View RSS Feed

All Blog Entries

  1. A Few Lessons from a Spring Outdoor Gig

    I am writing this and posting it largely to remind myself of the following lessons. Perhaps those of you who also play out will benefit from it.

    The Gig:
    • Outdoor gig at a Farmer's Market in a small town in California's central valley.
    • Four sets.
    • One hundred dollars for the band plus tips.
    Weather:
    • Sunny and breezy with gusts up to 25mph
    The Stage
    • A dirt median strip in a parking lot
    • Awning provided for shade ...
    Categories
    Gigging
  2. Greetings from the Edge of the San Joaquin River…

    [Reprinted from the April 2010 issue of Stanislaus Connections]

    The annual Tule Fog Fete is a fundraising event for Modesto, California’s Great Valley Museum. Held outdoors at Caswell Memorial State Park, the child-centered event includes live animal exhibits, docent-led walks through the park’s many riverside paths, snacks, silent auctions, and live music.

    As a local amateur musician, I volunteer my services every year to the Great Valley Museum and the Tule Fog Fete. ...
    Categories
    Gigging
  3. Need Source for Free Traditional Tunes in Standard Notation

    Quote Originally Posted by Jack Roberts View Post
    All the tunes you could want are on:

    http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/FCfiles.html

    After you copy them to your clipboard (They are in ABC format), paste them to

    http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html

    and you can print out a pdf in standard notation. No charge.

    (You may have to remove extra lines from your paste depending on your software.)
    Categories
    Uncategorized
  4. "My life" as a mandolin player...

    I started playing mandolin in high school. I found out it was truely in my blood. My mother and father was taking me to bluegrass festivals almost every weekend so it was really seeping in at a very young age. My first festival was Raccoon Creek at age 7. I got my first mandolin at age 13 and that is where the madness began. My first group I was in was called "I'll have to come back to it, I honestly can't remember". Second group was the most longest running show. It was "Misery River" ...
    Categories
    Uncategorized
  5. New Video

    Hi Folks,
    I've just posted a new video to YouTube. The content is apropos of nothing on the Mandolin Café, unless you count the fact that I wrote and can play it on mandolin too.

    I left space for you to jam with me...
    Key of G. Four bars at the top over the G chord (I'm hammering onto the B note from the open A) and a full verse after the bridge. G, C, Am7, D, G, Am7, G.

    If you enjoy it please consider subscribing to my channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/Nestlerode), ...

    Updated Jan-08-2022 at 5:00pm by Mandolin Cafe

    Tags: guitar, original
    Categories
    Acoustic Adventures
  6. Stupid Mandola Tricks

    This quote from the recent Mike Marshall interview got my attention:
    I just borrowed a nylon string mandolin from Caterina Lichtenberg that with a little work, I think is going to be very very hip. I have always wanted one of these. I think I may tune it to a E, B, F#, C# (low to high) to make it a little looser. This will put it right in between a mandolin and a mandola. I know we all really don't like the Key of E, so imagine playing a G chord and sounding an E! You can do this if you put a mandolin
    ...

    Updated Jan-08-2022 at 11:45am by Mandolin Cafe

    Categories
    Acoustic Adventures
  7. bluegrass jams????

    Quote Originally Posted by fred d View Post
    In the last couple years my wife and I have attended at least a 14-15 different jams bluegrass? Most say that they welcome beginers and new people???? YA well I play at least a dozen songs and sing them, by memory and a couple single string. My wife playes tenor banjo we have been told that the tenor does't go with blue grass OK so I tuned A 5 string like a tenor and lowered the 5th so she didn't hit it ! and she is asked to play and encourged to try a break! But I"m trying to
    ...
    Categories
    Uncategorized
  8. Crazy Heart

    Did anyone see the movie, Crazy Heart? Jeff Bridges' character, Bad Blake, plays a really cool looking, older, accoustic guitar...I was trying to figure out if it was a Gibson. They never showed the peghead up close. Any guesses? Thanks!
    By the way, the film was really good!
    Categories
    Uncategorized
  9. 6 Years

    6 years. Its been 6 years...and only now am I comfortable picking up, holding, and picking on the mandolin in the most basic way. Competence really is a stumble...one of these days I'll figure out how to fret clean every time.

    Still, got my first tune picked at 230 BPM the other day. I feel some sort of limit has been raised.
  10. A little overdriven eight string emando work

    Who says an overdriven 8 string sounds bad?

    The attached file is a QDAF (Computer nerds may get the allusion) Quick & Dirty Audio File I did for a class in Audacity I'm teaching on Wednesday.

    Tune: Ashokan Farewell
    Key: D

    I'm actually working on a version of Ashokan that changes keys. I'm going for a Steve Vai/Joe Satriani vibe. Ashokan is such a great melody that I think it can handle a lot of different interpretations. This recording ...

    Updated Feb-09-2010 at 12:28pm by Daniel Nestlerode

    Categories
    Electric Explorations
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Files