What is that thing?

[Ron Landis]

Being a mando player of over thirty years, I am regularly reminded of the ignorance the general public has over the instrument. Of course, we've all heard the "is that a ukulele" question, but a few months back, I was asked if that was a PICCOLO I was playing. I can't understand for the life of me how anyone could be on this planet for forty plus years and never heard of a mandolin before. #About a month ago, I was asked by another grown woman what my other instrument was. #She had apparently never seen a banjo in her 30+ years. #Well, on second thought, maybe that's a GOOD thing for her.

[F5G WIZ]

Mines been called a Uke, violin, fiddle, banjo and one of my favorites, a "little Guitar" usually I just get asked "What is that instrument you are playing?" Seems so common to us but I guess unless you are into BG music, you really aren't exposed to mandolin that much.

[AlanN]

It's not just the ignorant masses that call it a 'little guitar'. I have a Keith Whitley show where he introduces JAG by..."and playing the little guitar...."

[John Flynn]

Here's the spin on this that really gets me and it has happened more than once: Someone comes up and asks what the instrument is. I say, "A mandolin."

Then they say, "Oh, why is called a mandolin and not just called a little guitar."

I know if I launch into the "short scale, paired strings, tuned in fifths, etc." they'll just glaze over.

But if I say what I'm thinking, which is, "There's obviously a village somewhere that let thier idiot get loose," they'll get offended. What can ya do?

[ChrisWallace]

Quick story...

My band was once playing a gig and, after our sound check, our lead singer asked the audience "How does everything sound?"

Well one of the people in the audience yells out "I can hear everything except for that guy's little guitar!"

So, I say...

"Well, if I smash it off your head, do you think you'd hear it any better?!"

He shut up after that

PS. #For the record, I'd never smash my mandolin off anything!

[red7flag]

You can fix ignorance, but not stupidity.
Tony

[cooper4205]

what is the saying? there are no stupid questions, only stupid people

[jim_n_virginia]

I sure for the life of me don't understand it when people get upset because someone didn't know what a mandolin is or a banjo or whatever.

Unless you are really into bluegrass or classical music most people just haven't had that much exposure to a mandolin.

Most of the world listens to rock, rap, techno, metal, bigband orchestras etc. I mean believe it or not there is a sizable portion of the population that really doesn't even listen to music on a regular basis, just the radio in their car.

I mean unless you are really into orchestral classical music how many of US would know the difference or even what a basson looked like? Or the difference between it and a oboe? We'd say #"Hey thats a BIG fiddle!" and how many would know it is a viola?

I can hear it now, one of us would say "Wow those are some cool drums what are they kettle drums?" Do you think the timpanist would be miffed because we didn't know what the instruments is? And how many of us would know that one of the most popular and often used timpanis for professionals is a Dresden timpani which is equivelent to what a Gibson F-5L is in the mandolin world.

No fellas as much as we'd like to think the mandolin is the center of the musical universe the sad fact is that it is not.

I like educating people as to what my instrument is and it is also a lot of fun to just joke around about it.

More fun that way!

At our last gig I overheard an elderly lady tell someone "Why does that big fella play that little tiny guitar and that little skinny girl play that big giant guitar, seems to me they oughtta switch!"

[bootinz]

Many years ago we were asked to submit a demo tape for a wedding gig. I played in a trio with a fiddle player and guitar player. We shared the "solo load" equally. We got the gig but were told the demo had "Too much mandolin" and could we just have the fiddle and guitar for the gig.

I am asked if it's a ukulele most often.

[kww]

I've got to partially agree with jim_n_virginia, here. There are mainstream instruments and not-so-mainstream instruments. I would expect most people to be able to correctly identify a guitar, a banjo, "drums", saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, flute, and maybe a handful more. Beyond that, people are going to start calling them things like "little guitars" and "big trumpets." I bet most denizens of this board wouldn't recognize an English horn if I whacked you with one. Most people are the same for mandolins.


The wide variety of forms doesn't help, either ... I had to spend a few minutes convincing a mandolin player that my instrument was a mandolin.

[allenhopkins]

Problem definitely not limited to mandolins. I play Autoharp, and am amazed how many people identify it as a "harpsichord." I figure: three-syallable word, has "harp" in it, I'm playing chords, there you go... On the other hand, a mandolin has the general outline of a guitar or ukulele -- sound box, neck, strings, etc. -- while an autoharp looks like a zither (it is a kind of zither), and a harpsichord looks like a piano. So visually there's less excuse.

