If it quacks like a duck...?

  1. FatBear
    FatBear
    I recently started taking some more mandolin lessons. A good thing to do when you are stuck in a rut. My new instructor is primarily bluegrass focused, though fortunately he's flexible because I prefer a very wide range of music. During our first lesson he was a little bit condescending towards my mandolin until I finally asked him to play something on it. As with the instructor a couple of years ago his eyes really lit up when he played it. And naturally, he made it sound really good.

    He said that it is not really a bluegrass mandolin, but the resonance is very beautiful sounding. Since then he has remarked on the unusual sound a few times and concluded that it really sounds more like a soprano guitar than a traditional mandolin.

    I am curious what others think about this. I have no idea if a soprano guitar actually exists, though it seems likely. To what extent might a Big Muddy mandolin be akin to a soprano guitar? Obviously it has 8 strings in 4 courses of 2 on a violin-length scale and is tuned in 5ths. Those are mandolin specs, of course, though the flat top and back are not typical mandolin construction. It's the sound he is talking about and I tend to agree. The range is soprano and the resonance is guitar-ish. I've actually been a lot happier with the unusual sound since I started thinking about this.

    The lessons are going very well, so don't badmouth the instructor. He is actually being very flexible in his thinking, even to the point of deciding to learn some of my non-bluegrass songs.
  2. Gary Flye
    Gary Flye
    I haven't yet heard my duck quack

    I bought a M-0 to play when I visit family out of state. My Loar here at home is the only mando I've played, so can hardly wait to play the Big Muddy!
  3. FatBear
    FatBear
    Well you are going to have two very different sounds in your two mandolins and both very nice. It seems like a handy situation to be in.
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