What do you like best?

[Rick Schmidlin]

I love the mandolin and yes I love to here it on recorded CDs by artists we all like. But I listen to a lot more music without any mando content. Much more then with the mandolin. But like most here I am obsessed by the mandolin and after almost three years at three ours a day it have be an extention of my life line. How much non mando music do you listen to? When ever I hear a classic recording without the mando I think up a solo. I also now feel I can understand others on th instruments better and can listen to them with much more enjoyment now that I am a mandolin player http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/coffee.gif #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[JeffD]

For the first whole bunch of years I listened to everything but mandolin music, and I patterned my mandolin playing around the way a fiddle phrased a tune. It is more recent for me to listen to mandolin music.

I enjoy playing the mandolin more than I enjoy listening to any particular genre of music on the mandolin.

[Jim]

I Listen to all kinds of music with and without Mandolin. I far prefer playing to listening though often listening will inspire me to play and sometimes listening can teach me a new riff. What has given me a great deal of enjoyment has been playing non mandolin songs i've heard on mando.

[mrbook]

I listen to many kinds of music, and my inspirations for my mandolin playing do not necessarily come from other mandolin recordings. After years of listening and playing, I enjoy getting together with other people to play whenever I can. You can listen to music, or make it - both are fun, but I would rather play, even just by myself.

[JGWoods]

90% of the music I hear is live and usually I am playing in the group.
10% of the time I listen to recordings of what was played live so I can polish up some bits and pieces.
I never listen to the radio, don't listen to music on tv, don't buy CDs (nor rip them off).

I do own many CDs bought years ago, but I haven't listened to any in a long while- except I did listen to Bob Dylan's acoustic version of Visions of Johanna last week.

Oh and there's music in church.

[niaflsbob]

One of my favorite things (when I'm reading and responding to the message board) is to put on some old vinyl on the garage sale bought top-of-the-line Technics turntable with Audio technics gold cartridge. So right now i'm listening to Jimmy martin "good 'n country". Yes i have plenty of cd's, but some of the old stuff is great. Listen to monroe's "uncle pen", as i did last time on the cafe, and you'll hear some great stuff. I love to pick, but i still love to play the old stuff on the stereo.

[John Flynn]

I used to listen to all kinds of stuff, including opera, rock, country, rap, metal and lots of other stuff, but my tastes have become more focused as I've gotten more and more into playing the mandolin. Now I generally only listen to music that either has mandolin in it, or is a genre that I would like to play mandolin in. I guess in one sense that makes my tastes more narrow than they were, but it also makes them deep. I feel I really get into the nuances of the music I listen to now, more than when I listened more broadly.

[Clyde Clevenger]

I have a large and fairly eclectic music collection and I used to pride myself in my open-minded vision of the music world. But, since I took up the Chile Dipper, ten years ago, I've devolved, alot. Bluegrass, Celtic, Old Time, Swing and it better have a mandolin in it and it better be something that I at least have a chance to be able to play, or it doesn't come home with me. I know that's a little narrow, but I only have so much time to devote to music and I know what I like, and I'm looking 60 right square in the face, too late to take up Hip Hop.

[mandroid]

Can't play the Coronet, saximophone nor the Hammond B3, so I have to let Those folks that do and did , and try to absorb the simple melody line ,
and replicate a tiny part of Louis Armstrong and Louis Jordan and Jimmy Smith, in my own ADD impaired sorry whitie way. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/blues.gif

[Rick Schmidlin]

Can't play the Coronet, saximophone nor the Hammond B3, so I have to let #Those folks #that do and did #, and try to absorb the simple melody line ,
and replicate a tiny part of Louis Armstrong and Louis Jordan and Jimmy Smith, in my own #ADD impaired sorry #whitie way. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/blues.gif
And Bix http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Ivan Kelsall]

I listen mainly to Bluegrass still,that's been my main interest from back in 1963/4.BUT - I do listen to all forms of music,from Italian Opera,Classical music in all it's forms all the way through to Heavy Metal. When my wife's out at work & i decide to have a ''record session'',my neighbours must think that i'm musically schizophrenic !. Every thing from Bach to Buddy Holly with quite a bit of good ole' ZZ-Top in between. Then i get serious & it's back to Bluegrass !!,
Saska

[Wadefox]

I like most recorded music better than my own playing, but I've always thought that almost any kind of music sounds better and is more exciting live. It may not be the actual quality of the music, but the whole experience.

That said, since I have kids, I don't get to see much live music anymore--except Dan Zanes.