And don't even get started on hammered dulcimer! I play with several dulcimerists, and they seem to spend as much time answering questions as they do playing the thing. I saw a Boston street musician who had a sign attached to his dulcimer saying "1. It's a hammered dulcimer. 2. I can't talk to you about it when I'm playing." Maybe someone should sell a smaller version of the sign for mandolin players.

[bjc]

I'll probably get bashed for this, but I think Mandolin players actually enjoy the insult/ignorance of the general public. We are a relatively small group compared to guitar players. And we enjoy "educating" the public. When I'm on the Cafe'...my wife calls it the "nerdcafe'"...only because I'll go on and on and ON about some topic that she has no interest in, but it doesn't stop me.

How many times has someone posted a topic about the ignorance of some music clerk somewhere who knows nothing about mandolins? Or how someone asks us to play "Dueling Banjos" or "Tip Toe Through The Tulips" ect...? We enjoy their ignorance. It gives us some sort of Superiority complex or soemthing.

But face it, we are the Science Club in a world full of football players, but it's ok...

I'll shall now prepare to be flogged.

[Bertram Henze]

No flogging, I do agree. And I am standing even further up the mountain of knowledgeability with my OM, which so many mandolinists can't tell from a mandola or zouk.

Bertram

[farmerjones]

- nor mandocello.

woops . . . got a little drool on my keyboard.

[kvk]

....I mean unless you are really into orchestral classical music how many of US would know the difference or even what a basson looked like? Or the difference between it and a oboe? We'd say "Hey thats a BIG fiddle!" and how many would know it is a viola?
.....

I know what a sax, trumpet, flute, trombone, etc. etc. etc. are because I played in band (alto sax) in elementary school.

I know what a bassoon, viola, etc. are because we learned about them in music class in elementary school. We had a string quartet play for assembly and explain what the three instruments-- violin, viola, cello. We learned about Peter in the Wolf and that each instrument was each character. The bassoon is the grandfather.

Common thread here? Music education!!!!!!!!!!

Schools need music programs. American roots music should be a mandatory part of music education.

[Daniel Nestlerode]

I'll probably get bashed for this, but I think Mandolin players actually enjoy the insult/ignorance of the general public.

I agree.
Part of the fun of playing a lesser known instrument and having an entire community of like-minded enthusiasts at your finger tips is that you get to kvetch about the "ignorant masses."
I do it too!

I do have to say that I haven't run into any mandolin players who don't know what a mandola, an OM, or a mandocello is even if they've never seen one.


Daniel

[johnwalser]

Let's get a T-shirt made up that says "Ask Me About the Joy of Playing Mandolin", kind of like those weight loss people have on buttons and bumper stickers. We could put a picture of both an "A" and "F" style under the words. It might stop folks like the young man on Christmas eve, after I had just played three songs with a singer and guitarist, who told me I "sure play that banjo real good!".
John

[Rhinestone]

Hey guys - try playing pedal steel and having people call it everything from an electric table,a zither,a sitar,a piano or like one woman who came up to the guitar player at the bar while I was onstage changing a string and said to him "that guy up there in the wheelchair is really good"

[bootinz]

Steel Guitar=Okie Organ

[Shana Aisenberg]

I've played in many groups with hammered dulcimers. I just love when people are polite enough to not ask them what instrument they're playing, and instead come up to me in the middle of the song to ask, what is that instrument she's playing?

Seth

[Golman8]

I just tell them its a guitar but I picked before it got ripe, and grin. G.B.

[wichitamando]

I had an interesting thought while reading this. I also am amused/annoyed by the uke/banjo/little guitar comments. My favorite are the "your instrument" comments.

It occurred to me that the whole reason I chose the mandolin to learn was because of its relative obscurity. Everybody plays guitar, drums, piano, etc... The mandolin is special, as those in the cafe community can attest.

Maybe I'll smile next time. Maybe not...

[Santiago]

Hey, according to a study out recently most Americans can name the Three Stooges, but not the three branches of government. If someone's ignorant about the Mandolin it's a lot more excuseable. Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk.

[ira]

hey bjc, i agree, though at times i get frustrated as there is plenty of mando in all genres of music including pop/rock.(i mean you can't get much more commercial than led zep, the stones, r.e.m. and rod stewart).
at other times i do enjoy educating those who make a mistake (yes, it is usually a mistake-not a dis), about my instrument, as well as showing them what it can do.

[EdSherry]

A lot of people I meet know generally what a mandolin is, but they associate "mandolin" with "bowlback," and they don't know that most mandolins these days aren't bowlbacks.

Once I explain why my F-5 doesn't look like a bowlback, I find people are less confused.