Chording

[AlanN]

Last night, was at a good jam, with both young and old pickers. This was at the museum at the Cane Creek Campground in Snow Camp, NC. For those in the area and so inclined, it occurs on the 2nd Saturday of each month and is hosted by John and Natalie Maness, of Lil John's Mountain Music Festival, an annual event on Memorial Day weekend. The monthly jam includes a generous pot luck, with good food, drink and fellowship. See http://www.littlejohnsmountainmusic.com/ for 2017 festival details.

Anyway, an observation: among others, there was a band there made up of young folks, all skilled in the bg way. Several played > 1 instrument and they switched off. The young girl who started on mandolin was on a well-hewn F-9 and played chords in a forceful manner. She didn't solo, just rhythm. Her chords were of the 2-bass string variety, pretty much exclusively. For B (most of their songs, lol), she thwacked 4-4-x-x. E was 4-2-x-x, A was 2-2-x-x, etc. Rarely, if ever, did she get the big 4 finger chop chord. At some point, she sat and the banjo guy picked mandolin, did the same chord thing. For G, he would do 0-0-2, with damping of the strings so no ring. Never did 7-5-2-3. Their overall sound and groove was tight.

I've noticed the same thing with Adam Steffey (Boxcars) and some other, newer bands' mandolin pickers. Not much of the big chop shape. I suppose it adds to the ensemble groove, without cluttering up the vibe with too much chord sound. This seems to be a new thing. Me, I'm old school, I dig the big shape (and am careful to not play too many strings when chopping). I surely use it more than the 2-string job above.

What do y'all do?

[Beanzy]

I love the full four shapes when chopping for BG. If I'm in a more folky scenario, or modern tunes which can hang about on the same chord for a while, I like to alter between bits of the big shape; so maybe ring out a high two or three top string chord then introduce another finger with each bar to give a bit of variation as suits the sound. Needs judgement though or things can be a bit too flavoured if its to be sparse and you wouldnt want to distract from the main tune too much. With jazz tunes I'm nearly always shifting about three fingered shapes, not least because I can't always get smooth changes of the fuller shapes and often struggle to remember the more fruity chord shapes. So I try eliminate as much complexity as I can for those.

[Bad Monkey]

It depends on the context and who is playing what else in the tune. In the regular band I play in, we have drums, bass, acoustic guitar/tenor banjo, fiddle, and me covering tin whistle, mandolin, bouzouki, and electric guitar. I try to pay attention and listen to what else is going on and make sure I'm not stepping on the fiddle or banjo/guitar. Too much going on sonically in a particular frequency band is going to lean towards the muddy end of things. Think of looking at the tune as if it were written out on a grand staff, I don't want to be putting the notes I'm playing directly on top of someone else's. Kind of like two guitars playing the same chords in the exact same position; there's a lot of potential for interesting ear candy that is more likely ending up muddy and or sloppy.
In a session I kind of do the same thing for the most part. If I'm helping keep the chord cadence in shape, i try not to blast away at what someone else is covering. Again it tends to make things murky and hard to hear. I figure if you're going to be setting the foundation in place, you better make it nice and square so the house doesn't fall down on top of you.
The other part of the deal is listening for moving lines in my chording. If there's an opportunity to play a nice descending or ascending line through the chords, I'm going to incorporate it if it sounds good. There's usually ways to add a harmony line or complementary movement by using different forms for the same chord. Maybe even adding a passing tone or neighbor tone in there.

[stevedenver]

I do that 2 string thing at times too.

I think, for me, it based off a guitar blues shuffle.
It works and is different in some trad BG tunes, and adds, a rock or blues feel.

And, I have used it to add a different than 2-4 rhythm, and, less cut, or, simply a variation to what im doing

If i think things are sounding a bit thin, or the rhythm needs more 1-3 strength, it can add what little bottom end a mando can produce.

I'm guessing, and only that, based on my own background, she may have had some guitar sensibilities, ie, not unlike power chords on a guitar.

And, I just might be the sweet spot on her mando, ie it may have poor treble....who knows.

