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Thread: Looking for a John Duffy Mandolin solo

  1. #1
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    Default Looking for a John Duffy Mandolin solo

    I have been listening to Seldom Scene Act 1 on vinyl for the last couple of weeks and I just love the song "What am I doing hangin round" John Duffy has a mandolin solo at about the middle of the song that I would love to learn how to play. What is the best way to find it in Mando Tab?


    Please help this lowly novice figure this one out!
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    Registered User William Smith's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looking for a John Duffy Mandolin solo

    Don't believe one exists? You will probably just have to listen to it over and over many times to get it and then it still won't be the same, I've really never been able to play something exact the way it was recorded as I throw in my own stuff-even if I do have tab! And my concentration level has always been all over the place! That's how I go about trying a break?

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    Registered User Timbofood's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looking for a John Duffy Mandolin solo

    Yep, go old school, listen and get it in your head, then tell your fingers where to go. That’s the the old way.
    Timothy F. Lewis
    "If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett

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    Registered User John Mondick's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looking for a John Duffy Mandolin solo

    It looks like Matt Flinner will be covering this song in the second week in his upcoming Advanced Bluegrass Mandolin course. You can see the curriculum here:

    https://www.mattflinner.com/2018/10/...ulum-1-8-3-16/

    I have participated in several of Matt's courses and they are fantastic.
    Last edited by John Mondick; Dec-26-2018 at 2:50pm.
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    Default Re: Looking for a John Duffy Mandolin solo

    Quote Originally Posted by bluegrasser78 View Post
    Don't believe one exists? You will probably just have to listen to it over and over many times to get it and then it still won't be the same, I've really never been able to play something exact the way it was recorded as I throw in my own stuff-even if I do have tab! And my concentration level has always been all over the place! That's how I go about trying a break?
    I never really play anything like it originally sounds which is a good thing and a bad thing. That solo just had a great rhythm and break in it that I would love to try. I guess I will have to do the hard which, which I have never been successful at.
    2018 Ratliff R5 "Country Boy"
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    2002 Gibson F9 with radius fretboard.

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    Registered User Timbofood's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looking for a John Duffy Mandolin solo

    Quote Originally Posted by Pilot172000 View Post
    I never really play anything like it originally sounds which is a good thing and a bad thing. That solo just had a great rhythm and break in it that I would love to try. I guess I will have to do the hard which, which I have never been successful at.
    I have never successfully truly duplicated any break from anyone but, that’s the nature of aural tradition, we learn what we hear.
    Timothy F. Lewis
    "If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett

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    Default Re: Looking for a John Duffy Mandolin solo

    Hmmmm … I get learning something exactly . I also get learning something then making it my own. Sometimes a technique new to me is learned when I exactly learn a break or tune by an artist. Sometimes, a piece is just beyond my skill level and I have to adapt it. Slowdown software is a real bonus in this pursuit toward excellence. But my fingers and ears aren't anybody's but my own and live with them I must. So listen and learn what you are able …. with great patience. I can add Matt Flinner's classes are a good investment both in information and funds. Play on! R/
    I love hanging out with mandolin nerds . . . . . Thanks peeps ...

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    Registered User Bob Buckingham's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looking for a John Duffy Mandolin solo

    Learning someone's break note for note is the act of getting into their head. Which, in the case of John Duffey, might be a little scary having known him a little way back in the day. He did come up with some interesting stuff though and it can be fun to try and get. If you find it on YouTube you can slow it down and get it easier that way. I played in a band who's lead singer used to do singing jams with John Starling, who played guitar on that track, and Charlie Waller. It's a great Michael Murphy tune. And as I listen to it now the break is pretty straight ahead and not real complicated.

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    Registered User William Smith's Avatar
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    Default Re: Looking for a John Duffy Mandolin solo

    I never play the same break twice! I guess that's what self taught on everything will get you but I'd rather play with feeling than being a stiff that plays the same thing over and over the same way! I do know "book" players like that! I call em book and by the #'s pickers but me its all about feel and improvisation-sometimes it works other times a half way decent train wreck! But that's me anyway, a famous player I played with once said that's not the way Monroe played that as I have a tendency to go off melody! My answer was well I play my way and sure don't want to try and sound like Monroe!

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    Default Re: Looking for a John Duffy Mandolin solo

    Johnny Gimble said "I never play the same thing once!"

    That Duffey (note correct spelling) solo is pretty tame compared to some of his other wild rides. John's playing was very idiosyncratic and personal. He did a lot more than your otherwise typical bluegrass mandolin picker...at least during his days with The Country Gentlemen. The cool thing about this song is the move to an E tonality on the bridge ("Just for a short vacation...").

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    Default Re: Looking for a John Duffy Mandolin solo

    It may be tame but its a great piece to hear. Its just a tad out of my comfort zone which will push me to figure out how to learn it. I learned about John Duffey on this message board and found him to be my kind of musician. I went and bought Seldom Scenes first Act on vinyl because I admired a lot of his stage personality and the group dynamics I saw on youtube. That and their first album has a lot of simple and not overly complicated songs that I can introduce bluegrass to my wife and kids.
    2018 Ratliff R5 "Country Boy"
    Mid-MO Model OO
    2002 Gibson F9 with radius fretboard.

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