How has an Instrument Changed your Playing?

[OlDanTucker]

We talk a lot about how we have changed our instruments to suit our playing. How about the reverse? How has an instrument changed your playing style, technique, choice of material or style?

I have had Pava #7 for about 6 months now after playing an Eastman 515 for about 10 years and it has changed things significantly. I have a warmer tone with more sustain so I find myself choosing more tonally rich songs rather than hard driving bluegrass. I also just let notes ring rather than using a lot of tremolo. I also let strings ring out open, or with double stops more because it sounds so cool. I am more willing to go up the neck into 2nd and 3rd position.

The bigger frets were quite an adjustment at first and my slides and exact finger placement were difficult until I got used to them, but recently went back to the Eastman and found it hard to play with the smaller frets.

I also find that I have to be more careful about how I play since it's quite a bit punchier and louder and I can't fluff off my mistakes as easily. I am also more diligent about practicing since I like the sound so much.

And it even enouraged me to take lessons...

[billhay4]

Well,
I got a 10-string with fanned frets from Marty Jacobson this year. You can imagine the challenges, but add to that the fact that the string spacing was very narrow and I had a lot of adjustments to make. I had to finger notes very carefully to make sure they were crisp and that I didn't mute adjacent strings. The fanned frets weren't too hard to get used to, but coupled with a radiused fretboard, they meant I could now rarely make a four string chord. So, I learned to make do with three string chords in most cases.
Add to that the additional C string and you can imagine the new chord possibilities that opened up.
I've only started to figure out this instrument, but it's been fun and challenging.
Bill

[red7flag]

My recent addition of a Sobell like Nyberg, with the big body and short neck is a instrument with tons of sustain. As such, to get a really robust note you keep your finger on the string a little bit longer and it rings. The instruments has the tone of a mandolin with the sustain of a guitar, so is kind of a hybrid. The instrument really shines when playing melodic tunes, something like Greensleeves. Anyway, with this instrument your really focus on the individual notes and let them ring.

[sbhikes]

My only change was to play more often since I liked my new mandolin so much.

[Br1ck]

When I got my Michael Kelly 199 mandolin, I started playing way more bluegrass licks as it had the brightness that seemed to go that direction. I'm sure if I bought an old Gibson A, I'd play more Celtic tunes. Instruments just take you in new directions if you just listen to what they have to say.

[Jill McAuley]

When I got my now long gone Weber Custom Gallatin F it definitely changed my playing style purely via not being able to put it down - so I improved!

With my Collings MTO I find I play with a lighter touch as it is so responsive, compared to it's predecessor , the Gibson A-jr I had, which needed to be driven a bit more, so I found myself playing heavier handed than I normally would.

[Tom Wright]

After receiving my first 10-string I found myself practicing so much I would get a blister on my left hand where it meets the neck. I found I could play any style, and spent hours daily working up solo arrangements. I quickly offered my Weber Special Edition for sale as it was getting zero use and would clearly be untouched from now on.

[nmiller]

After taking up tenor banjo/guitar, I've found a lot of those early jazz creeping into my mandolin playing. Augmented chords seem to be popping up with some frequency, not to mention chords further up the neck.

[MontanaMatt]

My new Ratliff has awesome tone, bottom to top, and I find myself learning solos and licks in three octaves now.

[Tim N]

I bought a mandolin to encourage me to learn to play melody, and thus to nail down Irish tunes which I would otherwise not bother with precisely. I've always believed that I would only ever play accompaniment, but now my brain is set to expand!

And whilst the luthier is doing a couple of minor jobs, I am practicing tunes on my tenor guitar - where I'd only ever strummed or picked before. With a capo on 7, a CGDA tuned tenor becomes a useful mandolin substitute - at least for training the mind, but I can obviously transfer my knowledge lower down the neck too.

So, it's been a good catalyst, although I'm only a week in....

