Hello. I'm a mandolin/bouzouki fan from England. Haven't been on the Cafe for a few years (was really sad to read that John McGann had left us) but I'm getting "back in the ring to take another swing" as a not-very mandolin oriented rock band once sang. Thought I'd have a go at actually playing something, rather than endlessly lusting after different instruments. Trouble is that my playing lags a long way behind my lusting. Just started trying to learn "The Home Ruler". It will be tight to record something in a few days but the challenge will probably do me good. ...what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and all that.
Uncle Choppy.... Welcome....back!
Hello everyone, I am another expat Scot who emigrated as a child. Despite this I have a reasonable grounding in Celtic music from my childhood scottish fiddle playing, pre Australia, and from 6 years a pipe band in my late teen/ 20's Meanwhile , from 10y.o. I played guitar , largely self taught . I always wilI, I hope. I have played with the local big band for 6 or so years. I bought a mandolin a few years ago but I have only recently found time to learn more than a couple of chords. I am now playing guitar and mandolin in a contemporary band, ( playing 'new' stuff e.g.1980s lol), a and also in a 'bush' band, and mandolin and fiddle in a string 'group'. I have three sons and a have been married for 28 years. I live in Tasmania, I enjoy a variety of music style and I stay clear of some as well. I am looking forward to participating in the group, should be a blast!. Cheers.
Hi Andrew and welcome to the group look forward to seeing your videos here... I have some friends in Taz; sounds like an amazing place.
Greetings from Scotland, fellow Scot! What, by the way, is a "bush band"?
Thanks guys! J250- yep, it's a great place to live! I'm looking forward to the group's music-sharing. I will have a learning curve re the recording and uploading which will do me good. JK- whereabouts in Scotland? I am originally from Perthshire. 'Bush' is an oz colloquial term for non urban! Bush bands tend to sound a liitle bit celtic, Appalachian, old time and, well, rugged! Depends on the lineup on the night! cheers!
Howdy all, Posted videos twice now without introducing myself, so here we go. I'm Chris. I've lived a year or two at a time here and there around the US, including Missouri, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Colorado, and currently California. I grew up in a family of Scotch-Irish descent, surrounded by classical music (my brother is a classical pianist, Rachmaninoff and all that), bluegrass and country, and jazz (my uncle and aunt were in a local band). I dabbled with some instruments when I was a kid, but never really got serious about anything until I passed 30. I started playing guitar more seriously at that point, and kept dabbling with other instruments. About four years ago I played a mandolin for the first time and loved it, but it was really only about 18 months ago that I really worked it into a regular practice schedule (hey, I'm busy! see paragraphs below!). Currently practicing guitar and mandolin regularly, and starting to learn concertina. In real life I am a professor of mathematics at a university in California. As one of my colleagues pointed out, I really do "things that are heavily math-dependent", and I am often confused for a physicist or computer scientist. These days I primarily teach. In my spare time, non-math, non-music, I like to run in the Santa Monica foothills. I met my wife 16 years ago. She is an excellent violinist, and I hope to convince her to join a video here and there. We have 2.4 children (number three due in August 2014!). Our oldest daughter plays piano, and our son has an unbelievable passion for violins, but, being 2, will have to wait at least a few months. Cheers, Chris
Welcome 2x4. Looking forward to your postings. Andrew, sorry for not responding sooner to your question about my whereabouts in Scotland. Originally from Campbeltown in Argyll but for the past 40-odd years have lived in or around Dunoon in Argyll. Apart from my sojourn in Glasgow when I was at university I have always lived in Argyllshire. Someone a while back asked me if I'd lived my whole life in Argyll and I had to answer, "Not Yet!"
