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napolitanmandolin
Mar-06-2013, 7:22am
Hello to everyone! I always played classical music on a napolitan mandolin. Sometimes I tried to play pop music on my mandolin ( I mean playing a song through only chords), but I think that it isn't a good instrument for this.. Strings are too hard to playing and are too close. I know that a mandolin should not be played like a guitar, but I'd like to try :)So I have two questions. Is there a difference between country mandolin and napolitan mandolin to playing chords? On a country mandolin is easier? Imho, octave mandolin is the instrument of mando family more similar to guitar....Isn't it?

Shelagh Moore
Mar-06-2013, 7:59am
Well, if it's of any help, Paul McCartney has used flattop, flatback mandolins made by Antony Dixon (http://www.guitar-maker.com/Pages/mando.html) on some of his songs, where he mainly plays chords. While you could, in principle, use any mandolin for this sort of music it would probably be more difficult on a Neapolitan bowlback model because of its shape unless you play it sitting down.

napolitanmandolin
Mar-06-2013, 8:27am
No, the problem isn't standing up or sitting down, is the instrument! The back of neck of napolitan mandoli isn't flat, but conic, so the barrč is impossible...And I think that chorus are closer than a modern mandolin!

Mandobart
Mar-06-2013, 11:23am
You're right that an octave mandolin is more in the guitar range (the E on a standard tuned OM is the same as the high E on a standard tuned guitar). I've played a few different makes/models of carved top/back mandos, and never found one I thought unsuitable for pop. I've not played many flat top/back mandos. In general, the wider the fingerboard, the easier time you'll have chording. Also, an oval or round sound hole usually gives more sustain, which is usually desirable in pop music.

OldSausage
Mar-06-2013, 12:26pm
I recommend a guitar for this purpose.

mandroid
Mar-06-2013, 3:47pm
Is there a difference between country mandolin and napolitan mandolin to playing chords?

Depends on which country is involved.. :whistling:

The range of a Guitar is just above the Cello for the low E

but something like an Irish Bauzouki has a long guitar scale like neck,
the strings are tuned an Octave down from Violin , but
being longer neck the string set is thinner ,
Than the octave mandolin that has a shorter neck,
but still is tuned the octave down GDAE

Viola has a cousin , the Mandola same CGDA..

I like My Mandola, you just have to call the chords by different names.

jaycat
Mar-06-2013, 3:56pm
. . . I know that a mandolin should not be played like a guitar, but I'd like to try :) . . .

Go for it. This is another one of those "rules" that are fun to break.

Marty Jacobson
Mar-06-2013, 4:04pm
Pop music should be played on a pop bottle. Clearly.

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