Many moons ago I took lessons from a classical guitarist who’d studied with Pepe Romero. He pointed out that we routinely watch the fingers that are pressing the strings to play the notes while...
Many moons ago I took lessons from a classical guitarist who’d studied with Pepe Romero. He pointed out that we routinely watch the fingers that are pressing the strings to play the notes while...
Back in the late 90s I toured with a folk punk band, and you've reminded me of a gig on the east side of Germany.. we were booked to play a students union, which turned out to be a pretty much...
Associating what was the dominant form of mandolin (until they came along) with a loathed agricultural pest was a genius marketing move by Gibson, especially as the association has still stuck 100+...
It's not quite correct to say that what is going on inside an instrument body is irrelevant to what is heard. True, the movement of the air mass in the soundhole region is what ultimately propagates...
John, I was following (or trying to follow) this discussion in another thread where some research papers were testing the sound characteristics of a bowlback.
You've summarized the summaries nicely....
A few thoughts - hope it helps :)
1. Play major scales but do not lift your fingers on the way up the scale - if your playing an A major scale for example, your 1st finger plays the A on the 2nd...
Unfortunately as we age we find there are some things we are no longer interested in fighting. Heavy electric basses and large bodied arched top guitars have been that way for me. All of a sudden...
Final answer: What is a tater bug?
Daniel Vernhettes published "Visiting Mexican Bands" and spent quite a bit of time in New Orleans discussing how the Mexican bands did return (without Curti) and made a huge impact on subsequent...
Just an update as I share this exciting news with the mandolin community. The Mayor of Gallicchio invited me to participate at a special Curti Festival (May 31st through June 3 or so) 2024. They are...
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...
Have you considered trying a thumb pick? Might be worth trying.
I worked for a professional violin shop for most of my carreer and that is what I was taught. The theory is that the after length would be a fifth and two octaves above the string. We focused more on...
Violin family instruments are very different from mandolin family instruments and cannot be compared. Violins utilize a sound post, one bass bar and the strings are driven with a bow. Mandolins are...
True for vivaldi, he wrote for 12-string (6 course) mandolin.
Not true for Beethoven and Mozart, they wrote for Neapolitan mandolin (8 strings).
You see it in the arpeggios, for example the 4th...
here is another example: Johann Conrad Schlick, Divertimento in D, played by Caterina Lichtenberg and Silko Lisko on 12-string mandolines plus basso continuo.
...
Eugene, very courteous of you to start a new thread. Thanx for the info & videos. Watching them, I do believe I saw Anna & the Jupiter ensemble before. All very engaging.
The 8 string in 5ths I...
Elsewhere, mandopops lamented:
I began reply . . . Lots of recordings of the Vivaldi works on 6-course instruments. Some of my favorites are by Il Giardino Armonico primary soloist Duilio...
I have read this before that Vivaldi, Mozart, & Beethoven wrote their compositions for the early 6 string Mandolin. I’m unaware of any performances or recordings of their pieces on the 6 stringer....
I feel compelled to comment a bit on the content of this url. It states that "the [six-course mandolino] was no longer used after around 1740. Only recently has the Mandolino been revived."
This...
An afterthought: To be fair to fiddlers, a fiddler might work for some time at mastering a complex tune or medley, using sophisticated techniques, then go to a "session" to find that fellow musicians...
I agree, you can find a serviceable beginner instrument in a Dirty 30’s, or even a Washburn, though if you can afford either a Kentucky or Eastman, go for one of those. Be sure to buy from a place...
The advice above is good, just a few more thoughts here. As a preamble, I'll note that fiddlers have a technical advantage over our flatpicked instruments, because they can slur a run of notes. I...
Just a heads up to the OP - we don't call them "jam sessions" over here, just sessions (ye might get a funny look if you walked in somewhere and asked if they had "jam sessions" there ), also...