A New Favorite Waltz

[Al Trujillo]

Excuse the dumb look on my face for not having Simon Mayor play before!

A very lovely tune by Simon and the Mandolinquents - 'The Buttermere Waltz'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=derVEOKQmps&index=12&list=PLG9vX_5cen6jkNuXnrL7VgphSiNRaNXPt

I've been searching for a TAB of the waltz and Simon has it in a book printed in 1993 that I can't find to download. Anyone have a TAB, or .pdf for it?

[HonketyHank]

thanks for introducing me to Simon Mayor and his group. I have just now spent a pleasant hour or so sampling various of their videos.

[Daniel Nestlerode]

Hi Al,
I think I've got it somewhere.
PM me your email address. I'll look through my stack of materials and see if I can scan it for you. (might have my notes on it!)

:)
Daniel

[Al Trujillo]

Hi Al,
I think I've got it somewhere.
PM me your email address. I'll look through my stack of materials and see if I can scan it for you. (might have my notes on it!)

:)
Daniel

Thanks Daniel. I sent it via PM.

Al

[Mark Gunter]

Simon Mayer interview: http://www.bradleylaird.com/podcast/episode-26-show-notes.html

[Al Trujillo]

Hi Al,
I think I've got it somewhere.
PM me your email address. I'll look through my stack of materials and see if I can scan it for you. (might have my notes on it!)

:)
Daniel

Thanks Daniel. Anyone know what brand of Mandolin he plays here? Its an oval but I can't read the headstock. Nice sounding instrument.

[Nathan Kellstadt]

I believe he plays Vanden mandolins. He discusses them here at the link.

http://www.mandozine.com/media/CGOW/simonmayor.html

[Mark Gunter]

Anyone know what brand of Mandolin he plays here? Its an oval but I can't read the headstock. Nice sounding instrument.

Hi Al, I've heard him say that he prefers Vanden with FF holes, so your comment sent me back to the video to see ... and sure enough, at 1:26 - 1:36 you can easily see the top F hole in full screen mode. Against the grain, I suppose, Simon prefers ff hole even for classical music and orchestra playing.

[Al Trujillo]

Hi Al, I've heard him say that he prefers Vanden with FF holes, so your comment sent me back to the video to see ... and sure enough, at 1:26 - 1:36 you can easily see the top F hole in full screen mode. Against the grain, I suppose, Simon prefers ff hole even for classical music and orchestra playing.

You're absolutely right....and your eyes are a bit better than mine. Kind of hard to see, even when looking for them. Sure sounds sweet!

Something else interesting about their group is the use of a Mandobass. I had read about them somewhere but had never actually seen one before this video.

From Wiki:
By the late 1920s the popularity of mandolin orchestras was waning, and demand for the mando-bass began to evaporate. Gibson ceased production in 1930, and by the mid-1930s most other companies had followed suit. No commercial mando-basses are known to have been manufactured after 1940, and none are currently (2015) in production. However, an occasional instrument has been privately commissioned, such as that crafted in 1992 by English luthier Robin Greenwood, for musician Hilary James.

An interview of Mayor by Mandozine:

http://www.mandozine.com/media/CGOW/simonmayor.html

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Simon Mayor is such a tasteful player on mandolin. On the closeup shots in that video, look at how he keeps varying the picking spot between bridge and over the fretboard extension to get different timbres. I need to do more of that. I tend to settle into one spot with one tone.

BTW, there is a good instructional DVD from Simon called "New Celtic Mandolin" where he goes through some of the tunes on his CD of the same name. It was one of the first things I bought when I started on mandolin. He also has a "Mandolin Essentials" instructional DVD that I haven't seen, and several books of mandolin instruction and tunes. Check out his web site here (http://mandolin.co.uk/).

[mugbucket]

New Celtic Mandolin is my jam for those insanely early Monday flights. Thanks for the heads up on the DVD!