Mandolin in other genres?

[MandoAlexander]

Hello all,

I am new to these forums, and I'm enjoying myself so far. I am also new to mandolin, or rather playing them. My father plays, and I have played guitar for many years. I am finding the transition from guitar to mandolin very enjoyable indeed, a really fun, fresh concept for me.

Anyway, cutting to the chase, I love many genres of music. From classical to bluegrass, from jazz to metal, anything in between. I recently spotted two guys on YouTube doing a mando cover or Tool's 'Lateralus' (My favourite band are Tool) and I was wondering if any mando experts on here could point me in the direction of any players using the mandolin in a new and innovative way in other genres of music?

Also, on a side note, can anyone recommend me any mandolin musicians or groups to listen to? As I'm not familiar with many players right now, besides Bill Monroe and Chris Thile, which may seem pretty obvious.

Thanks!

[Steve Lavelle]

David Grisman has an extensive musical catalog in a great variety of styles. He's recorded bluegrass, jazz, Gypsy jazz, funk, and invented his own hybrid style, commonly referred to as Dawg music. Jethro Burns was a great Jazz mandolinist. the late Nash the Slash was my first exposure to punk electric mandolin. Sam Bush is sometimes called the father of Newgrass for his innovations in applying the mandolin to other styles of music. Andy Statman does some very avant garde things with the mandolin. I'm sure others will chime in with their own suggestions.

[PaulVA]

You may want to check out Caterina Lichtenberg. This is pretty interesting stuff I think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pw26nmGgG8

[CelticDude]

There have been some sightings of mandolin in rock and pop: Paul McCartney used one recently on a forgettable (to me) pop song; Led Zeppelin on LZIV (Going to California and Battle of Evermore); REM's Losing My Religion; others? Also, in Celtic music there are Andy Irvine, Marla Fibbish, David Surrette, and Simon Mayor doing some great stuff. Probably others as well.

Mandolin - not just for bluegrass anymore.

[verbs4us]

Speaking of Zep, catch this clip of John Paul Jones on mando, "Going to California," in a kind of Celtic-jazz-blues fusion piece. I show to friends to say, "See? See what the lowly mandolin can do?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLU08nOtUkc

[crisscross]

For classical and "world music" you might also check out Avi Avital https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S19Q4e4Q4Kk
Jazz mandolin: Jason Annick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bmXS7kpDRg Don Stiernberg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCyCsAVwea8
One of my all time favourite mandolin player is Yorkshireman Simon Mayor: He plays mostly originals, that are inspired by variety of genres https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQxHQcXajjQ
Just to name a few

[catmandu2]

I don't listen to a lot of mandolin music, but I love what's basically "race" or ethnic -style blues with mandolin in it ..

I like stuff with horns - banjos and mandolins

[zedmando]

I started a thread where I asked about & for, and received many references for blues mandolin--so cool videos & links in that thread.

[k0k0peli]

Euro-folk and classical mandolin predates bluegrass by some centuries. There's rather a large literature of such. Scrolling down the forums list here reveals interest in various genres. Pick a style, and there you are! My personal preference is surf music on mando. I don't know who plays it so I try to do it myself. Cowabunga!

[MandoAlexander]

Wow, thanks for all the great replies folks. Much appreciated. I will be sure to check out each and every one of these artists as soon as possible. I am already familiar with Led Zeppelin and REM, both great bands in their own right. @PaulVA I just checked out your link, absolutely brilliant playing! Love it. Great composition. Also @Skunkwood Nash the Slash sounds pretty interesting to me, I'll check him out soon. He's the guy who wore bandages over his face right? I've never explored his music but I will now. Also @crisscross and @catmandu2 thanks for the links guys, I'll have a look when I have some more spare time. One last thing @k0k0peli, COWABUNGA MAN!

Great stuff. Thanks to everyone who got in touch. Great help. I wish you all enjoyment and fulfilment in your mando endeavours!

[journeybear]

I'm dedicated to expanding the possibilities of and for the mandolin, have been since the start, and as time has gone on and I've learned and explored more of its capabilities, I've grown even more so. When I began playing it, I was a teenager in the midst of the acid-rock, protest-folk, and Motown Stax/Volt soul Sixties. The mandolin and bass were my instruments, and since mandolin enables chords, and sounds so goshdarn pretty (till you get to know it better ) that's what I've stuck with. I've always wanted to be a rocker, even with my unusual choice for an instrument, and this has led me to various approaches for amplifying the instrument. I hear music in my head, and the mandolin is my reality interface - it's what I use to extract music from my mind and convert it into sound for others to hear. This can take any form that pleases me - rock, pop, country, blues, soul, folk, calypso, reggae, jug band, swing, ragtime, gypsy jazz - heck, I've even written a bluegrass song and a breakdown. You may infer from that (rightly so), that bluegrass is not my main area of interest, though I do like to play it, now and then, even though it comes out as more or less my usual style, sped up a bit.