Hey Folks Leonard here. I love this group! I have been lurking for a couple of months and enjoying the posts! What a great forum and lovely group! I live in Shreveport La. Home of the Louisiana Hayride. I have been playing Mandolin for about 15 years, I was inspired to pick it up after my friend Mike Luster introduced me to Kid West's music. I love historical Shreveport music. I play in a duo/trio the Wampuscatz. We do a lot of regional music sometimes accompanied by the lovey Ms Dorothy Prime. We had a good bit of success a decade ago touring in Europe and festivals in the US. I backed out when I suddenly lost my wife and became a single dad of a handsome 5 yr old. The last couple of years I have started playing again and enjoying it! I absolutely love the mandolin! I have started playing with a new grass group I am very exited about. Anyhoo, glad to be here!
Your style sounds so fun, Leonard. I'm really looking forward to your posts.
Hello Everyone, I've been looking around for fellow Mandolin players, people know me Hobe in my fifties. I retired last year and needed something to fill the time will something I love music. I played tenor saxaphone for six years and in a band while in the USAF. I have always liked Celtic music. I found myself drawn to the Mandolin. I have never play a string instrument. You would know I would love the sound of eight singed little instrument, and yet it gives me much joy. I took lessons for two years but, found I was not growing as much as I would like. I took (paid for), online lesson Arts Work for one year before retiring. It was great program Mike Marshall fabulous instructor. I would recommend it to anyone. I still learning on my own there not to much of call for mandolin playing in Ohio. I hope to get to know everyone in the community Hobe
Hi Hobe, welcome to the SAW group hope to see/hear you post a video one week... i agree about the artist works - mike is a great teacher, long waits for the video exchanges to come back though.
Hi folks, just a short introduction, because we're in the middle of a heat wave over here in Germany. I'm a multi-string-instrument player from the south-west of Germany. Been playing the mandolin for about 20 years and lurking in the cafe for about 15. Recently I got a tenor banjo and started practising Jig-triplets. My musical interests are fairly broad, from classical and swing to bluegrass and celtic. From this group I hope to get some new ideas as to what I could play....
Hi! A quick introduction after several videos posted here. I've been playing the guitar for seven years. I got my mandolin (an A-style Kentucky KM-150) one year ago, but I've been practicing on a cheap (used) but nice mandola for a few months before that time. No other teacher than our beloved Internet I've also tried violin, harmonica, piano (loosely). I discovered the mandolin and fell in love with it after watching Sierra Hull videos, then moving on to Chris Thile, The Goat Rodeo Sessions and Punch Brothers. Now I'm mostly playing Irish tunes (I keep track of the tunes I play with irishtune.info: https://www.irishtune.info/public/playlist/niavlys/). I joined the group recently, and recorded a few videos for it. All my (music-related) videos will be posted on my YouTube account Niavlys Brunière. Thanks for reading, thanks for this group, and see you later! Niavlys
Good Evening from Central Illinois ! Took up mandolin a few years ago after working on mountain dulcimer for about 6 years. Love both instruments. I love this discussion group and I always try to play the songs each week. Not quite have the nerve to try to post yet, but maybe some day. Great job Barbara and others. Look forward to this every week ! My café name is "dulcillini". I belong to the Collings group and the Mandola group, and a couple of others. Retired pharmacy manager and pharmacist, Walgreens.
Howdy from the home of the Razorbacks! Just joined this group today. I've owned a mandolin for a little over a year now. Actually I owned one for about three months, then I owned two, and when my Weber Bitterroot A gets here on Monday I will own three. I've actually been trying to play for just over a year and taking lessons for 3 or 4 months. I've never been very musical other than being in the school choir, madrigal and barbershop quartet, being the lead singer in a Top 40 pop band back in the early 80's and having a karaoke show for a few years. Over the years I've piddled (I think that's an Arkansas term that means "fooled around with") the guitar, electric bass, drums, harmonica, cigar box guitar, etc... but never really been able to play any of them to a level that kept me interested. The mandolin, however, has kept me interested despite my inability to play it. I love all kinds of music, but I am particularly drawn to Bluegrass (I live 2 hours from the folk music capital of the world (Mountain View, Arkansas). I also love the sound of traditional Irish tunes, no doubt because there's lots of Irish and Scotch (not the drinking kind) weaving it's way through my bloodstream at this very moment. I don't know that I have time to learn a new tune every week in addition to what my instructor is asking of me, but I have found in reading the posts in this group that people are very supportive and helpful, and that's the kind of atmosphere I am looking to learn in. So HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone and thanks for letting me be a part of your group! My real name is Steve Gray and if I can figure out how I'm going to change my profile to reflect it. In the meantime call me whatever you want - just don't call me late to dinner!
