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Thread: Possible Newbie

  1. #1
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    Default Possible Newbie

    Quick background:

    I am not a bluegrass guy. I am generally not impressed with flying-fingers mandolinists who play at breakneck speed - so naturally, I have no real desire to play that way. I try not to 'chop' very often either. I greatly prefer the 'less is more' style of playing . . . nice melody, tasteful tremolo, etc.

    I am a lousy player. I can't read music and have never had the talent to properly learn other people's songs, licks, etc. - but I like to listen to a lot of stuff and get idea's from other people's playing, so that I can (hopefully) incorporate those ideas into my own style.

    Although I have ZERO background in Celtic music, in recent weeks I have felt a strange pull in that direction.

    So - my question is . . . based on the information above, do you have any suggestions on artists to listen to, that might be a good, but simple, introduction into the Celtic style?

    Thanks.

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  3. #2
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Possible Newbie

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeZito View Post
    Quick background:

    I am not a bluegrass guy. I am generally not impressed with flying-fingers mandolinists who play at breakneck speed - so naturally, I have no real desire to play that way. I try not to 'chop' very often either. I greatly prefer the 'less is more' style of playing . . . nice melody, tasteful tremolo, etc.

    I am a lousy player. I can't read music and have never had the talent to properly learn other people's songs, licks, etc. - but I like to listen to a lot of stuff and get idea's from other people's playing, so that I can (hopefully) incorporate those ideas into my own style.

    Although I have ZERO background in Celtic music, in recent weeks I have felt a strange pull in that direction.

    So - my question is . . . based on the information above, do you have any suggestions on artists to listen to, that might be a good, but simple, introduction into the Celtic style?

    Thanks.
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  4. #3
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Possible Newbie

    Welcome to the deep well.

    I'll second JeffD's suggestion above (Bothy Band and Kevin Burke), but that's just the start. If you really want to dive deep into this music, you will probably end up listening to far more fiddlers, pipers, and flute players than mandolin players. We're newcomers to the tradition, still figuring out styles and approaches. I have maybe six or eight albums in my music collection by Irish/Scottish trad mandolin players, compared to several hundred by fiddlers, pipers, flute players, and box players.

    That said, it doesn't hurt to get some more targeted instruction on mandolin. One resource you might want to check out is an online teaching site called OAIM -- the Online Academy or Irish Music. There are video lessons for mandolin there (although only one instructor, compared to the other instruments), with a few videos as free samples and then a monthly fee for access to more. I think there is a 7-day trial period too, which would give you access to more videos. I've been using it for insight into Irish flute, so I haven't watched all the mandolin lessons but it seems like a good way to get started. Here's the link:

    https://oaim.ie/instrument/10/mandolin

    As far as instructional DVD's go, there is the Marla Fibish Mandolin Basics DVD, and Simon Mayor has an older DVD called New Celtic Mandolin with some interesting approaches to the music.

    Mandolin technique aside, the real key is to listen, listen, listen to as much of this music as you can, on all the traditional instruments, so it's internalized and you know what to do with it on a mandolin.

  5. #4
    Registered User Jill McAuley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Possible Newbie

    Marla Fibish also gives video lessons via Peghead nation and the tunes she teaches can be learnt by ear since she'll play a line slowly and you can clearly see where her fingers are on the fretboard. There is also ABC and standard notation provided for folks who rely on that. Marla has several CD's out, one she did with her band Three Mile Stone, one she did with Jimmy Crowley called "The Morning Star". She also has multiple CD's out with Noctambule, the duo she plays in with her husband Bruce Victor, but not all their material would fall into the category of irish/celtic style.

    There are many tunes in the tradition that are quite simple and straightforward to play, so could be an ideal way for someone who hasn't had success in the past learning tunes by ear to build those skills. Particularly nowadays with technology on our side there are apps for slowing tunes down, and you can slow down YouTube videos using the tool icon to the left of the screen when watching videos. There's also an app coming out soon (which I'm beta testing) that the folks at Gold Tone have developed called "Loop2Learn" that allows you to both slow down a tune and also isolate a part and loop it over and over so as to learn it. Super easy to use, should be available to the public soon.
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    Registered User BBarton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Possible Newbie

    There are a number of Celtic-style CDs out there that focus on the mandolin and/or mandolin family instruments. In addition to Marla Fibish (already suggested), check out a couple by NH-area musician, David Surette (I like The Green Mandolin). There's also a couple of good instructional books with audio discs included: see Mel Bay's Irish Mandolin by Joe Carr and Michael Gregory, and the Scottish Mandolin Tutor by David (Dagger) Gordon. The session.org is a great website for getting tune information -- for every tune (and there's hundreds!) music notation, ABC notation, an audio midi file, and discography are usually provided. Great resource, particularly if you've heard a tune on a CD that tickles your fancy and you want to learn it.
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    Default Re: Possible Newbie

    I second BBarton's comments on thesession.org. To them I will add that you can download their ABC notation files directly into tabledit to get tabs, too. Plus one correction: there's not hundreds - there's thousands. Many of the mainstay tunes also have several different versions available too.