[sblock]

Some of us, at least those who are in a financial position to afford it, tend to buy instruments that are "better than we are," meaning that they're the kind of instruments more typical of an advanced or professional player than of a beginner or intermediate and amateur player who is still, truth-be-told, in the learning phase. Owning a great instrument can be a terrific motivator! Hearing its lovely tone and greater musical potential can serve as a carrot-on-a-stick, encouraging us to practice longer, learn more, and work harder on our music.

I'm a great believer in getting the best instrument that you can possibly afford. It will bring added pleasure to your practice, and motivate you to be the best musician you can be. Owning something that's "better than you are" can involve elements of joy, of guilt, of determination, of passion, and more. It can cause you to re-evaluate what you want to get out of your playing ... and why. And THAT is how an instrument can change your playing! It's all about the psychology. It's always been about the psychology.

Anyway, that's how I rationalize my own MAS!

[Charlie Bernstein]

Good question! Writing songs is what I do best. (Not necessarily well, but best.) Different tunings lend themselves to different sounds, so I often come up with song ideas by noodling on another (i.e. not guitar) instrument or by changing guitar tuning.

[Teak]

Some of us, at least those who are in a financial position to afford it, tend to buy instruments that are "better than we are," meaning that they're the kind of instruments more typical of an advanced or professional player than of a beginner or intermediate and amateur player who is still, truth-be-told, in the learning phase. Owning a great instrument can be a terrific motivator! Hearing its lovely tone and greater musical potential can serve as a carrot-on-a-stick, encouraging us to practice longer, learn more, and work harder on our music.

That's certainly how it worked for me. I went from the $60 mandolin that I bought when I first started in 1976 to the $675 mandolin that I bought in 1978. At that time, guitar-playing friends ridiculed the price as being too high for any kind of acoustic but that mandolin was the motivation to practice practice practice. And it is still my number 1 axe.

[Capt. E]

I am in the process of exploring my 20's vintage Stromberg-Voisinet tenor guitar, strung and tuned like an octave mandolin. The lower octave and single strings are of course rather different than a mandolin, but I am seeing how they effect each other...style, song selection, etc. I'm using my pinky more now. I have been more of a 3 finger Jethro style mandolin player in the past.

[catmandu2]

Mandolin (and fiddle, banjo..) opened the doors of trad/"folk" music to me. Prior to that it was mostly classical, jazz, rock.. As Tim mentioned above - after all the polyphony, studying the mandolin was an exercise in the primacy of lyricism - the joy of al-fresco melody on an easily accessible instrument. This has spurred many additional pursuits in this vein, as the sounds of different instruments inspired creativity and study in various traditional forms. For me, the particular timbre of the mandolin is its deficiency - so the mandolin helped to propel me toward all kinds of multi-course exploration.

I've written extensively on the heuristic aspects of sound/playing musical instruments. There's much to be explored.

[Bob A]

My guitar-playing is usually in the finger-picking style.

When I had the opportunity to get a 1950s Gibson LG2 that had some problems (one brace came unstuck, and the top had significant pick wear), I had it repaired - brace reglued, bare wood oversprayed - the instrument itself seemed to demand to be played LOUDLY. An uncommon practice for me, but one that was obviously indulged by the previous owner. So I flail away at it, and the guitar seems grateful that I divined the message it portrayed.

[Mark Wilson]

Mandolin forced me to use a pick. Believe me I even tried not to, like on guitar.

And mandolin introduced me to fiddle tunes due to accessible lesson material on web. That led to dabbling with bluegrass which led to picking and singing the same in groups with strangers which led to being forever hooked despite thinking the worst of the lot all my musical life. Still a folkie at heart but I have crossed to the dark side where pick speed and high tenor are the big dogs on the porch

[Kowboy]

Playing the Upright Bass made aware of my bad timing. The fiddle made me like different tunes. Both instruments have made my mandolin playing better. In my world anyway.

