want to give up any of them.