Cello teacher for mandocello?

[CES]

Alright, guys and gals...

Ever since someone posted the link to Mike Marshall playing mandocello on the D'Addario site I've been smitten with the thing...love the mando, obviously, but really like the lower tones available on the 'cello. My question: Given a lack of "Mandocello" instruction in the area, would it be reasonable to seek out a Cello instructor? There are obviously intrinsic differences in method, but the theory should be the same...just curious as to your thoughts. Thanks in advance, and, Mike E, I only looked through the first six pages of "Mandocello" in the search function, so if this has already been kicked around, just let me know!

[Alex Fields]

I think a mandolin instructor who knew theory fairly well and could read standard notation would be a much better mandocello teacher than a cellist would. Mandocello technique is much more similar to mandolin than to cello. That said, there are obviously some things in common between cello and mandocello, especially regarding left hand finger position, so it might also be beneficial to take a few lessons with a cellist and write that stuff down. There are a fair number of mandolinists who play mandocello though so ideally you could find a real mandocello teacher.

I don't know what part of NC Concord is in, but I live in northeast Tennessee (Johnson City), fifty minutes from Asheville, and I play and (would) teach mandocello. My girlfriend is a classically trained cellist.

[entau]

I wouldn't think so
I don't think you would go to a "violin" teacher for "mandolin"

but it does depend on how the teacher views the situation

unfortunaltey - I don't think a guitar teacher ( unless they have experience with the beast) is the right place to go either

bowing and the left hand - although similar in concept - will still be 2 very different animals.

while I never even took mandolin lessons (and it shows)
I only adapted what I knew from guitar, mandolin, and music in general on the mandocello.

[allenhopkins]

A mandolin teacher who also plays octave mandolin might be helpful.

If you look at a cellist playing, neither the right nor the left hand techniques (bowing, single string "fretting" with accentuated vibrato) seem applicable to mandocello. A cellist would perhaps play double stops on occasion, but rarely play full chords, while the ability of the mandocello to combine single string melodic playing with BIG chords is one of its charms.

Could help you read bass clef, however, which is a mystery to me...

[Markse]

I play both cello and mandocello and have to echo the comments above. The instruments are tuned alike but that's the only similarity. You can take what you already know about the mandolin and with a little work adapt it to the mandocello. Go for it. It's a fun instrument to play.

[Alex Fields]

I read bass clef, and alto clef too. You can learn a new clef REALLY fast after you're already fluent in one clef of standard notation. It seems like a mystery at first but that changes really quickly. It's just a minor adjustment I think, not much different from picking up a mandola after playing mandolin for a long time. I actually learned bass clef through playing piano, not 'cello, but I'm glad I did. I played viola in a school orchestra for a while and learned alto clef that way.

There are some important differences between mandolin and mandocello...but yeah they're definitely a lot more similar than a mandocello and a bowed cello. Like I said I would teach 'cello, or if you're a mandolin player switching to mandolin I can probably send you some resources to help with left hand fingering adjustment (I get scales and stuff with fingerings from my girlfriend's cello books--she teaches cello lessons and so knows where to find stuff like this).

[violmando]

I agree. I learned mandocello faster BECAUSE I knew cello, but the pick technique, etc. has to come from a mandolist.

[CraigF]

I am in the same boat. I bought a Cello book to learn left hand fingering. And I found on the e-bay Plucked Strings store what seems to be the only Mandocello book in existence. Item #160184839645

[Alex Fields]

Heck, maybe I should write a mandocello book! I knew there was some reason the musical world needed me.

EDIT: Wait, does the musical world need a mandocello book?

EDIT2: That smiley has awful technique.

[CES]

Thanks--

Alex, Concord is just up from Charlotte (think Lowes Motor Speedway), and, unfortunately about 2 and 1/2 hours from Asheville...

I understand that the methods are obviously very different, but what gave me the idea was actually a post from a violin player who commented that he was drawn to mandolin because he already "knew all the notes." He also commented that because of his knowledge of theory not only in general but as it relates to the violin, his progression on mandolin had been faster than other plucked instruments he'd tried.

I haven't even made the leap to acquire a MC yet, and there may well be someone around who teaches, but not having an instrument I haven't put out the APB yet. Part of my frustration with my efforts thus far on guitar, banjo, and mando (all of which I'm still working on) has been related to my desire to "play" quickly...I'm thus tab addicted (treble clef notes still translate directly into sax fingerings from my earlier years) and am working to remedy that issue...I'm starting some of by beginner books again and making myself use notation and understand what I'm playing better. Basically, I'm discovering the limitations of tab-based learning, wrought by my own impatience, and if I do pick up a MC would hope to avoid similar pitfalls...

Alex, I also very much appreciate your offer of resources/assistance. There's plenty of stuff out there for more common instruments but, as noted, not a lot of MC literature. I'll be sure to contact you if I do make the jump...

At least the emoticon isn't anchoring his pinky

[Alex Fields]

Alex, Concord is just up from Charlotte (think Lowes Motor Speedway), and, unfortunately about 2 and 1/2 hours from Asheville...

Ah, well. I looked on mapquest and there were like six Concords in NC, lol.

At least the emoticon isn't anchoring his pinky

Or is he???

[Steve G]

How about tenor guitar? I have a mandocello but play it like an octive mandolin. I want to play it as mandocello and noticed that tenor guitar books are more pleniful than mandocello books. Wouldn't it be almost the same?

[allenhopkins]

How about tenor guitar? I have a mandocello but play it like an octive mandolin. I want to play it as mandocello and noticed that tenor guitar books are more pleniful than mandocello books. Wouldn't it be almost the same?

Well, tenor guitar [a] is tuned an octave higher than a mandocello (tuned the same as a mandola or tenor banjo), [b] has single rather than double strings. So some significant differences.

What do you mean that you "play a mandocello like an octave mandolin"? Do you have your 'cello tuned GDAE (octave mandolin tuning) rather than CGDA (mandocello tuning)? The techniques for playing octave mandolin and mandocello aren't all that different, other than adjusting to tuning that's a fifth lower for the 'cello.

I haven't studied tenor guitar from a book, but it's my impression that many of the tenor instrument methods try to teach the "chord melody" style of playing, familiar to those who listen to Dixieland tenor banjo technique. This may not work as well on the wider neck and double strings of the mandocello.

[jc2]

The OM and the mandocello both have long enough scales that the 'cello fingering works best on both of them. If you read treble clef on the OM and bass clef for the Mcello you're way ahead of the game, because, for instance, if you play the Mcello as if it was an OM (or vice versa), you automatically transpose up or down a fifth, just like shifting everything over one string. More keys are right there under your fingers.
The other thing the real cellists do that is VERY helpful is fingerings, especially the use of extensions and shifts, to get those notes you can't quite reach without hurting yourself. Check out cello.org for lots of information and forums, esp. "cellists by night" where they might even respond to questions about the best fingerings for a particular passage. They don't much use TABS or ABC, though.

[Jim MacDaniel]

This discussion has some interesting points on the differences between mandolin and violin techniques, that may provide some additional input into your mandocello/cello instructor decision...