Can mandolin = little guitar?

[Jeffers]

Ok, all this talk of two finger chords got me thinking about a slightly different question:

I started mando a couple years ago due to my interest in bluegrass, although I like and listen to lots of different styles. Since then I have penned a couple numbers of my own that aren't bg and I mostly play them with two finger style chords and strum like guitar.

Upon test screenings of these songs to close friends and family, my own brother (they do say it's the ones we love that can hurt us the most!) remarked that mandolin sounded kinda stupid played like that. While I don't necessarily agree with this bold statement, I'll admit that strumming the mando can sound like a guitar LP run at 45.

Before I brave the open mike nights armed with my trusty Godin (it does LOOK like a little guitar!!), I was wondering if anybody else plays their mando as a solitary strummer, and if so have they done so in public? What kind of response did you get?

(Yes, I know this is my third new string in as many days but I've just found this site and we are still on our honeymoon! - where have I been??)

[jmkatcher]

If it means anything, I do pretty much the same thing. I'm very happy with the sound and don't think it looks funny. The pitch is a little high for my best vocals though, which is why I have a custom octave on order. I do find the mandolin to be more comfortable as a performance instrument than any guitar I've tried.

[ira]

i have been doing it a few times a month as a solo and play it like you describe almost all of the time when playing with my partner. i don't look at it as playing a mando like a guitar, i look at it as playing my mando for a specific purpose- that being, backing up my vocals. many who have heard the solo of me and my mando, have said it is fun to hear something a bit different, and it lends something new and unique to the night. i have gotten many compliments, which is why i've gone back. re: hi for the vocals- i growl at a low pitch (wouldn't call it singing really) and it is actually a kinda different mix that many seem to like- been described as funky)./

don't be scared of it, and try to think of what you as a performer need to do to capitalize on what your mando can do and to compensate for what it can't do through alternate rythm patterns, etc... the same way you would for any instrument=- what will help you and your instrument sound best.

i love the sound of my mando plunking behind me- just recently taped an open mic few tunes that i did. it was unique and i strummed as you described, the whole time.

sorry for the long diatribe. i believe that more folks need to get out and show what this amazing little axe can do.

peace all,
ira

[mando bandage]

I find that doing a little cross-picking on the open chords with some double stops tossed in and the occasional four note chord is more pleasing to my ear than strumming four note chords consistently. It's also simple enough that even I can do it and sing simultaneously. Now if I only liked the sound of my voice......

R

[jim_n_virginia]

Man if you are only playing the mandolin with two finger open chords you are like painting a portrait with only two colors!

There is so much more a mandolin can do... chop chords, tremelo, crosspicking, arpeggios etc.

Heck I can even bend strings and play blues!

But if you are only banging out 2 finger chords and strumming while it may sound OK for a few songs accompanied with a guitar, it would to my ears anyways, shrill and repetitive after a while.

jus my .02

[steve in tampa]

I will occasionally play and sing a song solo on the mandolin, but only for effect. The novelty seems to wear off after the second song.

[ira]

i don't think the novelty has to wear off in a bad way. at some point it can stop being novel and just be good music and good fun. experiment. play with patterns, tremolo, double stop tremolo, etc... a great thing to listen to re: shaken it up, are some of the old blues guys who played melody in a variety of ways while they sang (yank- pig trader blues is a great example). varying how you use the repertiore, the same way you would by using diminshed chords, finger picking and strumming so folks wont get bored with just strummin a guitar. go for it jeffers!!!!! just don't go for it as a little guitar. it is about what the function the instrument fills more so than what the instrumnet is (i think that was a niles h ism that i saw on the board once).:blues:

[smilnJackB]

I play and perform on mando using mostly just 2 finger chords and it works fine. And I strum it pretty much the same way I strum guitar. This works fine, especially if I am singing too.
I did that for a year or two then added some picking on breaks. Recently, I am able to do simple chording and do harmonica at the same time using a 'harp harness'. Don't worry think you must get 'fancy'. Keep it simple if it is working. PLAY, SING AND HAVE FUN! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif Jack

[doanepoole]

Don't let anyone tell you what you can't do on a mandolin, or any other instrument for that matter. Period. That would lead to a most boring and sterile world, where everyone plays like Bill Monroe. We wouldn't have had Jessie McReynolds if someone said, "You can't make that thing sound like a banjo."

I think if you want some really good ideas about how to make a mandolin sound good to back your vocals up, Norman Blake has some good work out there to listen to. In my humble opinion, he is the most interesting mandolinist in any sort of southern tradition when it comes to his rhythm playing...lots of crosspicking, strumming, single note stuff, droning, etc. Lots of techniques to make a mandolin sound like a full, rich rhythm instrument rather than the standard "chop-chop" method (which has its place in bluegrass and elsewhere).

And just think of how much Johnny Cash did with about 6 chords and his voice. Way, way, way more than just about any machine-gun guitarist out there.

You should be applauded for developing your own style!

[ira]

amen!

(guess i better go listen to some norman blake)

[doanepoole]

Lots of folks have those Tony Rice/Norman Blake albums. There are some tunes on their that really highlight Blake's mando rythm.

One's that come to mind are the medley of Little Beggerman and a tune I can't remember, and also Father's Hall.

If you have a copy of Meeting on Southern Soil (Bleake/Otroushko), the Muddy Creek version has some great mando ryhtm.

Neither of these are vocal tunes, but the techniques for mando rythm would apply.

The problem with finding Blake mando-stuff is that there are usually one or two mando tunes on any given album. The rest is guitar heavy.