Whenever I pick up a mandolin, I seem to start playing Red-Haired Boy. Dunno why.
Whenever I pick up a mandolin, I seem to start playing Red-Haired Boy. Dunno why.
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
-- Don
"Music: A minor auditory irritation occasionally characterized as pleasant."
"It is a lot more fun to make music than it is to argue about it."
2002 Gibson F-9
2016 MK LFSTB
1975 Suzuki taterbug (plus many other noisemakers)
[About how I tune my mandolins]
[Our recent arrival]
i only play two tunes - possum up a gum stump, and (a variation of it) chicken up a gum stump. Some folks like it. Others don't can't please em all
I play mando/guit in a trio with bass fiddle and flute. We can't go wrong with John Reischman's Choro for Shadow and/or Birdland Bounce... and Moe Koffman's Swingin' Shepherd Blues.
My band does a lot of classic bluegrass and Country like "Workin Man Blues, I saw the Light etc...many instrumentals, A lot of Gospel, People like when myself and the fiddle player do note for note stuff like Old Dangerfield-We call it "Lets play that Rodney Dangerfield tune!" Jerusalem Ridge, Smokin Joe-fast Old Joe Clark, too many to list.
If my wife is around, will have her sing Metsakukkia while I play melody behind her. Otherwise, my first few go to pieces are often Ringnesen Reinlender, Ellin Polkka, Mouth of the Tobique or Reel de Pointe-au-Pic. Sometimes, if I feel confident, will play Lokakuun Polkka.
As one can guess, I don't play bluegrass. Or even a lot of American old-time. Although I've been playing Rickett's Hornpipe more and more. Thanks to Howard Rains for posting a good take on the tune recently using his Kalamazoo KM-11.
Brentrup Model 23, Boeh A5 #37, Gibson A Jr., Flatiron 1N, Coombe Classical flattop, Strad-O-Lin
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Almost anything in 3/4 time.
Your Sweet and Shiny Eyes
In The Pines
I Always Get Lucky With You
Precious Lord Take My Hand
White Dove
There is something about 3/4 time that just goes well with mandolin.
Clark Beavans
Summertime
Barnyard Dance
Lazy Bones
With lyrics
It all depends on the scene
Saltspring
Atlantic City
Minor Swing
King of the Pipers
Thanks James, this is a great song!
As I understand your question, the audience is composed of folks not familiar with the musics that naturally feature a mandolin. My experience is that unless you know the three chord versions of the popular Beatles songs, (in a pinch the band Kansas or the Eagles will do) and can sing the words, nothing you do will impress them or even please them. They will be polite and listen and even clap at the end.
I think a more fruitful course might be to wander around the campsite with your mandolin, and see if you can find a jam to your liking.
My go to song is "Back Home Again in Indiana"
If there's a lot of kids, I start with Old Joe Clark - it has verses that they can laugh at.
Joseph Baker
More seriously however, I'd most often start with grandpa's spells, or a rag i picked up from eddie davis which i dont recall the name but is cool - by the second B part people be moving with the "Spanish tinge" which really got me ultimately. Then maybe autumn leaves..
If the music is going over like a lead balloon, I pull out Up Against The Wall, Redneck Mother. That gets the Texas C&W crowd singing along. An up tempo Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright can get people dancing. I’m Just An Old Chunk Of Coal is another. I have a stack of crowd pleasers. If you get folks on your side, some will sit still for the murder ballads I like, or the lengthy Mr. Bojangles.
WWW.THEAMATEURMANDOLINIST.COM
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"Life is short. Play hard." - AlanN
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WARNING: You may actually be addicted to playing waltzes. You may have to go into a three-step program!
Crowds keep asking me if I can play "Somewhere Else" but I haven't been able to find tab for it...
Seriously, my go-to is Ashokan Farewell. I play it well and everyone always seems to know that tune and like it, probably due to the Ken Burns "Civil War" series. That's so ironic, because it is not a Civil War era tune, but sounds like one. If I need another tune, it is usually Angeline the Baker. I can do it in two octaves and most of it with double stops.