[billkilpatrick]

I downloaded this years ago and passed it on to I don't know how many people. He "conjugates" 3 note chords as one would verbs, in a very simple, comprehensive guide. Excellent stuff:

http://jazzmando.com/tips/archives/p...ote-Chords.pdf

[UsuallyPickin]

I like to move around four to three to two tone forms to add some variety to the music. I also try to add depth by staying out of the tonal palette of the folks I am playing with. IMO that rounds out the band tone. R/

[JonZ]

There are certain things in BG that seem to have become codified based on concerns that are not necessarily musical. For example, the strap slung over one shoulder to accommodate a cowboy hat. Or tying the mandolin strap to the scroll, because it's there. There is also the splayed pinky and ring finger on the banjo head that resulted from a picture where Earl Scruggs inaccurately demonstrates his anchor finger placement. Some people actually forced themselves to use that painful technique.

A chop is largely percussive. Maybe volume was a bigger concern back in the day before individual amplification.

Different chording techniques provide different sounds. Use them tastefully.

[Mark Wilson]

I play mostly with 2-3 other pickers (no fiddle or banjo) and the big 4 finger chop is not as easy to lay back on compared to the 3 finger varieties.

I also like to use a few 3 string combos that have an open string. Dm 7-3-0, A7 6-5-0, F#m 6-4-0, E7 1-0-2. They sound cool (to me) in a small group you dampen the strings along with it

Heck - I chop 1-0-0 once in a while after I learned to dampen strings

[onassis]

As the years go by, I've found that I play more 3 note shapes than 4. For me, a less cluttered sound has become more pleasing, and I tend now to play more percussion, less chord tone. When playing with bigger jam groups (more guitars, especially if there's another mando), it gets boiled down to double stops. Just makes for less "wall of sound", also easier to slip in and out of tremolo fills.

Even in a band setting, I tend to play more "barre" style chords than I used to. (Ex. - 2 2 4 5 for A) My ear seems to prefer the timbre of that chord shape, with the heavier bottom end. Even when I'm playing standard chop shapes (keys G through B), I typically use the barre shape for the V chord - it just seems like a quicker, more logical move to me.

[tree]

I use 2, 3, or 4 note chords, depending on context and how well I'm hearing and what I'm feeling.

Sometimes the 2 notes are in the bass, sometimes in the middle, sometimes on the treble courses. Basically substitute a double-stop for a chord.

Sometimes I let open strings ring and sometimes I chop and mute with my pinky/ring fingers. Chords can be really interesting on mandolin, you don't have but 4 courses and you have to make choices . . .

Can't help but think of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band prelude to Mr. Bojangles . . . "come on, Teddy, chord with this"

[Mark Wilson]

Heck - I chop 1-0-0 once in a while after I learned to dampen strings

um... 2-0-0 Gotta quit doing this in between other stuff

[CES]

I tend to use three or four finger chop chords, because that's what I learned first, but I've only recently "discovered" the simpler approach you're describing, and there are times now when I wonder why I'm making myself work so hard

Sierra Hull is another great example of someone who gets great tone and rhythm without using too many 4 finger chop chords. Heck, her hands are so tiny that it blows my mind how well she plays OM as well...

[Bad Monkey]

um... 2-0-0 Gotta quit doing this in between other stuff

I was thinking "crazy jazzers..."

[JeffD]

I use what ever seems to fit the music and is easy to reach from what chord preceded it or where my hand was playing melody just before.

I tend to reserve the four finger chop chords for bluegrass exclusively, and use three finger chords and two finger double stops in other kinds of music where the chop seems out of place.

I don't know a lot of chord inversion theory, but I do recognize that the four finger bg chord is sometimes not the prettiest version of the chord.

[David L]

"For B (most of their songs, lol), she thwacked 4-4-x-x. E was 4-2-x-x, A was 2-2-x-x, etc."

These are all open fifth chords (no third). On guitar they are called power chords. If other instruments are playing the whole chord, these work fine. By themselves, not so much. Since there is no third, they will work with both minors and majors. In some ways, a very beginner technique, yet it can be musically interesting in some applications.

[T.D.Nydn]

I'm all double stops and triads,lots of inversions,,I'm also never stagnant but always moving ....

[farmerjones]

ima fiddler first so my hands aren't built for holding down 4 finger cords. I think of chords as two string (drone or double stops) appliances. That's not to say I don't know where both the high & low register chords are at. I do. In fact, I didn't know what an inversion was until I took up piano. I just used my ears, and went by what fits. "That fits" are surprisingly, all over the fingerboard. I found out later why, when I saw John Hartford play a chromatic scale over any chords. As long as you land on the correct note or chord at the end of the phrase, one can put most anything in there.

[Joel Glassman]

Heck - I chop 1-0-0 once in a while after I learned to dampen strings

Emaj11sus4!

[Phil Goodson]

or Amaj7sus4 ?