When you started and why and where you end up?

[Cosmic Graffiti]

Hi,
Music is such a fascinating subject and such a broad field that I feel it has something to offer most everyone. Sticking to Mandolin discussion here I am curious.

1. What kind of music drew you to the Mandolin?

2. What Kind of music did you set out to play?

3. Did your interest in music change/grow/expand beyond what interested you in the beginning? If so to what genres?

Thanks,
Steve

[Mark Gunter]

No kind of music really drew me to the mandolin, as a long-time guitarist I bought a MarkStern bowlback mandolin on a whim and fixed it up. At the time I had spent the most recent years concerning myself mostly with fingerstyle acoustic blues on the guitar but certainly not limiting myself to any genre in any concrete sense.

A musician friend who is all about bluegrass began encouraging me to play with grassers, and I loved it. So when I got into mandolin I began on fiddle tunes, then as I learned a few chords I began playing other stuff that I know well on guitar, and have had a growing interest in classical and bluegrass. It's all good - but I'm not good, LOL - so I play the mandolin almost daily for myself and stick to the guitar when I'm in front of others, for the most part.

Goal is to be good enough, or engaging enough, on the mandolin to do more performing with it and jamming with it when I'm with other musicians.

[Denny Gies]

1. My wife made me buy "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" back in the '70's and it flipped my musical tastes on their head
2. Bluegrass, bluegrass and some more bluegrass;
3. In the beginning I was a Zepplin and Stones fan. Been singing since a kid in church, choir in high school and quartets.











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[Mandobart]

I started with violin at the age of 10, playing classical music in orchestra all thru high school. Along the way I picked up electric bass and played in jazz band, again thru my high school years. At about 13 I took up guitar and played mostly what we now call Americana (Eagles, Neil Young, John Prine, etc.). I also started learning fiddle tunes from a neighbor of mine at the same time. Got to see Hot Rize several times when Tim's hair was really red.

About 9 years ago my neighbor asked me to help him with an old cheapo mandolin he had. I had never played one before, but I knew it was normally tuned like a violin. So I got some new strings, repaired the bridge, tuned her up and started picking out the old fiddle tunes from my youth. Well I really enjoyed it so I bought my own cheapo mandolin and started going to weekly jams with a bluegrass club. Now I have way too many instruments. So I guess bluegrass drew me to the mandolin. I still love to play bluegrass, but now I'm also playing Gypsy Jazz, swing, some rock tunes, some celtic and Americana.

[CES]

Childrens' and youth choir growing...tenor sax in junior high, added an alto along the way, played some through college (but not in band after the high school band director wanted me to do a uniform change at halftime of games...seriously???). Fast forward to my late 20s, when with two kids I really needed to find a hobby I could do at home. Heard Ode to a Butterfly by NC in the background of a country radio show's morning intro...had to have a banjo...couldn't afford one. While saving, my wife borrowed a guitar from my father in law for me, and I started there. Eventually bought the banjo, and began to dig into new grass and old skool BG...then really discovered the mando...couldn't afford one. Saved for a while and eventually got an eBay disaster. Got it (sort of) playable, and have been hooked since. Picked up bass out of necessity a few years ago.

My musical interests range from those stated above to jazz to classical to rock to really heavy rock. And, classic country. I even like some rap, but it's gotta be good, innovative stuff (yes, it's out there). That said, I head up the youth praise band at our church, so mostly play Christian rock/praise music.

Someday, I want to be able to play Ode to a Butterfly. Have the DVD, just need to put in the time...also, hope to get proficient enough to jam with pretty much anyone without ruining it for them

[catmandu2]

I got band in elementary school, then began a lifetime of formal guitar study at age 10. In my teens - due primarily to Led Zep III - began studying pedal steel, banjo, mandolin...

Black mountain side got me into Jansch - got me into more trad from the Isles (ergo planxty, bothy, et al)...now going ever deeper into trad and studying a lot on clarsach.

In 1980, Oregon (Towner's 12-string and Walcott's hammered dulcimer) got me hooked on the timbre of double-courses.

Still looking for a hardingfele (got one? - see my ad in "Trades" ; )

[JeffD]

In high school everyone was playing guitar. It made you cool.

Being a contrarian I both wanted to be cool, and at the same time I didn't want to follow the herd.

I chose mandolin.

By the way, it never made me cool. Luckily it became addicting.

[BrianWilliam]

High school. Chicks. Here.

[Stacey Morris]

I had zero musical training, but my father-in-law had a mandolin. No particular type of music drew me. When we visited, he chorded on the guitar and I attempted to pick out the melody for his favorite hymns. This was all just in his den for fun.

My wife inherited his mandolin. When we took it in for repair, it basically came apart. I bought a $100 mandolin from the music store where we had taken it for repairs. I bought Mel Bay's "You Can Learn to Play the Mandolin" by Dix Bruce. I got started and have kept on. Now, I have "Complete Mandolinist" by Marilynn Mair and am learning to read and play music. The going is definitely slow, but I am enjoying the journey. I have lived long enough to realize that is the most important thing about any undertaking.

