Why do mandolin players move around so much?

[fscotte]

Well?

[Charles E.]

As compared to banjo players that stand rock solid while a cascade of notes flow forth? Or that they keep changing addresses to try to avoid the bill collectors?

[mrmando]

Trying to get away from the guitar player.

[Mark Wilson]

Or that they keep changing addresses to try to avoid the bill collectors?

That's it. The price of mandolins has us skipping the rent payment. Moving around is all that's left

[sblock]

The gentrification of their neighborhoods causes the local cost of living to skyrocket, so mandolin players have to move elsewhere to be able to afford their rent. It's a simple matter of economics! Why is that so hard to understand?

[BrianWilliam]

I dodge fiddle bows like I'm in the matrix.

[Charles E.]

Amen, brother.

[jaycat]

They have hellhounds on their trail?

[Jacob]

Because they can? Mandolins aren't very heavy.
The weight of resonator 5 string banjos makes them far more restrictive on mobility.

[palosfv3]

Weak bladder .

[Freddyfingers]

I go with light instrument.

[kurth83]

It's showbiz...

A related question is how hard is it to do that, and how much practice does it take, and will anybody admit to practicing playing while moving so they could do it better on stage? :-)

[BrianWilliam]

I practice standing and likely move around just as much as when performing. I think it helps me count without thinking.

[Bertram Henze]

We don't move. Compared to fiddlers, that is.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Well,they have to do something to draw attention from the banjo picker who's hoggin' the mic.,
Ivan

[William Smith]

Well,they have to do something to draw attention from the banjo picker who's hoggin' the mic.,
Ivan

Right on, I was going to say also to give the banjer or fiddle player a jab with the headstock. I tell ya they will move when blood starts flowing!

[fscotte]

I move around playing the mando but not the guitar, even while picking at home, no one around. So it's not showbiz or for attention.

I think maybe it has something to do with the way a mando is tuned? Fiddlers seem to move too.

Or the fact that mandos are the percussionist in a band? Timing, beat, etc..

[Paul Busman]

They're going for a bit of that rock star mojo.

[Steve Ostrander]

I don't know, but it's why I have to use a PU and not a mic.

[Timbofood]

I don't, much. Lived here for almost 30 years.

[T.D.Nydn]

To much coffee and breakfast burritos...

[Bill Cameron]

Because as soon as word gets around in your new neighbourhood that you're a mandolinist, there is a constant stream of visitors at your door leaving offerings (not all of them burnt), elbowing each other to the front of the line to sign up for lessons, incessantly offering you thousand-dollar-a-night gigs, and of course wanting to know whether they should choose the Eastman or the Kentucky. Not to mention the endless intimate propositions and the sculptors who have made yet another bronze of you and your instrument. Where do you find space for all of those graven idols? It all gets old pretty quickly.

[Mark Wilson]

I just watched the Compton video in post #10 of the Monroe Style thread and
yep - OP has a point!

I think maybe it has something to do with the way a mando is tuned? Fiddlers seem to move too.

I speculate that it's due to how intensely we focus on our left hand. Trance inducing

[Matt Bowe]

Except -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmbUeYpfybw

[Hudmister]

Mandolin players didn't always move around a lot. Just look at those mandolin orchestra photos, they're all sitting down. Even Bill Monroe didn't move a whole lot. I blame the increased motion phenomenon on Chris Thiele and Sam Bush. Now everybody has to do it that way.