One Octave Down & Lovin' the Sound!

[Emmett Marshall]

I have a confession to make: I haven't touched my regular mandolins since I got a Weber Octave a few weeks ago. I feel kinda "weird" about this. The octave just keeps calling me, and the others do not right now. Something's definitely going on. - musically speaking, and right now it doesn't seem that I'm attracted to this new sound just because it's "new." Maybe I feel "guilty" that my Gibsons are collecting some dust? I guess I just need to "go with it"...so....

Today I started learning this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlM-tu8cm8Q

I'm not used to stretching my fingers this far and using my pinky so much, so, in about a year or so, I might have this song down. :disbelief:

[Timbofood]

Don't feel weird, just BE weird! It's a new baby, you have got to spoil them wit too much attention so it knows you love it!

[Emmett Marshall]

Don't feel weird, just BE weird! It's a new baby, you have got to spoil them wit too much attention so it knows you love it!

I'm going to take your advice and BE weird! I'm feeling like a transition is taking place since I discovered the sound of the octave mandolin. I wasn't expecting this to happen. Don't get me wrong. I still love the sound of the mandolin, but the octave mandolin seems so much more complex, emotional, and expressive for "me." Not only that, but the finger stretching aside, I'm finding it easier to make chords as well. I guess this is what scares me; I'm taking to the octave immediately/naturally - more so than I did with the regular mandolins. I look at my other mandolins, and I say "nah", and then I pick up the octave instead. The result is immediately gratifying. In my mind, getting an octave mandolin was intended to add some backup and something a little different to the mix, but I never expected that it would cast a shadow over the entire herd. :confused:

[bigskygirl]

I like my octave though I don't play it much. I think it's normal to go thru periods of favoring one thing or another....you're just being normal and enjoying yourself.

[Denman John]

My OM has been my main instrument for the last year and a half. Getting used to the stretches and transposing tunes I knew on the mandolin took some time, but it's been so much fun. When I pick up a mandolin now, it feels so much easier and faster to play. So I guess I could say that playing OM has made me a better mandolin player. It's all good ~ play what you want and be happy with it.

[Tobin]

I like my octave though I don't play it much. I think it's normal to go thru periods of favoring one thing or another....you're just being normal and enjoying yourself.

I agree with this. Adding a new instrument (especially a new type of instrument) naturally leads to a period of enthusiasm and learning to bring the sound out of it. You'll go through a period of immersion where it's the only instrument you'll want to play. I've been going through that with my fiddle for about 5 months now. It's not that I've turned my back on my mandolins, or that I no longer consider myself a mandolin player. But there's so much to explore in a new instrument that it tends to take center stage for a while. My wife is going through it too, with the mandola.

You'll probably come back to your mandolins once the "new" has worn off playing your OM. The versatility of the mandolin will draw you back in for situations where the OM doesn't really fit. But even if you decide to stick with the OM permanently, there ain't nothing wrong with it. As long as you're playing something and enjoying it, life is good. :cool:

[Bertram Henze]

Welcome to this side of the mirror, Alice :cool:

[Carl Robin]

I can relate to this. 11 months ago I got an Irish bouzouki. Using the familiar GDAE tuning makes it an "octave mandolin". I still pick up the mandolin from time to time and play it (don't want to lose the ability). Initially I was playing all the tunes that I learned on the mandolin on the bouzouki. Now having learned many more new ones on the bouzouki, going back to the mandolin, and playing those tunes first time through, with ease, is really satisfying. I feel the same way about the expressiveness, etc. For people that don't know what a bouzouki is--and there are many--I say that it's a "guitar-sized mandolin"--just for a quick description. We know that with the 4 pairs of strings, the octaves, and the tuning, it's even better than that. Thanks for sharing the beautiful music.