How to play Monroe sytle

[Pete McPherson]

I am relatively new to playing mandolin in a bluegrass setting (9 months).

Does anyone have any thorough suggestions/references/blogs/articles...about what exactly constitutes "Monroe-style" mandolin playing? In addition to some of the long lists of current Monroe-style players, of which there are more than a few throughout these awesome forums

-Pete

[baptist mando55]

The Murphy Method has a pretty good dvd With Chris Henry teaching

[Larry S Sherman]

Many of us are excited about this book which just came out.



Mine is in the mail, so I can't give a review yet.

Larry

[Kevin Stevens]

Second the new Joe Carr book. I have the e-book, it is a good guide to playing in the Monroe style.

[Pete McPherson]

Nice. Thank you guys, I'll have to check out that book. Also just thought I'd share this....this Monroe kickoff made me laugh (and subsequently cry when I re-watched it and discovered how awesome it was, I loved that he just stopped playing after).

[mandobassman]

For Monroe style playing, especially for medium and slower material, be prepared to play lots of downstrokes. You will certainly feel it in your wrist and forearm.

[Big Joe]

First, learn to play the mandolin period. After you have a good grasp of the instrument, then watch and listen to as much Monroe as you can and really listen to the playing. Then, you are really ready for a book or instructional material. Until one has a pretty good grasp of the instrument and a good knowledge of what Monroe really sounded like, all the other stuff won't be much help.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Mandobassman has it !. Bill Monroe used far more downstrokes than most other players & doing that demands that you have a strong wrist,or at least strong enough to persevere with learning how to do it.
As Big Joe quite rightly said in another thread in this section - Bill Monroe changed his playing style several times during his career.For me,he was trying things out to hear what they sounded like.There was one period during his playing,that i found to be very discordant & disjointed. However he moved past that & his later playing didn't vary so much (IMHO).
Listen to as much of Bill Monroe's playing as you possibly can -from the beginning of his career until the end & choose the 'style' that you wish to play - then it's all practice,practice,practice,
Ivan

[Mandolin Mick]

Like any other style of music or particular musician; listen to everything that you can get your hands on, get instructional books that show how it's done, watch YouTube videos and live musicians who play his material, and talk to other musicians for tips and pointers! This is a good place to start!

[Pete Martin]

First, learn to play the mandolin period. After you have a good grasp of the instrument, then watch and listen to as much Monroe as you can and really listen to the playing. Then, you are really ready for a book or instructional material. Until one has a pretty good grasp of the instrument and a good knowledge of what Monroe really sounded like, all the other stuff won't be much help.

Very well said. When one is ready to accept the challenge of playing like a pro player, the BEST way is to transcribe and learn solos by THAT player. You will learn how they think and why they play the way they do.

In these days of digital slow downers, learning solos from recordings has never been easier.

[AlanN]

A good way to understand Bill's style is to compare what he did on a given number with another picker. An old MWN issue did just that with Bill and Sam solos on Panhandle Country, side by side. Mike Marshall notated out the solos and discussed the styles of each picker. Very enlightening at the time for me.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Pete Mc. - I've seen that clip many times & i think that Bill Monroe could have played that opening lick in his sleep. As quick & clean as a whistle - almost as though he's saying "follow that one boys",
Ivan

[mandopete]

In these days of digital slow downers, learning solos from recordings has never been easier.

Amen to that! One of the best tools I can think of to really help understand "how" something is played. I recall putting Monroe's version of Dusty Miller into the slow-downer and it was like a new world opened up when I was able to really hear the way he would phrase things.

[banjoboy]

First, learn to play the mandolin period. After you have a good grasp of the instrument, then watch and listen to as much Monroe as you can and really listen to the playing. Then, you are really ready for a book or instructional material. Until one has a pretty good grasp of the instrument and a good knowledge of what Monroe really sounded like, all the other stuff won't be much help.

This could be the discussion of a whole new thread. In learning how to play Monroe style, wouldn't that be learning how to play the mandolin? It's just a different style, at least by today's standards, as there are so many different styles at present. I remember reading an interview with Bela Fleck. The difference between his style and Scruggs was discussed. He said that was different in the same way as English is different from French. The two styles were like two different languages. While there were differences (i.e. actual words, pronunciation, etc.), there were also similarities (i.e. alphabet, some similar words, etc.) So had Fleck been the prevailing banjo player prior to Scruggs, would most banjo players be playing Fleck style banjo?

In today's market, there is a great deal of instructional material, mostly non-Monroe style. Today's younger players have strayed far from the original stylings of the original players of their instruments. There aren't a lot of Monroe style mandolin players or Josh Graves dobro players for instance. Everybody wants to play like Chris Thile or Jerry Douglas. Banjo is different for some reason. Scruggs playing continues to be the main style or framework for which banjo players base their playing. But many players today are well versed in the flash of other styles and incorporate those styles into their playing as well. But you don't see as much Monroe-isms in the younger generation mando players.

I'm not trying to say that I long for the good ol' days and that anything other than Monroe style is bad. I'm just questioning why starting off with Monroe playing would be different than starting out as a beginner with any other style, and wondering why mandolin players playing isn't based more on Monroe as a framework, as banjo players playing is framed based on Scruggs playing.

[tkdboyd]

Faulkner had to know how to write properly before he could add his colloquial voices to his novels, I would venture that the same could be said for music. It would be better to learn proper techniques and then adjust them for the a variety of voices. What is so impressive about so many players today is that they can step into just about any genre they want and perform well.

Don't know if that is what Big Joe is alluding too, but that is how I read it?

[mandobassman]

A modern player to watch and learn from is Mike Compton of the Nashville Bluegrass Band. Few current players have the Monroe style down like Compton does. It's a good way to hear how Monroe's style can fit nicely in a modern bluegrass band.

[palosfv3]

I recently attended Mike Comptons workshop in Frankfort , Il a couple of weeks ago. The mix of those in attendance was varied with several mandolin novices taking their first instruction of this type. Mikes explanation of Monroe's style of playing was impressive. Starting with a basic tremolo , Mike demonstrated and discussed the changing tremolo patterns and double stops used by Monroe to mimic the fiddle playing of the likes of Uncle Pen and others early mentors. This verbal explanation was extremely helpful in gaining a better understanding of this man and his music and a basis of learning to play the style.

As Big Joe stated you need to be familiar with a mandolin.

[Denny Gies]

If you ever get the chance, attend one of Mike Compton's workshops. They are worth the money. This assumes, that you will have a basic knowledge of the bluegrass style on the mandolin.