Help me in Broadening my scope

[soliver]

Hey Gang... I've been playing for roughly 3 years now and feel like I'm doing pretty well in approaching an intermediate level. Past music experience and understanding has me somewhat comfortable playing with others at the local Bluegrass Jam. I feel ok standing along side some skilled players; recognizing I'm still light years away, but still with enough understanding, muscle memory and bravery that I feel confident enough to (at a minimum) keep up.

HOWEVER... I am encountering a big stumbling block lately. I have opportunities arising lately to play with the praise band at church (I'm on staff at the church and have been welcomed into the staff-band, aka "Staff infection")... but am having trouble translating my Bluegrass-centric playing style into anything that fits in well with contemporary praise and worship music. I feel stuck and want to be able to make a meaningful contribution, but I feel like I'm starting over at Square 1.

How have you been successful at broadening your stylistic scope? What recommendations can you recommend for me to help me fit in with other styles of music?

[Mark Miller]

I don’t know if this will help, but I have a neighbor who is a guitarist and a pastor. He writes sacred music that he plays in his services. Quite lovely stuff, based in his jazz background. We get together to play every once in a while. Since he’s a better and much more experienced musician than me, that mostly means we play whatever bluegrass or old-timey stuff I’ve been working on. Lately I have taken some small steps towards learning jazz mandolin. It’s a much more expansive chordal vocabulary, obviously. That’s been my starting point, along with very simple melody. I can now start to bring that over to playing with my friend. It means learning his chords, which takes me some time, and really listening to the rhythms of the piece, which are very un-bluegrassy, and starting with just small embellishments on the chords (like a little light tremolo on chord tones, or an extension note I can reach from the chord). I can’t play his melodies yet—the way they lay out in phrases is just too different from what I’m used to playing—but open chords and jazz voicings and teeny melodic touches around them can be a nice addition to what he’s playing and singing. Would something like that work in your context?

[soliver]

Thanks Mark, that is very helpful.

It's hard but a lot of it is simply removing the boom-chucka chop from my brain; esp without it sounding like I'm playing the mando-tar ...if that makes sense. I guess trying to strike the balance between it "fitting in" but sounding uniquely mandolin-like.

[onassis]

You might want to spend some time listening to and playing along with different, non-bluegrass types of music, especially stuff that's similar to what you're playing in church. I got started on Americana-ish music (Gillian Welch, Old Crow, etc.), stuff that I already knew on guitar, just strumming along, trying to get comfortable with the chord changes.

It might also help to listen to what other instruments common to the genre do, and try to approximate that. I used to play a lot of country-ish music with some friends, and when a lap steel player joined us I realized that I had been playing a lot of steel guitar style lines on the mandolin, using tremolo and double stops. You can always start with picking out the individual notes of the chords (arpeggios, or an approximation of cross-picking) or doing single note tremolo on chord tones.

[Mando Mort]

Maybe find a good praise and worship songbook and learn a couple of tunes focusing on the melody and chord changes. Learn them slowly at first to take the bluegrass rhythm out of it.

[Mark Gunter]

Spencer, what I've been doing is to just try out a lot of different styles of song, try to come up with arrangements, then record them. Most of it sounds like rubbish, but it helps to identify weak spots and to separate out what doesn't work. Maybe an approach like that could help you a bit, if you have the time to experiment that way.

[Bob Visentin]

As a bass player I find the main difference in genres is the rhythm patterns. Listen to the bass and drums and play something to compliment them. Try playing a sparse rhythm pattern. Many intermediate players play to much. Leave space.

[Jim Imhoff]

Getting away from boom-chuck chords is important, and chop-chording is one aspect of bluegrass jamming I find tedious and boring in a circle of more than 4 or 5 people. There is a wide range of mandolin playing styles; scanning quickly through the thread I did not see much mention of classical (listen to Modern Mandolin Quartet for example, as well as many recording of Bach on mandolin and mandocello). That should give you some ideas. Melodic tremolo, arpeggios, light chords ON the beat (it's possible!!) are all options to try. The instrument was around a few centuries before bluegrass, and Antonio Vivaldi, Rafael Calace, Caterina Lichtenberg, and Chris Thile have things to offer beyond I IV V.

[August Watters]

I'd suggest working through three-note, closed position chords. Very useful in any style.

[Randi Gormley]

It sounds like you need to recalibrate. Just to shake up what you're used to, try playing Christmas carols or nursery rhyme songs. single line melody, or melody and chord -- and concentrate on keeping the rhythm slow and steady, no heavy beats, no flourishes. try using a metronome. People who drink wine use bread or water to clear their palate between sips, you can consider this very simple melody/remembrance music as a palate-cleanser. And try to find a different place in the praise band for mandolin -- something NOT related to its place in bluegrass. my 2 cents.

[soliver]

All the ideas are much appreciated gang. The Staff Infection played the past Saturday and all seemed to go ok ... thou when I watch the recording I can't hear myself at all.... maybe the tech director and the band leader told them to put my level low

Thanks again!

[Mark Wilson]

I would study syncopated rhythm methods. A mix of cross picking like syncopation over the chords can sound pretty cool. Doesn't require picking the melody at all but a little of that thrown in will work too

[farmerjones]

I can give an Amen to expanding your chord theory/repertoire.
The crux of the matter is, if I say, "There's more to life than I, IV, V. There's also ii, V, I."
We know we have to be versed in the common and not-so-common keys too.
The Praise band stuff I've heard has a sort of repetitive, chant-like characteristic.
That lets a picker mess around with rhythms and harmonies within the structure.
Fleshing out harmonies is definitely a part of chord theory.
Oh yes, FFCP, ala Jazzmando.com has to help. It helped me.
My favorite part is, if you get the principles down, you don't need to know the name of the chord.
If it sounds good, it is good.

[soliver]

Thanks gang, I've got another gig this Saturday playing an event at the church. Fortunately they're all relatively easy chord progressions. So I've been working on adding some good fills and such to make it more lead guitar-esque.

Thanks for all the tips, it has really helped!