“What is that?”

[Jerusalem Ridge]

Has anyone ever had their mandolin mistaken for another instrument?
So far I have had mine mistaken for a violin, guitar, ukulele, and are you ready for it?................ a BANJO!!:disbelief:

Anyone with a similar experience?

[pops1]

Yep, especially if you play an A model mandolin. Seems like a lot of folks are just not familiar with the mandolin, but then there is a cant top, flat top, A model oval, A model ff, F model oval, F model ff, two point. No wonder it's confusing.

[Jerusalem Ridge]

I could see how a electric mandolin would seem to confuse people as well.

[ColdBeerGoCubs]

When I still had an F-Style I was told it looked like “Prince’s (the artist formally known as) guitar”.

[F-2 Dave]

You mean.......this isn't........a banjo?

[Zach Wilson]

Just last week at the Christmas concert I asked if I was playing a ukulele, a banjo, and (my favorite) a "little guitar"😄

[Bertram Henze]

All of that. And those people who ask have a point (apart from malice, giving them the benefit of reasonable doubt):

- Orville Gibson used to make violins before he started to fashion stylistic elements of the violin (f-holes, scroll) into a mandolin, afaik.
- Gibson's style stayed alive in the Les Paul electric guitar, which is the iconic guitar prototype for many.
- As long as people play ukuleles, "Ukulele" will remain the Hawaiian word for "small and unknown".
- Banjo is what you have on your knee coming from Alabama, so a certain genre is irrevocably linked to that instrument.

[Tavy]

"Ukelelium" whatever that may be...

[zedmando]

I've been asked what it is--but then I play a Mandobird--so a solidbody electric mandolin that looks like a shrunken Gibson Firebird.

back in the late summer/early fall I was part of a band that played in a church talent show--we were practicing & jamming--and someone who wasn't part of the band (But I know well) walked up to me and said --it sounds like a mandolin, but it doesn't look like one--so at least he knows what they sound like.

(He's not a musician)

[Bertram Henze]

"Ukelelium" whatever that may be...

Roman settlement in the South of Britannia (next to Mandolondinium); now called "Uxbridge" :grin:

[Frankdolin]

It' just one of the burdens we must endure, that of educators...:mandosmiley:

[Ivan Kelsall]

Nice one Bertram !!!. As for ''banjo knee'',
Ivan:grin:
163375

[Hendrik Ahrend]

Many times, people don't know what they see (especially here in Germany). Depending on the situation I sometimes answer, "it's a dried squirrel".

[Soupy1957]

You mean.......this isn't........a banjo?

lololololol

[T.D.Nydn]

Walking with an A model in its case,someone asks me if that's where I keep my giant lolipops..

[JEStanek]

When played it is sometimes mistaken for a wounded cat. But seriously, when this does happen, I just take a moment to educate the person, "mandolin, four- paired unison courses tuned like a violin. They were huge in the teen- the nineteen teens. Then it morphed into a bluegrass instrument!"

Not everyone knows about our little niche instrument. It's like not berating someone for mispronouncing a word... it means they learned it by reading it in a book. We need more inquisitiveness and more book reading.

Jamie

[NursingDaBlues]

It's a sample guitar. You know, like the tiny tube of toothpaste you get in the mail. If you like it, you'll get the regular size.

[allenhopkins]

OMG, this topic's been bludgeoned to death in several other threads.

1. Mandolin is, at this point, a fairly unusual, out-of-the-mainstream instrument. Everyone's familiar with guitar and violin, and most are familiar with banjo -- at least enough to recognize one. Ukulele is perhaps a bit more widely recognized, though I get a bunch of questions about my eight-string taropatch. I'd hazard a guess that you'd find country ("hillbilly") audiences a bit more familiar with mandolins, since they show up in some well-known country acts' bands, and country music fans have at least heard of Bill Monroe and bluegrass. Otherwise, it may be the first time your listener's ever seen or heard one.

2. Even for those who think they know what a mandolin is, the widely varied shapes of the instrument may fool them. Your F-5 doesn't look like Grandpa's bowl-back, and you aren't playing Come Back to Sorrento on it, either. Lots of people have said to me, "Mandolin? That doesn't look like the mandolins I used to see." And it doesn't, for sure.

3. At least be glad the person has the interest to ask the question. And feel good that you're imparting a bit of knowledge, making the world just a little bit better, spreading sunshine as you go...

[Nevin]

Yes, for a ukulele, by other musicians...

[Steve Ostrander]

I'm never offended by the question. I think it's great that they are interested enough to ask. I would only be offended if they thought it sounded like a banjo :) I'm kind of shy, so I meet more people when they ask. They almost always say they like the sound.

[Randi Gormley]

Ha! I had an acquaintance tag me on Facebook with a video of woman doing a - I think it was an alto? -- ukulele solo and she used these words: This is for you Randi! I know you play the banjo like she does!

Yup. It made me laugh.

[Bad Monkey]

I usually get the "is that a ukulele?" question about the mandolin. Worse is bouzouki; they won't believe it's not a funny shaped guitar and neither they nor I have the patience to listen to or explain the difference.

Worst ever was when a friend and I were backing up a country singer for a couple festivals. Mike was covering tenor sax and I was doing trumpet and flugelhorn. She asked what I was playing so I told her it was a Schilke X3 with the extra large bore and bell. She looked really confused so I said "you know, Renold Schilke? Was one of the guys that built the old Committees?" She said, no, what kind of instrument is it? She didn't know what a trumpet was. Thanks god I didn't have the flugel in my hand at the time.

[Bertram Henze]

I know you play the banjo like she does!

Technically, this is even correct, since none of you play the banjo. Likewise, I am proud to play the tuba exactly like Chris Thile does.

[Hendrik Ahrend]

While in Germany in the mid '70s and asked what he was playing, Bill Monroe politely answered, "this is a mandolin, Sir." Why not?

[Bertram Henze]

One thing I frequently get is having my OM called a bouzouki. The other day, this guy (or whatever) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tMyaozLYDM) commented on one of my videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u64btwC2kus) with "The bouzouki sounds almost identical to the banjo." Didn't bother to read the cast at the end, apparently.

I chose to not take the burden of being an educator in this case.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I once told a person who asked me ''what's that'', when i was carrying my banjo case one time - '' It's a Trumpet ''. He was ok with that,but it's a good job that he didn't see me laughing as i walked away !,
Ivan:grin:

[MissingString]

A very nice woman in line at an airport asked me what was in my case. When I told her it was a mandolin she responded “oh I love the way that Hawaiian man played “Somewhere over the Rainbow” on one of those”.

[JeffD]

"Uncle Jeff, I hope you are going to bring your banjolukee to the New Year's party."