[Eric Platt]

While I still love my Breedlove Cascade, have been coming to the realization that my Gibson A Jr. is better suited for Finnish music. Was discussing it with another band member (and my mentor) last night. Oval hole Gibsons seem to have a better bass which helps when playing in minor keys. Which is a good chunk of what we're doing right now. Also noticed that I'm playing the Gibson more in the middle, over the soundhole, than the Cascade where I play close to the fingerboard.

That said, the Cascade cuts through better, is louder, and easier to play. And got a number of compliments from some Danish players a couple of weeks ago.

[Doug Goodhill]

When I got my Michael Kelly 199 mandolin, I started playing way more bluegrass licks as it had the brightness that seemed to go that direction. I'm sure if I bought an old Gibson A, I'd play more Celtic tunes. Instruments just take you in new directions if you just listen to what they have to say.

I went from playing F5 style instruments to an A4 style and it certainly changed my rhythm playing. I think the round sound hole style cannot deliver the extra volume proportional to the force you play with - it breaks down at some point when the f-hole style continues to deliver. On the other hand there is a sweetness to the older style - listen to Peter Ostroushko. The color of the low notes... unparalleled.

[Dave Sheets]

Working on learning fiddle has altered my guitar playing substantially, for the better. Hasn't seemed to impact my mandolin playing.

[MikeZito]

When I first started playing electric guitar I played Les Paul's and Stratocaster's, with a very heavy hand. When I got my first Rickenbacker I noticed that I got incredible tone by playing with a significantly lighter touch. In the years since then (whether I am playing acoustic or electric) I have NEVER gotten a compliment on my playing - but I get LOTS of compliments on my tone.

[fatt-dad]

Instruments change my playing in interesting ways! I think MAS is behind me. I have four mandolins that mean something to me. I spent the summer mostly playing my A3 and using my Wegan TF 140. It was comfortable. It was familiar. I've had my A3 for quite a while too - an old friend.

About 2 weeks ago, I recall just how frustrating the mandolin can be! I wanted to change it up! So, I grabbed my Blue Chip Jazz large, my Cohen and began a new journey - working on technique, accuracy, clarity, pick grip, etc. I'm changing up everything that approaches, "Better sound."

Go watch Sierra Hull. How does she to that! I want to get such confidence, clarity, smoothness, etc. I mean it must be an intentional exercise, eh?

So, in some way when I read the OP, I agree. I just don't go buy any more. I re-find, re-acclimate, adjust, etc.

In the end it's our technique, or so I think. . .

f-d

[soliver]

I've played an Eastman MD305 for a couple of years now and recently came into a Flatiron 1N. The 305 has a surprisingly good bark and a really dry but sweet tone that has been GREAT at the local BG jam... the 1N is VERY VERY different... much rounder with loads more bass and loads more sustain... that being said, I learned my first Irish Waltz yesterday...

I met a very talented Fiddle player at our Jam this week who was an evacuee from Irma staying with a friend here in N. Georgia. She handed me a small book of Irish and OT tunes with an accompanying CD with fast and slow versions of each song, both of which were self produced... looking forward to banging those out on the 1N... the Waltz was the first shot... looks like fun!

[Jess L.]

... How has an instrument changed your playing style, technique, ...

I added lots more bent notes & vibrato (fretting hand technique) to my playing when I "went electric" playing American fiddle tunes and Irish trad and Balkan dance tunes and whatever else I liked on my first-ever electric guitar a few years ago, tuned in fifths of course. This was after decades of being a staunch anti-electric acoustic-only type of person.

I'd used a lesser amount of note bends before that on certain slack-tuned banjos and such, but the awesome responsiveness of electrics opened up a whole new world of technique possibilities.

(Yes, such things can be overdone. I probably did that at first.)

That responsiveness and incredible sustain has an annoying side-effect though - too much sustain on the open bass strings. So I'm finally having to start learning a utilitarian technique called "palm muting", to stop those open bass strings from ringing like a bell *all* the darn time even when I don't want them to. I haven't quite got the hang of it yet (requires a higher level of coordination than what I'm used to) but I'm working on it and it seems a little easier day by day.