Greetings from Greece. I m a novice mandolin player, started taking lessons a year ago. I m 17 years old and this year I m finishing high school. I started music at 6 years old, played greek bouzouki for 6-7, then classical guitar and now mandolin. I allso have a degree in music theory. I own to mandolins :a custom handmade bowlback and a Hora romanian flatback mando made in the 80s. I mainly play classical pieces but also love Balkan folk.
Themis, welcome to Song-A-Week. You may be the first from Greece I think. I'm looking forward to hearing your playing.
Thanks. So we choose a song each week and we upload our own version?
Each week members vote on a choice of five tunes in a thread Barbara posts called something like, Polls Will Be Posted Here" You'll find it near the top of the list. On Friday, the winner is selected and people add their versions throughout the week and beyond. You can post your own version of any other tune whenever you like. Everyone enjoys seeing extra songs posted throughout the week for variety. Just check the Table of Contents threads to see whether it's been posted before or not. If it has, you can add on to the thread that's already been created.
hey everybody I'm Josh as for my user name I work in the EMS industry. I live out in east texas currently and I'm one of the new guys to mandolin been learning for about 2 weeks now (yup still fresh as a new born) and have been enjoying the experience, so far I find myself more comfortable playing rhythm more than anything else but I'm wanting to push myself to be a better musician. Musical history is as follows I played around on guitar for a couple of years before moving onto playing bass guitar due to the fact I had discovered that I was having a little to much trouble breaking from taught strum patterns. After awhile I guess you could say I went on a musical hiatus from playing anything and then i discovered a coworker had been looking at mandolins and so i started researching the instrument and found i really liked the sound. I went out and managed to procure an Ibanez M510E which I think is a lower end mandolin out there but I like the feel of it and hey ya gotta start somewhere right? I'm looking forward to learning and progressing in my abilities with the mandolin and i'm so glad that this site is here to help folks such as myself along.
Hi! My name is Brian and I live in Summit County Colorado. First it was guitar, then bass, and now the mandolin. The former instruments have been in their cases for the last two years and I don't miss them.
Welcome Brian! My daughter and son in law lived for a while in Breckenridge; their first child was born there in Frisco! Beautiful country! What genre of music do you mostly play?
Greetings from a wet and windy Scotland, Brian! You'll enjoy the Cafe.
Bonjour à tous ! My first name is Bruno. In first I ask you to be lenient with my English whom I practise moderately. I am French, and I live in the mountains of the department of the Jura which I like! I am 55 years old, my wife has the same age and we have 2 girls and 3 little girls! I have played of the mandoline for 3 years. I began with “The Loar 370 VSM”. I am fond of the Irish airs particularly. I played of the guitar for a long time and in particular of rhythmic in Irish! I also tease Bobro and occasionally the bodhran! I do not play any more groups some but I start to attend “slow folk session” of rish. My musical tastes were mainly influenced by the years rock'n'roll & folk of the 70 ' “The Song-A-Week Social Group” is a goldmine for the quantity of tunes and also a justifying way to learn from new. Do I hope that with you I will increase my repertoire and that I will learn tunes of bluegrass? .....! I will not delay toshare a video! Greetings with all, and the pleasure of reading you. Bruno.
Bruno, bienvenue au mandoline cafe. Votre anglais est meilleur que mon francais. You will find all things mandolin here and the feature that I like best is the song of the week. It brings a wide variety of music to the table and with almost 350 tunes already on record there is a lot to go back to and play. Similarly to you, my youth was rock n roll and folk but later in life Irish fiddle music predominated. Now I am more into bluegrass and old-time as I participate in a number of jam sessions. Don't be afraid of posting videos. We all started as beginners and it is great way to learn. There are some really good musicians on here and they will provide inspiration, not criticism. Jeu de joie!!
