How many of you mostly use your CBOM for melody playing?

[Dagger Gordon]

I have to admit that for the last few years I have been using my Sobell octave mandolin/ 8 string cittern / bouzouki or whatever it's called principally as a rhythm instrument or for accompanying songs.
Not sure why really. I think perhaps it's because the pitch of the instrument means it sometimes gets lost in a group situation, whereas a tenor banjo has more cutting power and mandolin can carry above guitars and things.

However recently I have been playing it much more for melody - sometimes capoed up - and I have to say it is great to reconnect. I have been playing rather differently than I used to. I like to make use of the open strings and play the tune right up around the tenth and twelfth frets. Crosspicking, I suppose.

It made me reflect on what attracted me to the instrument in the first place. I think it sounds great on the sort of Scottish tunes Ossian used to play with Billy Jackson's harp and Tony Cuffe's guitar, and their well-known version of St Kilda Wedding with George Jackson on cittern. Early Battlefield stuff was nice. Brian McNeill once made an album called Monksgate which featured a lot of cittern which I really enjoyed. And Gerald Trimble's first album remains a classic. I also enjoy David Surette's playing (on all his instruments actually).

http://www.amazon.com/Monksgate-Bria.../dp/B0000023YU

But at the same time it's great for Scottish pipe tunes. So I guess my plan for the winter is to play it a lot more.

[multidon]

I use my OM for melody in groups almost exclusively. I may throw in some double stops and chord/melody if playing by myself. I never use it for chords to accompany singing. For me, nothing beats a guitar for that.

[derbex]

I mainly use mine for melody, or harmony; in a session where I don't know the song I'll try playing chords.

I do find it a quiet instrument, it can't really hold it's own in a main session against squeeze boxes and fiddlers, but it's great with just two or three others to provide a lower voice.

[John Kelly]

Melody very much more than rhythm, Dagger. I like it for the extra sustain when I am playing pipe tunes and such like. I still remember fondly the great session we had in Kevin's house up in Achiltibuie back in 2013 at the Summer Isles Festival - all those resonator mandolins going!

Here's a link to a recent upload I put on Soundcloud, of the retreat march by PM George MacLennan, "Far O'er Struy". Octave and mandolin sharing the melody and harmonies; guitar backing.

https://soundcloud.com/user9128887/far-oer-struy

[Jim Bevan]

(Not sure if mandolas go under the CBOM heading or not, but...)

I bought my Gibson H2 after doing a duo gig with my Goldie whistle-playing wife for which I played an old cedar-top light-stringed 10-string Sobell -- the strings weren't beefy enough to handle the volume I was trying to strum out of the instrument. I now take the H2 everywhere (I'm a touring keyboardist), and when I can get to a session, I'll play melody (unless there's no guitarist, and then it's more or less half-and-half).

[foldedpath]

My octave mandolin is mainly used for melody, especially the slower tempo Irish/Scottish tunes where the OM has tons of sustain that can be milked to support the tune. Slow reels, marches, O'Carolan tunes, and the like. I prefer mandolin for the faster dance tunes, where the mandolin's string response is quicker and the reach is more comfortable. But anything a bit more relaxed is fun to play on the OM.

I would probably use my OM more for accompaniment if I didn't also play Drop-D guitar, which (for me) is a more versatile instrument for backing Irish/Scottish trad. So it slides into a melody role by default, I guess. It's my least-used instrument between mandolin, OM, and guitar. But where it works, it works very well.

[Pittsburgh Bill]

I use my mandola primarily for solo play. Melody with a few chords and double stops added to enrich the sound. When playing with others I reach for the Mandolin so as to not tax my brain determining how to get in the key I need to be in. Besides, I think the mandola gets lost with me at the controls when playing with others.

[NotMelloCello]

Since I play mostly jazz and pop without vocals - I mix it up.
For instance - "Walk, Don't Run" is a mix of single note melody and chords.

[Tom Haywood]

I use my bouzouki in a large dance setting where it is usually the only instrument being played (no amplification). I play a combined melody and chordal rhythm in an open tuning to support the dance and the singing. It is plenty loud but can get lost with other mid-range instruments, including loud voices. The guitar really works better, but the bouzouki gets a beautiful sound that can't be matched.

[Colin Lindsay]

Melody or counter-melody almost exclusively; I rarely strum, but I will play around chords for interesting accompaniments.

[Bob Clark]

I use my short-scale length Weber OM strictly for melody. It is a D-hole arch-top and I love the sound and long sustain for this purpose. No need for a capo on this one. The short scale length really lends itself to this purpose.

[lucho]

I have played with whistle players like Panchy (Jim´s wife) in folk sessions and usually I carry some CBOM like a coimbra guitar, celtic cittern o spanish laud playing part melody, and part conterpoint chordal rhythm, but with other groups like my choir I do play melody when I can or arpeggio for slower mood singing. Sometimes I have tried some melodic lines with a Gibson mandocello too. When playing solo I do prefere citterns or OM so I could do both easily.

[Phil Vinyard]

I seem to be in the minority here. I break mine out whenever guitar players are in short supply and somebody needs to be playing on the beat. I thought about getting a guitar for such occasions, but my octave is close enough pitch wise and I don't have to re-learn guitar chords.

