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Thread: the first 3 tunes you learned?

  1. #1
    String-Bending Heretic mandocrucian's Avatar
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    What were the first three tunes you learned when you started playing mandolin? (Or started playing, if on some other stringed instrument)

    NH

    <span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>The first tune I learned (on acoustic guitar) was "The Irish Washerwoman". I also learned "Greensleeves"

    On mandolin (maybe a year or so later), the very first tune was also "The Irish Washerwoman". "Soldier's Joy" and "MacLeod's Reel" were probably the next ones.</span>




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    Gilchrist (pick) Owner! jasona's Avatar
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    Father Kelly's Reel, the Dominion Reel, and oddly the Butterfly. I would recommend that you comment to beginners to NOT start with the odd timing of a slip jig Niles--it gave me quite a bit of difficulty!
    Jason Anderson

    "...while a great mandolin is a wonderful treat, I would venture to say that there is always more each of us can do with the tools we have available at hand. The biggest limiting factors belong to us not the instruments." Paul Glasse

    Stumbling Towards Competence

  3. #3
    Registered User John Flynn's Avatar
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    Decades ago, when I started playing guitar seriously, the first tune I learned the chords to was "Mr. Tambourine Man" by Dylan. Much later, the first tunes I learned the melody to on mandolin were "Woody's Rag," "Wildwood Flower" and "Boil 'Em Cabbage Down," from the Tottle book, "Bluegrass Mandolin."




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    swallowtail jig, anne the baker, and the cotton patch rag. (the last one took me forever and i was foolish to try and learn it all at such a low skill level but it was a good experience that taught me to look before you eat.)
    Nuff said

  5. #5
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    Down Yonder
    Red Wing
    Ragtime Annie
    Rigel...the original Vermont Teddy Bear!

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    Opus 38
    Japan
    Soldier's Joy

    My first instruction book was Grisman's 10 Tunes in 9 Keys.

  7. #7
    Modulator ;) PhilGE's Avatar
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    Dubuque
    June Apple
    Barlow Knife

    I think... I first picked up mandolin around 18 years ago. Played around for a couple of years, then put it down until 6 years ago or so. These were straight out of the Fiddler's Fakebook.

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    Boil 'Em Cabbage Down
    Cluck Ole Hen
    The Queen's Polka

  9. #9
    Registered User Ray Neuman's Avatar
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    Arkansas traveler
    StAnnes reel
    Whisky before breakfast

    Soldiers joy is on the list now

    Jump in with both feet I always say!

    the fleet fingering professir lol



    Bulldog #24

  10. #10
    aka "Hydrilla" Darren Kern's Avatar
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    Copperhead Road- Steve Earle song that is the reason I became interested in learning to play the mandolin

    Ashokan Farewell-I find Waltzes easy for a newbie to learn

    Old Joe Clark



    My original IV mandolin kit blog- http://makingamandolin.blogspot.com/

  11. #11
    Mandol'Aisne Daniel Nestlerode's Avatar
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    Two Soldiers
    Ashokan Farewell
    Cripple Creek

    Daniel

  12. #12

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    "oh susannah" from the very helpful mp3 collection on this site
    "on the street where you live" from "my fair lady" (thanks to oddnamnool)
    "ecco la primavera" by landini one of the many early music tunes i enjoy playing.

    eclectic?!? nahhh ....

  13. #13
    MandolaViola bratsche's Avatar
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    Well phoo, since I started on violin when I was 9, I'd have to say my first tunes were Mary Had a Little Lamb, Twinkle Twinkle, and Lightly Row. # #

    But on the mando-kin, I jumped right in feet-first on the Bach cello and violin sonatas & partitas...

    bratsche
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    My first tune (on guitar) was 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen', that along with the C major scale .. one reinforcing the other.

    On mandolin the first melody I picked out was the Ode to Joy. I was sitting around with some friends on a sunny afternoon just trying to find a scale or two on this brand new instrument I'd just bought. My buddy Rick said, "Is that Beethoven?" It wasn't, but that got me thinking and pretty soon I was playing something resembling the Ode in G. I still find it's a fun melody to pick.

    - Benig




  16. #15

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    My first mandolin tune was "Woody's rag" as played by Pete Seegar on the famous "Weavers at Carnegie Hall" album.

    Pete Seegar doesn't really play the mandolin. This was his attempt to show how versitile he is. The tune has to be one of the easiest mandolin tunes ever written. Perfect for a beginner.

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    I think it was Worried Man Blues, Wildwood Flower & Boil Dem Cabbage Down

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    Soldier's Joy, The Girl I Left Behind Me, Red Fox.....suprisingly I still like to play them still.Doug

  19. #18
    I'm a country mouse Bobbie Dier's Avatar
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    Farther Along, Soldiers Joy and Old Joe Clark.
    I wandered again to my home in the mountains....

  20. #19
    Registered User Jon Hall's Avatar
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    The 8th of January
    Soldier's Joy
    Red Haired Boy

  21. #20
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    Sandy Boys
    Soldier's Joy
    Kitchen Girls

  22. #21
    Ben Beran Dfyngravity's Avatar
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    I first learn the melody to these 3 tunes and then their chords.
    Blackberry Blossom
    8th of January
    Arkansas Traveler

  23. #22

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    On Guitar

    Hollis Brown
    Master Of War
    Blowing In The Wind


    On Mandolin

    Bile 'Em Cabbage Down
    Soldiers Joy
    Cripple Creek

  24. #23
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    Tennesse Waltz
    Boil 'Em Cabbage Down
    Cripple Creek
    Glenn Nelson
    Las Vegas, NV

    "Every day brings a chance for you to draw in a breath, kick off your shoes and play your mandolin."

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    Bile Them Cabbages Down
    Red Haired Boy
    Cuckoo's Nest (I still sort of hate it)
    Karen

  26. #25
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    My First three were (are) ;-)
    Jesse James
    God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
    Lisa Jane

    Jamie
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