    I have drawn heavily on The Session for new (to me) tunes and I have enjoyed exploring the world of socalled 'celtic' music there.
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    Default Re: Possible Newbie

    THANKS all - I now have some research to do over the weekend. Let's see where it leads . . . . .

  9. #8
    Registered User Tim Gillane's Avatar
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    Default Re: Possible Newbie

    How is Scottish Mandolin Tutor by David (Dagger) Gordon as an instructional book for someone just learning to play mandolin (I don't play other instrument)? I've already ordered Simon Mayor's The Mandolin Tutor, and am looking forward to its arrival, but wanted to also get something oriented toward Scottish mandolin for instruction as well. I'm also using Nigel Gatherer's web site. I'm mostly interested in playing Celtic, medieval and Renaissance, and music from the 1920s and '30s.
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  10. #9

    Default Re: Possible Newbie

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeZito View Post
    ... generally not impressed with ... breakneck speed ... no real desire to play that way. ... prefer the 'less is more' style of playing . . . nice melody, tasteful tremolo, etc. ... I like to listen to a lot of stuff and get idea's from other people's playing, so that I can (hopefully) incorporate those ideas into my own style. ... based on the information above, do you have any suggestions on artists to listen to, that might be a good, but simple, introduction into the Celtic style? ...
    Well there's fellow MandolinCafe member Tergal, great player & useful YouTube tutorials where he plays tunes both normal speed and slow speed and with tab too. Here's an example, he starts out playing the tune normally, fast-forward to 1:32 for slow-speed and tab:


    (or direct link)

    Here's his MandolinCafe intro page, and a YouTube playlist with the above & dozens more videos.

    Note: I like the videos of his that I've seen, *but* (IMO) you don't have to play the triplets, as a beginner, so don't let that frustrate you. You'd mentioned "tasteful tremolo", and (IMO) triplets are almost a form of tremolo (sort of). So I would say, to start with anyway, when triplets are called for, just play one or two of the notes in the triplet (instead of all 3), you can add the other note(s) later when you get around to it. That's how I would approach it anyway.

    IMO, NFI, FWIW, YMMV, etc.

  11. #10
    Mangler of Tunes OneChordTrick's Avatar
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    Default Re: Possible Newbie

    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Gillane View Post
    How is Scottish Mandolin Tutor by David (Dagger) Gordon as an instructional book for someone just learning to play mandolin (I don't play other instrument)? I've already ordered Simon Mayor's The Mandolin Tutor, and am looking forward to its arrival, but wanted to also get something oriented toward Scottish mandolin for instruction as well. I'm also using Nigel Gatherer's web site. I'm mostly interested in playing Celtic, medieval and Renaissance, and music from the 1920s and '30s.
    I have it and think that it’s a great book. There’s a cd included and all tunes have tablature as well as standard notation, plus there’s some background on the music.

    However I wouldn’t recommend for an absolute beginner as whilst it briefly covers some basic skills I would say the simplest tunes require some experience. But once you’ve mastered the early steps I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.

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  13. #11
    Registered User Tim Gillane's Avatar
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    Default Re: Possible Newbie

    Quote Originally Posted by OneChordTrick View Post
    I have it and think that it’s a great book. There’s a cd included and all tunes have tablature as well as standard notation, plus there’s some background on the music.

    However I wouldn’t recommend for an absolute beginner as whilst it briefly covers some basic skills I would say the simplest tunes require some experience. But once you’ve mastered the early steps I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.
    Now the problem is getting it, at least from a budget standpoint, though not the cost of the book itself. From the UK to the US, the shipping costs almost as much as the book/CD. With a used copy, there's a question of whether the CD's with it. Oh well, I've got a way to go before I should tackle it, per your kind advice, so who knows what the situation will be by then? I see that Rod MacKillop is coming out with a new book via Mel Bay next year, so there may be a "parallel" choice eventually.
    1920s Regal #1260 (I think)

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