Gospel music

[Bill5458]

I am teaching myself mandolin. I am a christian man and would like to focus on gospel music. Any suggestions?

[JH Murray]

Welcome Bill. Are you looking at playing melodies, strumming chords? Classic gospel or modern?
Cafe member Mark Pilgrim did up a collection of classic hymns in standard notation and tab. http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...andard-amp-Tab

[JeffD]

Can you read standard notation. There is a metric ton of gospel music available in every variety, at any music store.

[mrmando]

Gospel music uses the same notes and chords as most other genres of music. Get the clearest, most comprehensive instruction books you can. Learn to read sheet music and chord symbols. Preferably, learn both the treble and bass clefs thoroughly, so that you can read piano music and four-part choral music, and study chord theory, so that you can figure out the harmonies and chord progressions in a piece even if no one bothered to write the chord symbols in. Learn all the major and minor key signatures and scales. Practice playing by ear, so that if you can sing a tune, you can figure out how to play it. Learn what works and doesn't work when accompanying ensembles in various styles of music.

Then you'll be ready to focus on gospel music.

[Timbofood]

Make your fingers play what you hear in your head and heart.

[Mark Wilson]

Gospel music uses the same notes and chords as most other genres of music. Get the clearest, most comprehensive instruction books you can.

The most plentiful and accessible lesson materials and videos for learning mandolin (that will prepare you for playing gospel), imo will be simple fiddle tune related material.

Once you have began to learn the basics then moving that to gospel should be intuitive.

[Bill5458]

I am trying to learn both. Right now I am using a site called mandolessons.com. It's a good site, but not many gospel songs. As far as classic or modern I like both. I will check out Mark Pilgrim. Thanks.

[JH Murray]

I purchased a fakebook called Gospel's Greatest. Published by Hal Leonard. It has the melody line, all the words, and the chords to 450 songs, a really good mix. It doesn't get in to the contemporary praise, but it covers a wide territory. Lots of great material in it. It is not a mandolin specific book so it only gives the chord name but there is room to write those in the margins, if you need them ( I do).

[Jack Roberts]

Steve Kaufman's "Flatpicking the Gospels for Mandolin" is a great book for this purpose. It's from Mel Bay.

[Stacey Morris]

Welcome, Bill.

Another Mel Bay book that I have is "Parking Lot Pickers" by Dix Bruce. It has several gospel songs in it. Amazing Grace is one of the first ones and is easy to play. Only three chords needed and you can use 2 finger chords (G, C and D).

[Roger Adams]

Make your fingers play what you hear in your head and heart.

+1

[jaycat]

Make your fingers play what you hear in your head and heart.

Ooh, that's good, Tim!

[JeffD]

I am teaching myself mandolin. I am a christian man and would like to focus on gospel music. Any suggestions?

Its great! Music in service of something bigger than ourselves.

I work real hard in service of "the music" or "the tune" as opposed to "I want them to like me".

I practice even harder when its Soli Deo Gloria.

[DataNick]

Plenty of Gospel in Bluegrass...

[JEStanek]

Most songs in Hymnals are pretty straight melody lines. When I wanted to learn a hymn, I would transcribe the notation from the treble clef to tab and learn it that way. You may not readily find tab for gospel tunes for mandolin but if you find the piano notation you're set.

Jamie

[Willie Poole]

I just seen an interview with Reba McEntyer and she has recorded a gospel album and she got all of the songs from a church hymnal, I also would suggest that you try and learn to play by ear and then the songs in a hymnal seem real simple, not many in there that are complicated and most all of them are songs that we/you have sung and or listened to most of your life...

My band is in the process right now of putting together a gospel album....

Willie

[bratsche]

At this site, you can find almost any hymn you've ever seen in a hymnal made into MIDI files as well as PDF files. With a cheap notation program (I use Finale PrintMusic), you can import the MIDI files to listen to, save, and re-arrange at will. I've used this resource extensively to make arrangements for our flute, viola and cello trio at my church.

bratsche

[Timbofood]

Ooh, that's good, Tim!

I'll be here all week folks!

[Mark Miller]

Once you've got the hang of the mandolin a little bit, listen to Bill Monroe's early sides with his brother Charlie. Lots of great gospel music there. And it's pretty straightforward stuff, not that hard to start learning once you know the basics.

[Jack Roberts]

Be sure to listen to the Louvin Brothers. That is Gospel Music done right! You don't have to play like Ira to do a good job playing mandolin to their songs.