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Happy Friday,
I'm working through recording my favorite piece of music, Vivaldi's Four Seasons. All mandolin parts are played on my Flatiron 1-N and the viola and portions of the cello parts on my...

I was playing a mandolin very near another mandolin hanging on a stand, and I thought I heard a harmonic response from the mandolin on the stand, so as an experiment I thought I would try a quick...

Learning the piano keyboard, even just as a music theory learning tool, is very useful. One advantage over the mandolin fingerboard is that each discrete pitch has only a single place to play them....

Or maybe I'll just stay up too late and do it tonight.

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Working on finishing up the rim, including installing a keystone piece to match the Sapele strip on the back. Planning to glue on the top on the coming days.

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https://youtu.be/o9_1gq9gyeg?si=UN1RfDpiS9tiACAK

Yes John. The bridge suits the new fan-frets. The nut remains in the same place which makes it more comfortable (less strain) playing barre chords on the lower frets

She's amazing and so is her band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spHoixofvso

spHoixofvso

Hi Folks! Here's the first two videos I ever posted. 13 Years ago, shot on a Sony 8 digital tape. These were shortly before I found the MC and got back into mandolin again. Thanks for the...

This is my latest 4th generation flat top mandolin. This is the culmination of 12 years of work improving the sound of the flat top mandolin. It all started from the fact that it is possible to...

Thanks! This is a renaissance instrument called a Vihuela de mano, or Viola da mano. In this case the second name is perhaps a better fit since this is based on an Italian example. It's essentially a...

While I don’t know if this is considered a traditional version, I quite like it


https://youtu.be/O_4SX7-U-0s

He uses a standard six string acoustic guitar width neck with 5 strings.
Tuned [low to high] DAEAE. His approach seems to be guitaristic
rather than mandolinistic, if that makes sense. Food for...

My transcription of Etude Op.45 Nr.4 by Franz Wohlfahrt (1833-1884), originally written for violin but also useful for mandolin. In the preface to Etudes Op.45 the maestro says:
If practiced...

In addition to all the great advice above re: economy of motion and the importance of relaxation and playing with a light touch, another thing to be aware of is not to rush the notes as you play them...

Just wanted drop a note and introduce myself to this lovely forum- I'm Garrett, a musician living in New Hampshire focused heavily on Scottish/English/Cape Breton traditional music these days, trying...

Haven't had an after breakfast tune for a wee while. This is Jimmy Shand's classic tune The Bluebell Polka. It was very popular when I was young, indeed it was a great favourite of my mother who...

Really lovely. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks, John and Bren...great tales.

I love this: "....They are unlocked and are open to anyone seeking shelter while walking or climbing in the Scottish mountains."
And the shared ethos of...

https://youtu.be/O2HOE1UXEq0?si=mZthshyqD58hjOME

Thank you, John, for the music and video.

And now I know what a bothy is. True delights for the architect in me.

Mick

Very nice, John! You pick good ones and play them well.

Thanks John.
Brings back fond memories of playing impromptu sessions until all hours in the 1990s in the bothy bar behind the Invercauld Arms Hotel in Braemar with piper and local identity the late...

Here's a tune I picked up from the guitar playing of Dónal Clancy on his album Close to Home. I decided to play the tune in D minor on the mandola and overdub an accompaniment part (also with the...