Now, I am interested in playing all types of music, from chording along with singing to playing classical music.

[Ken Carroll]

Won a 12-string in a raffle, but could not play it, so gave it away to my guitar-collecting grandson, then decided to buy a smaller guitar and take a guitar class at the local community college. Fell and injured my left shoulder, and had to drop the class for rotator cuff surgery. My grandson offered me a mandolin that he had received in a guitar swap and I jumped at the chance. As I recuperated from surgery, I found that the mandolin was easier to handle and play. That guitar sure looks good on a stand in my family room! I would start playing it if it didn't take time from my mando playing. I try to play different types of music.

[Bertram Henze]

1. ITM
2. ITM
3. No

[Bill McCall]

Not directly music driven, but my Dad played, as an Appalachian child, although I never heard him. I took it up years after he passed.
Bluegrass.
Gypsy jazz and swing.

[misterstormalong]

1. I was drawn to the mandolin by its logic.

2. I was originally going to use it to accompany English traditional folk songs, as that is the music I was doing at the time.

3. After a lot of uncertainty about style and genre I eventually gravitated to 'classic' Bluegrass.

Rik

[RodCH]

I wasn't even married in the 70s. And I thought I was old! But "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" was a big deal for me as well. Nobody had to make me buy it. I was right there money in hand when it arrived at the store.

I'm not really a bluegrasser. I love to listen but am not good enough to play in an ensemble.

Gospel is also a big part of my love of music.

[UsuallyPickin]

Well .... Newgrass brought me to mandolin..... Sam Bush and Newgrass Revival, The David Grisman Rounder Album, Tony Rice's Manzanita, Old and in the Way. Once I started listening I found Jethro Burns and Tiny Moore ...... I still listen to and play Newgrass and Bluegrass. But I gain as much pleasure listening to Classical mandolin as Jazz or 'grass. R/

[AlanN]

Well .... Newgrass brought me to mandolin..... Sam Bush and Newgrass Revival, The David Grisman Rounder Album, Tony Rice's Manzanita, Old and in the Way. Once I started listening I found Jethro Burns and Tiny Moore ...... I still listen to and play Newgrass and Bluegrass.

Pretty much me here. Oh, and seeing Wake do the Bake around Saratoga Lake

[Jess L.]

... 1. What kind of music drew you to the Mandolin? ...

My dad played mandolin (waltzes and cowboy songs), also oldtime banjo and harmonica and some other instruments.

But he did the proper mandolin-y tremolo thing, I never could identify with that too much, so for a long time I ignored the mandolin in favor of other instruments.

... 2. What Kind of music did you set out to play? ...

Fiddle tunes!

Somehow or another it finally dawned on me that the mandolin was tuned exactly the same as fiddle.

So that meant that all the notes were in the 'right' places, I didn't have to learn anything new since I already played fiddle, well except I had to learn how to hold the flatpick...

Of course at first the pick was always trying to escape but my dad told me the usual advice about holding the pick loosely, and that was all I needed to get past that obstacle.

... 3. Did your interest in music change/grow/expand beyond what interested you in the beginning? If so to what genres?

Grew up playing oldtime, then added ITM, after a couple years then I played at Irish sessions for a while, took piano lessons because there was one specific piece that I wanted to learn how to play, got back into playing fiddle with oldtime fiddlers again for a while.

Then went dormant (too busy working) and didn't do much of anything musically for a long time.

At some point I briefly played a fretless electric bass but that didn't really amount to much, I didn't have an 'inspiration' to continue with it. Same for larger-size South American flutes -- looked like bamboo, end-blown, nice mellow sound but they didn't stay in tune very well. Less shrill than tinwhistle.

Then a few years experimenting with a big synth (keyboards).

Eventually got back into fiddle tunes (condensed version, long story short) now on electric guitar.

Lately a bunch of 4-part-harmony hymnal songs.

My recent fascination has been with learning how to do MIDI stuff just for practice, I've been using (among other things) a free open-source music notation app (MuseScore) to try out writing different harmony lines etc. Something new to play with. Trouble is, I write it one way, then when I pick up the instrument, I sort of rebel and don't want to follow my own written music so (while playing) I change it all around to whatever seems appropriate at the time. Then out of curiosity sometimes I'll try to transcribe my *actual* playing and write that down, but when I put the notes on paper/screen, they look simplistic and kinda ... repetitive (simple arpeggios, and 2-note chords etc) ... huh... Not sure I'm actually learning anything there but it's fun anyway.

[gtani7]

It seems like whenever i hear any genre of music i can relate it to when i first heard it, bluegrass takes me back to the record stores i used to frequent in high school (probably every day) especially Old and In the Way, John Hartford and Bromberg's Midnight on the Water which my college roommate used to play a lot.

These days i go to guitar center every day (or I used to) so i would walk past the drums, banjos, mandolins and other instruments i couldn't play and think, I should buy one.

