newbie mando ramblings...

[mcgannahanskjellifetti]

Hi folks,

My name is Rick and I'm up here in Minnesota.

I've had my Kentucky KM-505 for a little over a week now and I have to say I'm really digging this thing. I've played guitar for about 31 years, mostly electric. I got into flatpicking over the last few years but never really grooved totally on the bluegrass thing. Not that I don't like bluegrass, but it has always been hard for me to get something going bluegrass-wise as a guitar player. There haven't been any openings. I don't know, maybe I'll be more inclined to inject myself into the bluegrass scene now that I have a punchy little instrument that can actually be heard above a banjo. Even if I don't jump headfirst into bluegrass I know this is a versatile instrument for many things, and will be GREAT for recording.

I consider myself pretty agile on the Tele and have exceeded my own expectations with flatpicking, so the jump to the mando hasn't been too bad. There's the whole thing of reacclimating my fingers to the smaller scale thing, but I'm making steady progress. At least this thing has frets. I tried to learn the fiddle a few years back and really tortured my family for a couple of months. I suppose I was doing okay, as good as one could expect with an instrument like that, but I knew I would have to dedicate years to be even a mediocre player.

The chop chords haven't been difficult, and I think I have the basic idea. It's really not that different from the choke chords I've used in playing Django type stuff, or Texas swing stuff, and I get it. Can somebody tell me the proper way to play a chop C chord-- bluegrass style?

I've experimented with different picks. I bought a Red Bear medium and returned it. It was too brash and strident sounding to my ears. I've narrowed down my favorite to a Dunlop Ultex 1.14

I've thought about the whole scooping thing. I really like the lovelier, woodier, fuller tone you get by picking right above the last few frets. And I know I ain't ever gonna use em. I'm thinking about having some skilled person scoop it out for me, but I don't know. What's the consensus on this?

Well, Peace to all you Cats, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[Jill McAuley]

Hi Rick,
Good to hear you're enjoying that KM505 - I've played quite a few of them and really like them.

I too tried playing the fiddle for a few years, after many years as a guitar player, and I put it down for the same reasons you cite - the thought of spending years just trying to reach a mediocre level! The mandolin provided far more instant gratification from the get go and nowadays I can't believe there was actually a time when I didn't play it!

Happy Holidays and New Year to you and yours,

Cheers,
Jill

[terzinator]

hey! I just posted in your thread about your 505 and the action on it and whatnot, but I'm guessing you'll never look at that one again since it sounds like you fixed it or got used to it or whatever.

Welcome to the mandolin family. [Cue evil laughter.]

Seriously, since being bitten by the bug, I've been playing about 80% mando at our jams, and the rest guitar. Adds such a great dimension to an otherwise guitar-heavy instrumentation, and it's addictive as heck. And it doesn't even need to be bluegrassy to benefit. I love it.

Sounds like you might have already passed my proficiency level if you're talking about scooping the fretboard. I'm still trying to figure out double stops and how to do a solo in the key of B!

Maybe we'll see you around these parts!

[Earl Gamage]

Sounds like you have it going your way. Why don't you post the scooping question on the builders section, I'd like to hear some answers on that one.

Rock on

[mcgannahanskjellifetti]

Welcome to the mandolin family. [Cue evil laughter.]

Hey thanks Chris. Love your signature, man. I'm right there with ya. A pile of smokin leather!

Where do you get together to jam? I used to go to the jams at the Homestead but haven't been in a while.

***** Hey wait a second-- are you Chris from the UMFG, lives by Willies?

[terzinator]

hey, are you RICK from the UMGF? Goes by the same name there?

wouldn't it be wild if we were BOTH totally different people?!

Yep, I still live by Willie's. Still have the 000-15S. Picked up a CEO4R as my jam dread. We'll hit the Eden Prairie Dunn Brothers and the Kenwood Deli occasionally. Man, I wish you would have stuck with the fiddle! We need a fiddle player, bad!

I still need to hear your version of Mississippi Half-Step. You owe me.

[Scott Crabtree]

mcgannahanskjellifetti, miss U Jerry! ;-)

[mcgannahanskjellifetti]

I still need to hear your version of Mississippi Half-Step. You owe me.

Yes, I remember! I havn't been on the UMGF in quite a while. I think the last I heard you were going full-time on the uke?

Just kidding!

Actually, I still find the uke a very soothing instrument, but I'll tell ya, switching back and forth between the uke and the mando is awful! I've been teaching the uke to one of my girls..... "Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say...."

Good to hear from you, Chris. Merry Christmas!!

[terzinator]

Yeah, the Uke... I think it was a couple of years ago that that big ukulele bug hit... I fell for it, but then fell out of it about a month later!

I think the mando bug's gonna be permanent.

[mandroid]

Another option , which you will note was, taken long ago, by mandolin star Sam Bush,
is to cut off the peninsula,
and drop all those Mosquito attracting notes , entirely .

20 frets should be high enough . E 20 fr is a C

[Mandolin Mick]

It didn't look like anybody answered your question on the C chop chord. In tab it would be 5-2-3-X, lowest string (G) to the highest. This is movable for D, E, F, etc.

Yeah, the sweet spot for tone is the 17th to 19th frets when you pick, but it's pretty hard to chop there. I would never scoop a mandolin, but that's me. Just play closer to the bridge.

[San Rafael]

Mick is right about the common bluegrass shape for a C chord (moveable). You can also mash the e-string at the third fret with the same middle finger holding down the a-string. This gives a four-string version of the same shape.

[mcgannahanskjellifetti]

It didn't look like anybody answered your question on the C chop chord. In tab it would be 5-2-3-X, lowest string (G) to the highest. This is movable for D, E, F, etc.

Thanks. I've been trying to play the full 4 string chords (7452 = D for example) and wasn't sure if it was okay to play just the 3 strings for the chop chords. I mean, I know there no real rules here, but I'm just new to the whole thing.

[Mandolin Mick]

Well, there may be no rules set in stone, but ... 99 & 1/2% of us bluegrassers would play G: 7-5-2-3 which is movable to A, B, C, etc. then the inversion for C, D, etc., that I showed you. I hear many say that the G chord I just showed you is the hardest chord, but I'm a classical guiatarist and am used to stretching. That's why I told you to lay the guitar down for a while. The classical guitar is so much wider than a steel string or electric. Feels like I'm playing on a railroad tie or something after I play the mandolin!!! I play both in the same concert or show so I have to adapt quickly.

[billkilpatrick]

i like the idea of making your own chords - the notion of a pukka, BG-approved "C" chord rankles. playing in 5ths was a liberation for me - hope it is for you.

as for eliminating those silly frets way up yonder ...

after removing the last four frets on my be-U-tiful, oval-hole, F-4 mandolin with a set of hook-nose pliers, i took one of those mini, chinese-made, ultra-fine files (that you sometimes find in bargain stores) to my fingerboard extension and sawed away accordingly.

aesthetically, i think it was a great improvement ... plus, i feel as if i've joined a select group of mando-enthusiasts who are not afraid of perfecting perfection.

welcome!