Mandolin Orchestration

[Dave Caulkins]

Howdy all,

I've been thinking quite a bit lately of picking up some classical/ensemble repetoire on the mandolin. I can read music (better on guitar still, but not badly on Mando) and I don't get much of an excuse to work on this ability in my Celtic-tinged Folk-Rock band (save working with various "fiddle tune" books). Interestingly enough, most of my band can also read music (including the percussionist). Thus I began thinking of learning some classical tinged material in the hopes of assembling a small mandolin orchestra or ensemble.

I was wondering if there are any other mandolinists in the Green Mountain region who would be interested in putting something together, as a low-stress occasional rehersal at first. As of tomorrow (according to UPS web tracking) I will receive my new Mandola (ok, so its really not new, it's a 1916 or so Vega Cylinderback Mandola) - and I hope to put this instrument to work! Thus, I can fill in the 'alto' voice as well as the 'soprano'. I'm psyched despite my fear of a "C" string (never had one of those, save maybe in some slide guitar tuning).

I'm going to be poking through this section of the board to try acclimate myself to classical music, which I haven't dabbled in since I played saxophone or went to music school (the latter really was more theory, voice & piano as I was a jazz major). I hope to find information, which I know is here, on the best method books for both mandolin and mandola, and then hopefully move on to acquiring, or writing ensemble pieces(I still remember some classical theory).

Thanks for reading my rambles,

Dave

[Jim Garber]

Welcome Dave!

Peter Mix of Rigel Mandolins (http://www.rigelmandolin.com/) is an avid classical player in your general are (I believe). Hey I even make it up there in the winters for XC skiing once a year.

Wow! A cylinderback mandola is very cool. Is the top unwarped? That is the worry with those I have seen.

Also be aware that more often than not mandola music is written in the C-clef. There are alternatives to that clef but it gets very confusing. Also, if you are playing std string repertoire, that is std for the viola.

Plucked String (http://www.mandolincafe.com/strings/) is a good source for all things classical as far as mandolin. Specific to mandola tho I am not sure what methods to use. When I played more mandola I picked up a number of methods, etudes and pieces transcribed for the viola. I know that the Bach Cello sonatas are available transposed.

Good luck.... you can to the right place for info.

Jim

[Dave Caulkins]

Thanks!

Wow... C clef... Eek! Ahh, I guess another clef is no big deal... I learned bass before, so I could do it. The top does have some distortion but I intend to have the instrument rebuilt by Rigel (yeah, I've talked to Peter before, but only about the repairs and lessons). It is on its way right now, should be here tomorrow so I can see the depth of the necessary repairs (I think its playable now, but I'm not a historical purist so I'm willing to update this mando... I'm thinking new carved top and radiused fretboard eventually).

I would probably dip into standard string notation so this is great information for me.

Dave

[Jim Garber]

Both the Bach Cello Suites and the Sonatas and Partitas for Violin are available #here (http://icking-music-archive.org/ByComposer/J.S.Bach.html) arranged for viola.

Jim