I just don't see why any instrument, let alone such a fine one, so versatile, should be limited to playing in just one or two genres. It's not, though the vast majority of people think that it is. That's more due to their ignorance, or perhaps lack of exposure to its versatility, than anything else, and this is fed by what they've heard, which is dominated by what gets played on the radio. But just as piano isn't limited to classical music, and guitar to country and rock, mandolin isn't limited by or to its most common genres. Like any instrument, it can be used to play whatever kind of music its player wants to play. It may take a little doing to get it to sound right, it may take your ears a little time to get accustomed to how it sounds in unconventional genres, but it works well in more ways than one might think.

BTW, check out the listing of rock songs w/mando thread, with the most recently updated version at Posts 225-227 . You'll be amazed at how many songs are on that list - so many it had to be spread over three posts. It is in desperate need of updating, too, as a lot has come along since then. The few songs mentioned so far here are just the tippity top tip of the iceberg.

Since k0k0peli mentioned surf music, I thought I'd offer the following. The former lead singer/guitarist of my band was into it - in fact, his involvement with his other band, which plays a lot of rockabilly, rock 'n' roll, and surf music, led him to quit the band so he could devote himself to that band - brought some of those numbers into our repertoire. We used to do a whole mini-set of surf and rockabilly in our show, things like "Pipeline," Walk Don't Run," "Apache," "Surf Rider," and "Misirlou." (FWIW, those first two are among the few things I can play on guitar, and are among the little I have retained from the lessons I got at 13 from the surfer kid up the road.) This last one got morphed into a mash-up with "These Boots Are Made For Walking," somehow, possibly because they're both in E (well, E major and E minor, Phrygian mode). We've kept this in our repertoire even after the former lead singer/guitarist's abrupt departure. I wish we had videos of some of those performances. But we do have a video from a recent show. We've returned "Misirlou" to something more akin to its Greek roots, rather than the Dick Dale rave-up version, but it's enjoyable as it is all the same. And besides, even though mandolin isn't the main lead instrument, this shows how the instrument can be used out of its usual context. This ain't no bluegrass or country!

[k0k0peli]

We used to do a whole mini-set of surf and rockabilly in our show, things like "Pipeline," Walk Don't Run," "Apache," "Surf Rider," and "Misirlou." <...> We've returned "Misirlou" to something more akin to its Greek roots, rather than the Dick Dale rave-up version, but it's enjoyable as it is all the same.

Those are pretty easy if you've got a whole band. I do (some of) them as mando solos in somewhat open tunings. Yes, I like the challenge. Or is it masochism? BTW 'Misirlou' is Turkish for "The Egyptian" and most mideast peoples claim it as their own.

[JeffD]

Its good to listen to mandolin music to get a feeling for how much the mandolin can do.

At the same time, once you realize there isn't much the mandolin can't do, you can just listen to anything and try it on mandolin. The mandolin is indigenous to only a small number of genres, so most of the worlds music has not yet been heard on the mandolin. If you only play music you have heard on the mandolin, well really, that is not a lot of music in the grand scheme of things.

[Bill Baldridge]

You might want to go to the Mandolin Cafe home page and click on the MP3 link at the top of the page if you want to listen to mandolin music in different genres

[journeybear]

At the same time, once you realize there isn't much the mandolin can't do, you can just listen to anything and try it on mandolin. The mandolin is indigenous to only a small number of genres, so most of the worlds music has not yet been heard on the mandolin.

Cross-referencing - one of the key elements of innovation.

If you only play music you have heard on the mandolin, well really, that is not a lot of music in the grand scheme of things.

Well ... There's a lot more mandolin music out there than what you may hear, without putting some effort into finding it. If you limit yourself to music that you'll tend to hear on the mandolin, or that's likely to get played, either on the radio or TV, or by many if not most mandolinists you're likely to encounter, sure. But if you passively accept this as being all that is available or even possible, you're doomed. Seek out more, because there is more, much more, than what is easily obtained.

But yeah, I know what you mean. The mandolin is a minor instrument, by current standards, like it or not, so there's less music featuring it readily available than, say, guitar, piano, or violin. I refuse to accept this, and prefer to live in nearly complete denial of this unjust state of affairs. It helps me get through.

[earthspan]

I recently arranged Bohemian Rhapsody for Mandolin, I had to transcribe to G to give myself half a chance, but it works surprisingly well and is a great to play at open mic nights.

If you want to try something classical other than Bach, I would recommend Modern Mandolin Quartet playing Nut Cracker Suite. Several of these classic melodies (loved by advertisers) work well as solos.

[JeffD]

If you want to try something classical other than Bach, I would recommend Modern Mandolin Quartet playing Nut Cracker Suite.

Yes. Good stuff. Also don't forget Avi Avital. His new Vivaldi CD is as good as it gets.

[crisscross]

Just search Youtube!

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