a ginga do Mane

[Amy Burcham]

In “a ginga do Mane” Jacob goes down to the D below G in the intro and F in part A. Is it a mandola piece? Awww shucks! On mandolin I’ve been playing the open D instead of the F. How do you guys handle that?

[Doug Hoople]

Hey Amy!

I'd go even further. I just listened to the cut, and I'd guess that Jacob is actually playing a tenor guitar. I haven't peeled it apart to substantiate that guess, but it seems like a reasonable stretch. He's definitely not playing mandolin, and I'm pretty sure that he's playing a single-course instrument.

Later on in the cut, he fills in some of the lower chord tones, and they sound pretty low to me.

What do you think?

[Doug Hoople]

Well, nothing like checking with the source.

I just ran out to the car to check in my copy of 'Tocando com Jacob,' and it's right there, buried in the track notes... Jacob is playing the violinha (described as a "smaller tenor guitar").

So then, I guess the next question is "How do we play this on the mandolin?"

And the answer to that is "What would Danilo do?"

I've heard Danilo launch into "A Ginga do Mane" at least 3 or 4 times, mostly at Symposium jams. So if there's a recording of one of those times, we could figure out what key he plays it in and how he covers the "missing" notes.

[Amy Burcham]

Good ear Doug!!! A tenor guitar.
I'll look through my recordings tonight. Think I might have some of those sessions.

[Will Patton]

I've been working on this tune for the last few months... I noticed it in an older Mandolin Magazine transcribed by Marilyn Mair. She notes the low F in the B part and suggests a rest here - it goes by so fast that you hardly notice it, and I kinda like the rhythmic hiccup it produces.
-Will

[Doug Hoople]

...and I kinda like the rhythmic hiccup it produces.
-Will

Puts a smile on my face just thinking about it, Will.

Nice touch!

[Amy Burcham]

Thanks Will. I'll have to work on making it go by that (hic) fast !

[Jesse Appelman]

I've been working on this tune for the last few months... I noticed it in an older Mandolin Magazine transcribed by Marilyn Mair. She notes the low F in the B part and suggests a rest here - it goes by so fast that you hardly notice it, and I kinda like the rhythmic hiccup it produces.
-Will

That seems like a good solution. I've always played a low A (on the G string) in place of that F. You're right that it goes by so fast that nobody notices either way.

The intro to the tune also dips below mandolin range for more than just a single note - I've worked out a fudged version of it. If anyone's particularly curious, let me know and I'll notate it when I get the chance.

While I'm at it, here's a great version of this tune featuring the great Eduardo Neves on flute, Rogerio Caetano on 7-string guitar, and Amoy Ribas on pandeiro. No mandolin, but check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bPdaUMekJw

[Amy Burcham]

Jesse, you are right, that is fabulous.
I would love to see your alternative whenever you get it notated.
Hope you guys have been getting the feedback that your super CD deserves!

[Al Bergstein]

Funny. I just decided to tackle this tune today and also came to the same conclusion that Jesse did. Searched here and found this old 2008 thread. Can't imagine ever playing it up to speed but... maybe with enough years. Jesse, I'll contact you off thread to see if you still have the notation.

On the Amazing Slowdowner, it becomes do-able. (G)

Lastly, the flute player on this track that Jesse recommended, will be teaching flute at the Centrum Mandolin Workshop in April. If you know of any flute players that might want to study under him, pass that along to them.Thanks! Now back to grind.

[Jim Garber]

Always nice to revive an old thread...

Jacob actually plays it at a sort of human level compared to the version that Jesse linked to above. Great tune, of course, but you can hear the single strings of the tenor guitar:

[delsbrother]

This (posted long ago in the violao tenor thread) is almost as good as an instructional video:

[Pete Martin]

This won't answer this question specifically, but I run into this all the time in Jazz transcribing. One can take a passage where the notes go below our range and move the whole or part of the passage an octave higher. If it is just one note, like Will does, just leave the note out if it is not too interruptive of the musical flow. In a tune with designated parts (like AABAC) if one part keeps doing this, it often works to play the whole part an octave up. Experiment until you find the thing that sounds best to you.

[Tim C.]

I'm lazy and just play it in tenor guitar fingering on the mandolin - transposing it from Dm to Am. I go down in flames when I have to play it in Dm!

[Al Bergstein]

Ah, I see that version is next in the Jacob book after the Dm one. Interesting. It certainly falls easier under the fingers. Tim, are you aware of whether that's the key that Dudu and others play that in when in a roda?