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Thread: Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

  1. #1
    Registered User Travis Wilson's Avatar
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    Default Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

    Just as the thread title suggests, this kid does a really nice cover of Little Wing. Give it a listen.

    https://youtu.be/Yl6FwpTm1PA
    Thanks,
    Travis

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  3. #2

    Default Re: Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

    Embedded:



    Seems to be a good picker alright. Here he is playing a John Dowland piece on an 8-course lute:


    (or direct link)

    Nice.

    Is there anything he *can't* play? Look at this Rolling Stones cover, not bad, actually (FWIW) I like his version better than the original:


    (or direct link)

    Trivia: apparently he was about 22 years old in the "Little Wing" video. That's based that on another YouTube page text (below the video) that says he was born in 1992. The "Little Wing" video was recorded in 2014, so 2014 minus 1992 is 22 or so, depending on month of birth.

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    Rush Burkhardt Rush Burkhardt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

    Outstanding! When you've got, you've got it! Keep on pickin', Josh!
    Rush Burkhardt
    Towson, MD


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    Registered User zedmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

    And his videos are probably the home of Snarky comments by jealous wannabes & never-weres right?

    He's got some talent there.
    So if there are snarky comments--ignore them.
    Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?

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    I may be old but I'm ugly billhay4's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

    I don't know about you, but I LOVE to see talented, focused kids in action, and this guy is very talented. It gives one hope.
    Thanks for posting.
    Bill
    IM(NS)HO

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    Default Re: Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

    It's really excellent. I can't seem to find any other mandolin tunes by him though.
    Funny he appears to be playing in G but he is tuned/recorded a semitone down. I also found a clip of him playing an acoustic guitar number in E but it was, once again, a semitone down. Anybody have any ideas why this should be so?

  10. #7

    Default Re: Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by ald View Post
    Anybody have any ideas why this should be so?
    It's a lot easier to tune down a semitone to play in familiar chord shapes and positions (G and E) but sound in the key of the semitone, in the cases you mention would be Gb (or F#) and Eb. It would make sense for accommodating a singer's range but otherwise, I have no idea why...

    Len B.
    Clearwater, FL

  11. #8
    working musician Jim Bevan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

    Hendrix tuned down a half-step.

  12. #9

    Default Re: Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

    He seems to be borrowing some licks from the Stevie Ray Vaughan version, who also tuned down a half step. Great video!

  13. #10
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    Default Re: Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

    He's got chops. I expect to be hearing more from him. R/
    I love hanging out with mandolin nerds . . . . . Thanks peeps ...

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    Registered User Drew Streip's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by ald View Post
    It's really excellent. I can't seem to find any other mandolin tunes by him though.
    Funny he appears to be playing in G but he is tuned/recorded a semitone down. I also found a clip of him playing an acoustic guitar number in E but it was, once again, a semitone down. Anybody have any ideas why this should be so?
    It helps with familiar chord shapes -- but those chord shapes also give the song its characteristic sound, or timbre (pronounced tamber). He's clearly talented enough to play in any key, but it wouldn't sound as true to the original.

    Whenever you can use open strings for drone and sustain, it helps fill out the sound. If he had to play 4-finger barre chords in normal tuning, it would sound much less full and rich.

    That's also why most fiddle tunes are in A, D, G and C -- they combine familiar scale and chord patterns with the richness of open strings. As a bonus, when you hit an extra string by accident, it's much more likely to sound OK (or even good!). If he were playing in F# and hit an open G string, it'd sound horrendous.

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    Default Re: Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

    Thanks for the information, Drew. He also tunes his guitar down a semi-tone on some of his recordings. Is that a standard practice in some circles?

  16. #13
    Registered User Matt Harris's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

    I've been following Josh (on facebook and youtube) for a number of years now. He's been posting youtube videos since he was in high school. He's now out of college and working as a professional musician in New York. He's got some cool bluegrass videos where he plays every instrument, and also plays mandolin some in one of the bands that he plays (or played) in. Besides that, he's got several other solo mandolin videos, like this one:

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  18. #14
    Registered User Drew Streip's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by ald View Post
    Thanks for the information, Drew. He also tunes his guitar down a semi-tone on some of his recordings. Is that a standard practice in some circles?
    In my experience, it's far more common in rock bands. Like other people mentioned, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jimi Hendrix were two of the most famous. But you'd be hard-pressed to find a '90s grunge band that didn't tune down at some point. I remember keeping one guitar tuned down 1/2 step because it seemed like every song I wanted to learn a song from a guitar magazine required it.

    It helps with a lot of male vocal ranges to be able to play a little lower. It also takes some tension off the strings, which makes bending easier. At the extreme end, bands like Disturbed, Tool, Korn and others will tune down a whole step or even 1 & 1/2 steps, and/or use "Drop D" tuning, and/or get 7-string guitars for extra bass-heavy sound.

    If Josh (the player in the video) is used to playing that way and it suits his voice / playing style, he's likely to do it all the time.

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    Registered User Pasha Alden's Avatar
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    Default Re: Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

    Good picking!

    Playing:
    Jbovier a5 2013;
    Crafter M70E acoustic mandolin
    Jbovier F5 mandola 2016

  21. #16
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    Default Re: Nice Little Wing Cover on Mandolin

    Thanks for the reply, Drew.

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