[Nevin]

I am primarily a bass player who also plays guitar. What drew me to mandolin was finding an old playable one in an antique store for $30. From the beginning I have loved that it is tuned in fifths. I like playing things on mandolin that I already know how to play on bass or guitar because the mandolin forces me out of the rut of thinking in fourths. I don't get to play as much as I used to now I most often play when a friend asks me to. My friends have a very broad range of musical interests and sometimes I say "Hey, how about a mandolin on that." So I have ended up playing old time, Irish and Scottish tunes, show tunes and punk rock on mandolin.

[Mark Gunter]

Not sure I'm actually learning anything there but it's fun anyway.

"Feelin' good, feelin' good, all the money in the world spent on feelin' good"

~ J. B. Lenoir

[Jess L.]

"Feelin' good, feelin' good, all the money in the world spent on feelin' good"

~ J. B. Lenoir

I'm a cheapskate though, I enjoy the challenge of taking budget low-end instruments & seeing if they can be useful.

I did have a couple of really good instruments years ago, but when one of them was destroyed in a storm, that made me realize they're just material objects, tools to accomplish a particular task, not something to invest in emotionally. I sold the other high-end instrument because I felt like more of a museum caretaker for some priceless artifact instead of (or in addition to) playing it. I figured it was better to pass it along to someone who didn't mind all that.

Subsequent purchases have been in the "economy"/utilitarian price range or thereabouts, not beautiful works of art with great fit & finish that I could look at & admire like I used to with some of the previous instruments... I missed that for a while but I've gotten used to it.

For instruments, after a proper setup of course, then it's usually just a matter of figuring out how to adapt one's playing style to somewhat compensate for the inadequacies of a cheap instrument. NOT
RECOMMENDED FOR BEGINNERS, it would be too discouraging, beginners don't have the experience to coax naughty instruments into behaving. And some types of instrument flaws are not fixable by the player, I remember one of the early banjos I tried to play (one of several old 1890s banjos, *some* of which were of dubious quality even when new), I wondered why I had so much trouble tuning it, months later I realized the fret spacing was wildly inaccurate. Maybe the fret slots had been cut on a Monday morning when the worker had a hangover from weekend parties or something, don't know... But the player, especially a beginner, is likely to end up blaming themselves for the faults of the instrument.

[Jill McAuley]

1) Irish trad music is what brought me to the mandolin (that and wanting a GDAE instrument that was quieter than my tenor banjo because I'd moved to the States and apartment living was not particularly banjo-friendly.

2) I still play only irish trad on the mandolin (and tenor banjo and concertina), never been interested in other genres.

3) See above, all irish trad, all the time. When I want an "other genres" fix (punk/jazz/acoustic) I play my drums.

[JeffD]

Goal is to be good enough, or engaging enough, on the mandolin to do more performing with it and jamming with it when I'm with other musicians.

Goals are important.

[Randi Gormley]

came to the mandolin by accident -- played flute and drums in school and really enjoyed the classical pieces, especially baroque. Joined an SCA branch in college and got into medieval music, picked up the recorder(s), thought I might like to play the lute. Saw a bowlback hanging in a music store while shopping for recorder consort music and jokingly told my parents they could get me that as a gift. They did. So I learned to play it (thank you, Mel Bay!). Started out on what I knew best -- baroque and medieval music.

As a young thing after college, I dragged my bowlback along to keep me company when I relocated. Took up with a young man who played guitar. He played chords (of course), I was in single-line melody (flute, drum and recorder training, after all) and he bought a book we could play together. Happened to be John Williamson's book of Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh music. That's how I got introduced to ITM. After a year or so playing that, most of the pieces were pretty familiar, but life intervened (as it does), we eventually got married, moved to another state, started a family ... about 18 years ago or more he picked up his guitar again and about a year later I dug out my old bowlback. We dragged out the old Williamson book (after I spent a bit of time back with Mel Bay) and began playing duets again. We went to a concert by a local community band that played ITM and realized we knew a good third of their tunes -- they were in the Williamson book. So we joined the band. And for the past 15 years or so I've been immersed in ITM.

As for other genres -- about five years ago, after a couple three ITM camps/workshops and whatnot, I figured I'd go back to my roots and play some classical, so I hooked up with a teacher. Through him, I've reinvigorated my love of the baroque and have had a chance to play some mandolin orchestra workshops, and he's also encouraged me to play some gypsy music, some klezmer and choro.

[catmandu2]

I contemplated playing the wire clarsach for decades before finally acquiring one and commencing study - always sought the sound, but took me that long to figure out what it was/how to get one -

I always thought it was from the first time i heard Turlough O'carolan music (by Derek Bell and Patrick Ball) sometime in the 80s, but It just occurred to me that I'd been carrying that sound around in my head since 1976 - Steve Miller's "wild mountain honey"...

*That...and side 2 of 'tumbleweed connection,' generally ; )