Welcome to the Group Bruno
@ Woodenfinger/: Hello, thank you for the reception. My English is not so good, and I cheating by helping me of a translator on the Net “Systran”. I find “The song has week” is a group very alive and justifying. I have just made a test of post! “The Liltning Banshe” (with a little stresses or tension for the recording) I start to understand the how it works the "forum". Can all the time poster in “a song a week” or only during the week which follows the poll??? @ jonny25/: Thank you for the reception Bruno.
Hi Bruno, you can post a tune anytime you like. People frequently go back to past tunes and post their versions. You can even post tunes that are not 'songs of the week', just tunes you enjoy and want to share with others. In the latter case, you should check and see if the tune has been previously posted and then post your version on that thread. If it hasn't been previously posted in any form then post a new thread. Have fun!!
Hello woodenfingers, thank you very much! There is an enormous quantity of tunes and I know some of them. I continue poster those which I know already, while waiting to share a few tunes of will bluegras!!
Hi All My name is Trevor Carr and I come from North Yorkshire in England. I've been playing Tenor Sax for quite a few years and took up the mandolin so I could play something quieter when it got too late for the sax without annoying the neighbours, and I'm really enjoying it. Been playing about 18months and making slow progress. Started on a cheap Ozark but I have been the proud owner of a Weber F style Bitterroot for about a year now, and absolutely love it. My wife plays guitar a bit too and we have a lot of fun with duets. I thought I'd give some of the tunes of the week a try, it's a bit daunting though, I'm not the best player! Thanks, Trev
Greatings Trev from West Yorkshire. Look forward to your posts - jump in, it's a great way to improve.
Hi Trev, and welcome to a very friendly group. No need to worry about being "not the best player" as the idea here is that we post whatever we feel comfortable with and the advice and comments are always helpful and positive. You'll see there is a fairly small group of regular posters of tunes and a very large audience who seem to enjoy listening to and comparing our offerings and are sometimes encouraged into posting their own videos. The first one is the worst! Get that one uploaded then it becomes a lot easier and loads of fun.
Thanks for the welcome guys, I appreciate it, good to see another Yorkshireman too! I'm working on the Jig of Slurs...strange thing about recording that I've noticed before (I try to record myself fairly often to get a view of my progress) is that as soon as the record button is pressed you start making daft mistakes. I'll upload the best one in the next day or two.
The dreaded Red Flashing Light syndrome is very common to us all, Trev. There have been previous threads here discussing it. The more you record yourself the easier it becomes, but I don't think it ever disappears totally! Recording yourself is a very good learning tool, as you say. I sometimes go back and listen to something I have recorded some time back then have a go at the piece again and compare the two. Sadly, often the older one is the better one!
Hey folks, Anatoliy from Ukraine here. Long-time violin (not fiddle, yet) player and a fairly recent mandolin convert (a year or so). I'm now in that "learn as many tunes as possible" period, so I figured I'd join the group to see what I can learn instead of pestering my bandmates to do a new song every week or two Glad to be here, fun stuff!
Welcome, Anatoliy. What's the story behind your German-sounding Cafe name?
It's a name I chose on some forum when I was 13 and into the whole German popular underground culture. I don't even remember where it comes from, anymore, but am too lazy to think of something new
Hi, I just saw an article/interview about this group on FB so I decided to join out of curiosity. I have not used the Cafe much over the years but decided I needed to do more research. JW Papoon is not my real name but JW are the initials for my first and middle names. I have been in a stagnant place from a musical standpoint and on a quest to develop improvisational skills. I play with other people frequently and I have grown tired of only feeling comfortable doing chops, kind of like a "one-note Johnny", meaning not having much else to offer. I'll take breaks but if I don't know the melody, knowing the key and the pentatonic scale might help me in a pinch..............but I'm not quite there yet. I buy books, look on Youtube, research the internet, follow links posted in FB but have not found anything that really strikes me as being worthy of further pursuit. So, I'll stay in limbo a while until I see the light.
