View Full Version : Playing New/Blue Grass
ok..so i listen to alot of newgrass, and alot of yonder mountain, ect. ok....so you know how the mandolin keeps the rythem of the song, and in all bluegrass songs the mandolin does a chop on the off beats to keep the rhythem? Well my question is : so when the mandolin player is doing the off beat chop..it totally sounds like he is doing nothing but muting the strings, like it dosent sound at all like he is playing any sort of chord, but when i went to this bluegrass festival last week i was notricing that every mandolin player was playing chords but the same "thwop"ing noise was playing on the off beats. so like i dont know if he is kinda doing like a palm mute chop, or what they r doing. Because when my friends and I play bluegrass, it sounds so bad i think when im doing my thing and chopping and like the chords ring out...So, can anyone help me out here and enlighten me.
thanks alot
sandcastlefaith
Jun-27-2004, 6:22pm
They use "chop chords", which in most cases take up all four strings, and to make the chop sound, they just put down their fingers on the chord position and release at pretty much the same time as they strum the strings. It takes a while to get used to the feel of doing this, and at first it may sound sloppy, but like all good things, it comes with practice.
mpeknox
Jun-27-2004, 7:05pm
the trick is to release the chord and muffle the strings just as you strike them...kinda hard to describe but if you keep at it you'll figure it out. not really a strum but more like you're just whacking all the strings at the same time.
Atlanta Mando Mike
Jun-29-2004, 6:59am
Alot of players don't totally mute the strings. There is a low woof that you can get by pushing down just as you hit the strings then release so it doesn't ring fully. Takes lots of practice to get a good chop.
jim simpson
Jun-30-2004, 5:28am
Before playing bluegrass mandolin, I had an old Monterey that was given to me. I bought a Mel Bay chord book and somehow couldn't get that chop. It turned out that the chords were not full chords but more like two finger chords. I too thought one had to palm the strings to mute. When I got more serious about learning bluegrass mandolin, I was directed to a book that contained the full chord position. It was one of those "Ah Ha!" moments of a mystery revealed. I agree with Michael Smith that it takes a lot of practice to get a good chop. You will hear variations of chops from recordings of many of the masters. Hope this helps now get to work on your chop!
Wow, thats alot of repsonses, thanks alot. Yeah so I've been wokring on it, it is defenately not as easy as i thought it would be. But i just want to make sure im doing it right. So, I should put my fingers and depress the chord positions, and as i am about to chop the instant i hit the first string de-depress my fingers? Because i was doing it, and it still just sounded like it was muting it, I guesss it is all about timing. Thanks alot everyone. and you know ill be practicing.