[Barry Wilson]

I use mine for strumming. It takes the place of a 12 string for me. I love the sound

[Mandobart]

My main playing is vocal accompaniment. My style for that is mainly chords with ornamentation - hammer ons, walk up/down, chord melody, etc. Most of my gigs now are solo so I don't bust out the lead solos or melodies that much anymore. When jamming or playing in an ensemble I will sometimes play melody or a single note harmony line. One nice thing about my mandola, OM and 'cello is the sustain, making melodies more pleasant sounding. The rapid decay of a BG mandolin makes it less suited to a melody unless it is played fast or I use lots of tremelo, which can make everything sound like a Venetian gondolier.

[jdsobol]

Tunes, with harmony and rhythm. It's the all-purpose ax.
Joseph

I have to admit that for the last few years I have been using my Sobell octave mandolin/ 8 string cittern / bouzouki or whatever it's called principally as a rhythm instrument or for accompanying songs.
Not sure why really. I think perhaps it's because the pitch of the instrument means it sometimes gets lost in a group situation, whereas a tenor banjo has more cutting power and mandolin can carry above guitars and things.

However recently I have been playing it much more for melody - sometimes capoed up - and I have to say it is great to reconnect. I have been playing rather differently than I used to. I like to make use of the open strings and play the tune right up around the tenth and twelfth frets. Crosspicking, I suppose.

It made me reflect on what attracted me to the instrument in the first place. I think it sounds great on the sort of Scottish tunes Ossian used to play with Billy Jackson's harp and Tony Cuffe's guitar, and their well-known version of St Kilda Wedding with George Jackson on cittern. Early Battlefield stuff was nice. Brian McNeill once made an album called Monksgate which featured a lot of cittern which I really enjoyed. And Gerald Trimble's first album remains a classic. I also enjoy David Surette's playing (on all his instruments actually).

http://www.amazon.com/Monksgate-Bria.../dp/B0000023YU

But at the same time it's great for Scottish pipe tunes. So I guess my plan for the winter is to play it a lot more.

[NotMelloCello]

Tunes, with harmony and rhythm. It's the all-purpose ax.

Amen. Preach it.

[allenhopkins]

Depends, but I'd say mostly harmony and rhythm. Although I do a few leads and breaks on mandola (Sobell) and octave mandolin (Flatiron).

What I really love is improvising harmonies behind a lead mandolin or fiddle, alto or tenor voices. Counter-melodies, too. Since I also play mandolin, I can pull that out when I want to "sing soprano."

Mandocello is almost exclusively chording and bass runs, but I need to work out more low-end melodic figures.

[ollaimh]

i play fast tunes and songs with melody based accompaniment, and only rarely chord. double stops and drones yes, chords rarely.

the powerfull rhythym you can get on a five course four course or even greek bouzouki with melodies and double stops does it all for me. chords are better for guitar.

[Carl Robin]

All melody all the time, but I'm a beginner. "All-purpose ax" sounds right, though. There is so much to learn !

[David Surette]

Thanks for the nice mention, Dagger. The admiration cuts both ways! I find that I do use my Trillium cittern about equally for accompaniment and for melodic playing. However, I would say that my tune repertoire is probably substantially larger on the mandolin than on the cittern, due to scale length primarily, but also the volume aspect you referred to. I tune DADAE, low to high, so I also do a lot of capoing at the fifth fret (GDGDA). Both of these tunings are great for the standard keys for Irish sessions. I usually will capo third fret for F or C. And I should play mine more this winter as well. The dark tone is very wintry.

[Dagger Gordon]

Melody with a certain amount of chording and double stopping for adding colour seems to be what a lot of us are doing.

I wonder if I had posed the same question on an Irish bouzouki forum if I would get the same answers.

[John Flynn]

I play at church every week, both mando and OM. The vast majority of the time I play melody on the mando and rhythm on the OM. Every now and then, I will find an opportunity to vary.

Last week we had a tune that started in Db (a key only a sadist would compose in!), "Love Has Come" by Matt Maher, and while I could play it on mandolin, I didn't like the tone I was getting in that range. I capo'ed the OM on the 4th fret and played "as if in D," only one string set higher, meaning the A and E courses. So when I saw a D (actually a Db) on the sheet music, I would play an open A string (capo 4). Sounds convoluted, but I was able to do some double stop work that way that really sounded cool and fit that tune perfectly. The other great thing is that tune modulates up a half step, twice. With my Trigger Capo, it was an easy, quick move up a fret each modulation, so I could play the same fingerings. I find the OM is great for those kinds of work-arounds.

I hear you about pipe tunes. I'm sure you know many more than I, but one of my guilty pleasures is playing some pipe war marches I've picked up over the years on my OM. The instrument just fits those tunes so well.

[Bertram Henze]

Melody with a certain amount of chording and double stopping for adding colour

That about covers exactly what I'm doing.
Apart from that, I also do song accompaniment with fingerstyle picking.

[Mandobart]

I neglected to mention this in my earlier post. A lot of my playing uses finger picking (and I mean fingers, no banjo/dobro thumb and finger picks). Especially good (and the only acceptable way) for Hawaiian Slack key. The OM and mandocello excel at this provided there is sufficient string spacing. One neat thing about this style is you play melody and accompaniment simultaneously.