Howdy, it didn't take long to stumble onto this great part of the MC site. What a great addition! Many thanks to Barbara and all you pollsters, and uploaders! After migrating to L.A. (that's Lower Alabama near Point Clear), it became clear that bluegrass jams, and other free mandolin gatherings were well within my reach. It's time to slow the herd of electric guitars, and focus on practice for this Social Group with a Kentucky KM-380. John
Welcome!
bump
Welcome Stranger! -I found that I can use the brim of a hat that I’m wearing to avoid direct eye contact with the flashing red light. Then I look a bit odd, BUT at least I can think about the tune. Another option of course is to just point the camera out of the window!
I guess I've been around for a while, but never really post much. My handle is Alcluith and for those folks who know a bit about Scotland, I am based in Dumbarton, real name Drew Davidson. I'm a left handed mandolin player, who dabbles with Tenor guitar as well, mostly form me it's Scottish music with a bit of Irish, but do stray into areas as well.
Hi Drew. Great to see you coming on to the group. I enjoy our regular chats on Nigel's site - The Gathering. You will enjoy being here and it's great to find someone so close to home signing up. Drew and I are not many miles apart as the crow flies, but in our part of the world with its convoluted geography and long sea lochs and the FIrth of Clyde we can have quite a journey to try to meet up.
John Not to mention landslides and the likes. Will need to try to get to one of your sessions this year Drew
Good! Looking forward to you both posting a vid. Can you cross the Clyde by boat? With waterproof cases?
Not only by boat, Simon, but also by the Erskine Bridge which is nearer to Drew's area. I am across from Greenock on the Argyllshire side and we are situated where the Clyde becomes much wider after the Tail of the Bank off Gourock. Our side is very rural and has quite a Highland vibe compared to the once-industrial Renfrewshire side. I love it!
Hey ya'll! My name's Chelsea and I just joined �� I live in SE Michigan and I play standard mandolin, clawhammer banjo, and octave mandolin. The 2 former I've been playing for a little over a year, while I just picked up my GT OM-800+ about a week ago and I'm in LOVE. There's quite a learning curve though when compared to standard mandolin, lots of pinkie lol As for Mandolin, I know mostly Irish tunes but am mostly interested in classical at this time, on banjo it's old time Appalachian stuff and any Irish stuff I learned on the Mando I like to learn on banjo too, playing a song on multiple instruments really helps me throughly grasp the melody. My current project is learning to read standard Notation, and to improve my technique. I recently started using The Bickman Mandolin Method (which I found on this site) to learn and I have a few other books on the way as well. If anyone has any other resources or tips I'd be very eager to hear them. IRL I'm a prep cook in a fine dining restaurant and a freelance model.
Someone helpfully mentioned an introductions post and now that I have found it thought I'd post on it. Some may say I'm a bit old to be taking up a new instrument when I'd been retired for 4 years but they do say learning something new and the coordination involved in playing is good for the brain etc. To be fair as a teenager I was a whizz on the jews harp and could blow a few tunes out on the harmonica but always thought stringed instruments were beyond my abilities and physical prowess. In my 50's I got given a really cheap ukulele which I surprised myself by learning to pick a few tunes and a strum chords on but the aftermath of lockdown prompted me to buy a really cheap mandolin to see if I could possibly play it. When I found I enjoyed it and thought I could improve, I got myself a better model. I am self taught (it shows) but found good material online. Nigel Gatherer's site is superb and I bought lots of tunes from there and made use of his generously provided free material too. I am from Edinburgh and lived round the corner from where Davey Johnstone did (he of Elton John fame). Way back in 1973 I listened to his Album Smiling Face and I remember thinking wow would it not be great to play mandolin etc like he did in particular I recall the last track ' A lark in the morning with Mrs Macleod.' Amazingly to me I can now bash out versions of both tunes that I now know make up that track. If I advance from 'bash' to 'play' I may think I've arrived! I love how music I like to play across the UK, US, Canada and Europe often seems to have shared roots. malcolm