Brentrup Model 23, Boeh A5 #37, Gibson A Jr., Flatiron 1N, Coombe Classical flattop, Strad-O-Lin
https://www.facebook.com/LauluAika/
https://www.lauluaika.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Longtine-Am...14404553312723
Hah, John Flynn, you nailed it - I do love 3/4 time. So much that I often play melodies in 3/4 that are written in 4/4. With the right melody, it works amazingly well.
But I love fiddle tunes and other stuff as well. My go to fiddle tune seems to be Big Sciota at the moment. Soldier's Joy is right up there too.
Clark Beavans
"The paths of experimentation twist and turn through mountains of miscalculations, and often lose themselves in error and darkness!"
--Leslie Daniel, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die."
Some tunes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa1...SV2qtug/videos
Was staying with friends at a nearby lake last week, and one day we broke out the instruments and played lots of tunes for several hours. The song that got a response from several nearby camps? Wagon Wheel. The least technically proficient or interesting tune we played? Wagon Wheel. Familiarity wins again...
Make America Grateful Again!
2013 Collings MF, 2017 Northfield NF2S, 2019 Northfield Big Mon F
1968 Martin D12-20, 2008 Martin HD28, 2022 Martin CEO 7
1978 Ibanez Artist "Flying Eagle" Masterclone Banjo
WWW.THEAMATEURMANDOLINIST.COM
----------------------------------
"Life is short. Play hard." - AlanN
----------------------------------
HEY! The Cafe has Social Groups, check 'em out. I'm in these groups:
Newbies Social Group | The Song-A-Week Social
The Woodshed Study Group | Blues Mando
- Advice For Mandolin Beginners
- YouTube Stuff
You are welcome; glad to be of assistance. However, that is not the Barnyard Dance version to which I was referring. With two different songs having the same title, it is confusing.
This is the Barnyard Dance song that I play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzeuFFaMbUE
Martin, Bogan, & Armstrong should have named it the Vegetable Dance instead of Barnyard Dance, since it is about vegetables and not barnyard animals. I like the other version to which you linked, but don't do it. My trio does the MB&A version at the local Farmers Market which is fitting since vegetables are sold there. It has a great ragtime tune.
James, did you know that Jay Ungar wrote a second verse:
The Indian corn put the red dress on,
Chinese cabbage tried to kick the gong;
You shoulda seen the French green bean,
When the watermelon danced with the black-eyed pea!
But that big zucchini, he was a meanie,
Picked a fight with a Kosher weenie, said
'No meat allowed, this is a vegetable crowd!'
Down at the barnyard dance, this morning,
Down at the barnyard dance.
I do this song on ukulele and kazoo; as you said, a farmers' market favorite.
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
No, I had not heard that extra verse. Thanks! A friend of mine who does this song at Farmers Markets on the west coast changed the lyric "Old man garlic dropped dead with the colic" to "Old man spinach hip-hopped to the finish" since he didn't want to scare children.
I'll give that second verse a shot next week when we play at a congregate housing gig.
If I'm picking around the campfire on mando the fun bustouts that people always enjoy are Cantina Band from Star Wars, Linus and Lucy theme, maybe some fast fiddle tunes, or some Django stuff Nuages, Djangology, etc. Often as the night goes on I'll pick up my guitar as everyone else is fading away and do Pancho and Lefty which I save for special occasions and a whole bunch of Willie Nelson tunes.
On stage we'll do Tico Tico, Jethro's Tune, and El Cumbanchero and feature the mando to kick it up a notch.
If you are just beginning I would practice a few fiddle tunes that you really enjoy and play em till you can smoke 'em. People always love fast fiddle tunes. Through in a few fun covers that aren't normally done acoustic and folks love that stuff.
Ocean Blvd - Funky Jazz (https://oceanblvd.band)
Cosmic Ramblers - Bluegrass, Americana (facebook.com/cosmicramblers)
HotQua String Band - Gypsy Swing, Latin Bluegrass
Main Mandos: Nashville Flatiron A5 Artist, Belmuse 4 string electric
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