Open or closed position? (I have to force myself to play closed. Is it worth it to stick with it?)
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Open or closed position? (I have to force myself to play closed. Is it worth it to stick with it?)
I think it sounds better open stringed but to tell the truth I tend not to play it if I can help it.
That said here is a refreshing version from a Mandolin Monday session where both approaches are displayed...
Was he playing with some sort of alternate tuning... that's was cool.
I typically play it open, and like the guy in the video above, switching back and forth from the higher and lower octaves... super fun tune to play with a good fiddle player!
Edit:... forgot I did a video of this one with my SA and Jacobson side by side
https://youtu.be/B46YyVvtsTo
That guy gets to play it with the pretty good fiddle player in the band he's in, Michael Cleveland:)Quote:
Originally Posted by soliver
And he can certainly hold up his end:mandosmiley:
you should try both, using open strings and closed position, knowing what closed positions equate to open strings can improve improvisation a lot.
The question of the key arises when you play with others. I had a funny situation with a well known mandolinist, that played ATB in a different key. It was easier for me to play in "his" key than it was for him to play in "my" key.
So it is helpfull to know how to play a song/tune in more than one key.
There is a great youtube video (that I tried to find but couldnīt) in which Mike Compton plays "Sailorīs Hornpipe" in various keys (G, Bb, B etc.) to show that no matter what, you can do it. It was very instructive for me. I saw that what I thought were my limitations could be overcome. I also saw that other musicians (in this case Mike Compton) face the same difficulties even though they master them with more ease than I do.
Other than that itīs mostly a matter of taste and what tones you want to produce wether you want to play something in closed or open positions.
One of the guys in our bluegrass club got us to start modifying the B part occasionally. While some play the melody or simple 2 chord chop (D and G), a couple of us do a chord scale walk up the neck with the following chords: D, Em, F#m, G then walk back down with Bm, A, G, D. I think Crooked Still did something like that too.
I'm out of town with no instruments right now, but I might remember to post it here when I get back and wrap up 4 night shifts.
Please do!Quote:
Originally Posted by Mandobart
Open, closed, chord-melody, alternate tuning(s), double stops, multiple keys, melody up (or down) an octave. Try whatever comes to your mind. The joy of these simple melodies is that you can improvise with them to your heart's content.
I play it in G (open).
You can hear it here if you wish:
https://www.banjohangout.org/myhango...ic.asp?id=663#
Thanks for sharing this!Quote:
Originally Posted by J.Albert
Here's Nathan Livers with the band, a little different arrangement. Little different haircut as well.:)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHzLvdLfLSU
It's absolutely worth putting in the time to get it down in a closed position. Once you get relatively comfortable with that, you can begin to see how it can be played in doublestops, which gives you the ability to move it to any key. And ATB is a great tune for that - the melody is pretty simple and only uses notes from the D pentatonic scale, so it's ideal for doublestops.
Saw the topic and went back to pick the tune for the first time in a long time--a fun one. I agree there's good reason to work on both. I usually play it open but was just messing with it in closed position and that's good too. For my playing here is what I do:
Open Position--some drone strings, the open G chord, and I play a high version and a low version of both the A and B parts of the melody.
Closed position--tremolo on D/A course double stops.
Would be fun to post short video clips of how we all pick it. I just don't know the easy way to record and post videos to the cafe.
Cheers,
Z
Love this! Thanks, Bill!Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill McCall
Thanks for this, Onassis. I enjoy playing melody (more than chords), but find melody alone can be rather dull. Doublestops are one of my challenges, but I love the sound.Quote:
Originally Posted by onassis
Mitch, by double stops for this piece in D, do you mean drones? I presume not, since you mention other keys. I've played using drones, but to me it doesn't sound very good.Quote:
Originally Posted by onassis
To me this song sounds much better slower ! But, everyone hears differently !Quote:
Originally Posted by Sherry Cadenhead
No, I was referring to actual doublestops, notes played simultaneously on adjacent strings. I wish I knew a way to easily and succinctly explain what I mean, but it inevitably seems get very convoluted. At 1:30 or so of that Mandolin Mondays video, Nathan plays some of the melody in 2nd position (index finger at the fifth fret), which is how I tend to play it. If you have your middle finger on the seventh fret of the D course (an A note) and the index finger on the fifth fret of the A (a D note), that is a D doublestop (D and A being the I and V of a D chord). One can then play the first riff of the melody without those two fingers never leaving that doublestop positon by playing that A with the middle finger, B with the ring finger, and the D with index finger. The index and middle fingers never move, the ring finger hits the B note whenever needed. When the chord accompaniment changes to the G chord, the melody simultaneously hits the B note, which leaves you with the index playing a D and the ring playing a B, which is a G doublestop (D and B being the V and III of a G chord). I wish I could record myself doing it to show you, but I'm not a video maker. I'll see if I can find a video of someone doing it, I think it's a fairly common approach to playing this melody up the neck.
I understand this and will try it tomorrow. Thank youQuote:
Originally Posted by onassis
Try it as a medley with Jolly Beggerman, Handsome Molly, and Down the Old Plank Road. They are all so similar, I do get mixed up sometimes...
There is no virtue in playing it in closed position, and no vice in playing it in first position. What ever sounds best to you.
Closed position has the advantage of being portable up and down the neck. But if you are not needing to be portable, (I imagine "living" out of a suitcase at home, while the bureau is empty), the first position with open strings is very pretty.
If you are doing exercises to improve and expand your comfort zone, these simple tunes are great, because it is easy to hold the tune in your head while you explore the nose bleed frets. Exercises are like doing laps or jumping jacks, they are great for development. But to just go down the stairs and out the door...
Mitch, I love double stops and even have Pete Martin's and Pickloser's materials. It seems I need to study those! I'm also looking for sheet music for ATB with double stops, which should help me figure out when and when not to use DS. Thanks for the idea to begin with.Quote:
Originally Posted by onassis