Circling a zouk

[JPL]

Just stumbled into a steady if informal Irish gig. They have a very solid rhythm guitarist and plenty of melody players, so I'm finding a niche as singer and sort of auxiliary rhythm guy. Did the first few shows on the old resonator tenor (CGDA, with liberal use of the capo) and mandola (DAEB). Nothing fancy at all . . . simple strumming, basic chords, less-is-more, do no harm.

But I just found out that Gold Tone does a lefty bouzouki that's in my price range, and it feels like it would be a very good fit for this gig. I have a few emails out to dealers . . . not the sort of thing most folks have hanging on the wall, just in case Donal Lunny stops by the store.

I've been experimenting with tuning that tenor down to CGDG (or DAEA with the capo) . . . amazing how changing one note leads to a different approach on the instrument. Tempting to get some different strings on there and try GDAD, but CGDG / DAEA sounds good on this instrument and I suppose has the advantage of sitting somewhere between the guitar and fiddles, range-wise.

[JPL]

Pulled the trigger and ordered that Gold Tone BZ-500. I might go straight fifths, at least initially, for the sake of familiarity, but seems like GDAD will eventually be the way to go.

[Boatswain]

Congrats on your purchase! I have never played an instrument from "Gold Tone", but from what I hear it's an alright alternative to spending more on a luthier-made custom instrument.
GDAD is a great tuning, I myself played GDAE on octave mandolin for a few years, and only recently switched to GDAD (and sometimes experiment with ADAD). I can sit down for hours at a time (provided my wife doesn't interfere!) just experimenting with GDAD.

[JPL]

Should be here Tuesday . . . it's shipping directly from Gold Tone, and they're adding the patented "Zero Glide Nut" and a strap button on the heel. My regular ITM jam is also Tuesday, so hopefully everyone will be forgiving of me getting the hang of the new instrument.

[garryireland]

Should be here Tuesday . . . it's shipping directly from Gold Tone, and they're adding the patented "Zero Glide Nut" and a strap button on the heel. My regular ITM jam is also Tuesday, so hopefully everyone will be forgiving of me getting the hang of the new instrument.

Best of luck with it man. Always good to see someone excited about playing music!

[Beanzy]

Great rythm option for Irish folk, mandoloncello is great for that too.
I always really like the feel when the rythm guys leave things 'ambiguous' with their chords, not locking things down too definitely in terms of which chords they play and continually shifting the configurations so it's always leaving things open for the tune guys to mess about more. It's the same with transitions or ends of phrases when rather than doing big finishes and obvious resolutions they somehow just manage to slip through behind the tune but never missing a beat.

I always reckon the Irish bazouki saved Irish folk music from those banging 'Mrs Buggins' piano players who began to creep in in the 50s and 60's now thankfully relegated to the school hall.

[JPL]

I've just started playing out after many years of listening, and I've quickly come to appreciate the school of thought that says pure, unaccompanied melody is where it's at. But I like playing backup, and I love hearing it when it's well done.

I watched a documentary about the Irish bouzouki, and there was a fine player with a mandocello, with octave strings on the C and G courses. If I make some headway on the GDAD zouk, I imagine that visions of a Eastman mandocello tuned DAEA will start to haunt my dreams.

[JPL]

The zouk arrived yesterday . . . I drove home, tuned it up, and went straight to the session. Seems like a good solid instrument with a lot of potential, and now I just need to pay some dues.