I agree that the best answer is to listen and use whatever tools you can to get the most out of any tune or piece of music you are attempting to learn. The worst is when all you can find is TAB for...
I agree that the best answer is to listen and use whatever tools you can to get the most out of any tune or piece of music you are attempting to learn. The worst is when all you can find is TAB for...
I love and have loved various F-5 models and an old Gibson F2, but when I experienced accelerating MAS, I decided that I could get much more bang for the buck with nn A model. Love my current A5...
My #1 is a Nugget A-5, which is all I should ever need. However, because of mandolin polyamory, I have a great Ellis twin point, a '23 Snakehead A, and a 1917 Lyon & Healy A. All have different...
Tom:
There have been quite a few posts, and I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned getting a good set up. Often factory-built instruments have issues with high nut slots, the intonation can be...
I'm lucky enough to be the temporary (during my lifetime) custodian of a mid-90's Nugget A5 - It is my holy grail ff-hole and a '23 snakehead plain-jade A that serves as the oval-hole equivalent.
I've learned a variety of ways: Violin with a classical violin teacher; I think my parents paid her to supervise my practice once a week at times. Jamming a finger playing JV football was the...
I have played the "catch and release" with a few higher end mandolins and the most frequent cause for release has been the neck - too skinny, too wide, too deep, not deep enough, too V'd, not V'd...
Always love Doc's versions and the Rice & Skaggs version. Lotta joy in that simple song!
Brian Oberlin has the mandolin chores for Full Cord - a powerhouse of a bluegrass band from Michigan. They won the IBMA Momentum Award last year.
https://fullcord.bandzoogle.com/home
When I was 68, I placed an order for an Ellis twin point mandolin. In discussing the potential build with Tom Ellis, I expressed some reluctance about getting it made with. an Adirondack top,...
After watching the video a few times, I worry that the interview wasn't with Aaron Weinstein at all. There was no bow tie, or even a mention of it in the video ;). Great video interview, and I'll...
Since we are talking about a C6/Amin chord fingering that can function as different rootless chords, play the following sequence: 3-3-5-x --> 3-2-3-X --> 2-2-3-x.. Here is an entirely different...
Lloyd Loar pixie dust! He must have walked by the mandolin during its construction.
Seriously, I prefer the narrower neck. If you can get one with good intonation, they can cover a wide variety...
"Going back to the OPs original question, the name is typically a function of the context. For example, 223x appears to some folks as A minor, to others as CM6 and to others as F#m7b5, depending on...
This Cracker wants that Polly! Play on, Dawg!
Rootless chords are kinda like those knives in your kitchen. Are they for slicing a tomato, or murdering your spouse? Yes, it just depends on the preceding setting, the direction one is traveling,...
I played 2 at IBMA and given the crowded exhibition hall, about all that I could tell was that they were set up well, had good wood and finish. Played one at Elderly and thought it sounded better...
In my playing, I often hit a lot of "accidentals".
Matt-
I think this lesson should be very informative for the mandolin player who is starting the journey of learning movable chords. In fact, it is something I still do when encountering a...
Mark: That shape is very useful in yet another context: Emaj7-9. I often use the bottom 3 strings of this shape in a variety of ways. Move it up to 4-4-5-X and you have B Minor (Root - 5th -...
I can't find it on a quick search, but somebody posted a fair bit ago about using some kind of weighted bag attached to the butt end of the mandolin that was designed to adjust for the weight of the...
Digging 2 ft deep postholes in Carolina clay by hand over a weekend and setting the posts in concrete. It took 3 days before I could uncurl my fingers. And yeah, 85 lb bags of concrete are a lot...
Matt: This tune is one of the gateway drugs for gypsy Djazz! Nice breakdown & glad that you use Emin7b5 in the 5th measure of the A parts. Many charts have vanilla Emin7 or C9, which tripped me up...
I was going to suggest opening any Real Book for C instruments - tons of tunes in F! It is kinda fun to open a Real Book at random and sight read tunes.
A pre-owned Nugget A-5 Deluxe fell into my lap 2 months after my wife died. A very emotional acquisition, because she had OK'd a Nugget purchase and I was on the prowl for months before she became...