I've been listening to Finnegan's
The Ravishing Genius of Bones lately, along with studio and live tracks from KAN. (
Flook are one of my favorite groups. ) I
really like Finnegan's (and Flook's, and Kan's) tunes; he isn't intimidated by odd and or mixed meter and any rigid adherence to 8 or 12 bar etc. structures. When it's done 'right' you shouldn't really be conscious that they are mixed/odd/crooked/etc at all because they flow, (until maybe you start to learn or notate the piece.)
Similarly, I also like Michael McGoldrick's albums such as
Fused and
Wired a lot.
Frankly, I don't make much of an effort to listen to "mandolin music" any more, as I prefer the articulation/phrasing inherent with other instruments, and a much bigger component of the playing styles of those instruments. But now and then, some album will have some mandolin playing on it that evokes the mental response....
"That was really nice playing. Excellent job!" And
"Marga's Moment" did that for me. (I think the mandolin player was someone named Rex Preston.) In fact, I was going to post the YouTube of the tune in a new thread, only to notice that it was already being discussed. The second tune is
"Crooked Still Reel"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74H2p30PIx0
I would count this as: ||
1 2 3-&-ah |
1 2 3-&-ah | (or... ||
1-&
2-&
3-&-ah |
1-&
2-&
3-&-ah | )
Hint:
Sing the melody with the count as the words. Or you can alternate the count with pick directions (D D Dud or Du Du Dud) You
don't have to have the instrument in hand to
"practice"; getting it into your head first before into the hands is almost always (imo) "better".
Niles H
PS: If you haven't checked out Finnish mandolin player Jarmo Romppanen on YouTube yet, do so. I really like how he plays.
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