Mandola in a Bluegrass/Americana Ensemble

[Toycona]

I've been experimenting with using my TC oval hole mandola in our Bluegrass/Americana ensemble, especially when we play songs in the key of C and D. I'm curious who out there is doing the same. My questions have to do with strategies for chord structures, driving the rhythm, comping, and dampening the building sustain that occurs.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

[dulcillini]

Toycona ! I am going to watch the replies to this post carefully. I am wondering the same thing. Thanks for posting.

[Chip Booth]

I use my Smart 10 string and occasionally a mandola in a duo that plays something like Americana, I guess. You can hear what we do at this link: http://www.chipbooth.com/sparechange/listen.htm

These are both F hole instrumernts. The way I use the 'dola is similar to how you described it, I tend to play it on songs in keys that take the full use of the range of the instrument such as C or D. By good fortune we play a lot of slow songs (such as the one in my link called World Spins) that are in these keys. I love the tenor sound for these sweeter songs. I play the ten string on one or two faster songs, but overall I use the tenor instruments to emphasize that deeper, sonorous quality they have, and leave the faster, more cracking tunes to the mandolin.

I am currently working on incorporating the Octave Mandolin into this same setting, using Tim O'Brien and Eli West as examples.

The artist that comes to mind when I think of a mandola player in a folk setting is Peter Rowan. Does anyone know what kind of mandola he plays?

[sgarrity]

Rowan owned a Loar signed H5 that was stolen and I think later recovered. While it was missing I think he was playing a Lebeda.

I try and look at the mandola as a small archtop guitar rather than a big mandolin. Lots of doublestops and three finger chords. And of course I like to use that open C-string whenever possible.

[Mandobart]

Learning how to play both the mandola and viola in BG, folk, Americana, etc. for me was mainly focusing on the chord differences; i.e., a G chord shape on a mandolin is a C on the 'dola. Progressions are the same. For taking the fiddle role with the viola, it required re-learning the melody parts, typically the "B" part. On many fiddle tunes, the "B" part spends some (most) time on the E string(s). I often "cheat" by using my 5-course mandola-lin or 5 string viola (both of which have the E course). However, I've found it more rewarding to transpose the B part lower and take full advantage of the C course.

[Chip Booth]

And of course I like to use that open C-string whenever possible.

This was my first inclination when I started playing tenor instruments, and I used it almost exclusively on songs in the key of C. The more I play it, however, I find that what really draws me to the mandola is it's richer timbre. The big ol' C is awfully nice to have but I don't focus on it nearly as much as I used to. I used to feel cheated if I couldn't spend a lot of time open the C course or the open C in particular, like I was missing out on using the mandola's full range. Now I don't really worry about that and choose for it the overall voice of the instrument.

[Mandobar]

Chip, you're right. After you get over the fear of playing out of first position, things get easier. I found it very hard at first and my sight-reading, which has always been very good on other instruments, was awful. There is also a lot to be said for two finger chords, letting the D and A strings ring in certain keys, etc. It's so unlike mandolin, you really need to think of it as a different instrument.

[Toycona]

One of the things I like about the mandolin is the full, 4 finger chord. The Collings mandola is a short enough scale (15" or so) for me to reach them. Unfortunately, I don't own one yet. The Trinity is a 17" scale, so three note chords are even a bit of a stretch. The result is occasionally a muddy sound, which compounds itself with the sustain. Do 'f hole' mandolas have more bark and less sustain?

[Chip Booth]

I am used to something close to a 16" mandola scale and have no issues fingering chords. I don't much use the 4 finger chop chord as it is a bit of a stretch but mostly because it isn't as useful sounding. I use pretty much all the other common chord shapes, and fingering is ok up to about a 23" scale.

As for tone, the archtop F hole mandolas I am familiar with sound roughly equivalent to an F hole mandolin vs and oval hole mandolin. Less tubby, more note definition, a "pop" to the attack, and a bit less sustain. I think the beginning of this video gives a pretty decent idea of what an F hole 'dola sounds like.

[Marcus CA]

I think the beginning of this video gives a pretty decent idea of what an F hole 'dola sounds like.

That is a gorgeous cover of that tune! However, isn't Sierra playing an OM here?

[Mandobart]

That is a gorgeous cover of that tune! However, isn't Sierra playing an OM here?

That's what I was thinking. Either she is really tiny or that's the biggest mandola I've ever seen.

[allenhopkins]

Del McCoury's band uses mandola on several songs; Cloud Valley, a bluegrass band I remember from years ago, did the same.

The type of mandola used will definitely affect the tunes on which it's appropriate. If you want a near-bluegrass type of tone for chopping etc., the f-hole Eastman instruments might be a good choice. I have an Eastman 615, a Sobell arch-top oval-hole, and an old Washburn bowl-back in my mandola arsenal, and were I doing "Americana" with a bluegrass/country tinge, the Eastman would get most of the work.

[David Westwick]

Here is a video (assuming that I embedded it correctly) of a guitar, 2 mandos and a dola playing St. Anne's Reel. The angle isn't great, but you can see enough of the fret board to make out the chord shapes.