Blues Backup

[dwc]

I play mostly in duos and trios. Lately we have been playing mostly bluegrass style tunes, but the guitarist I play with wants to start playing some blues. In the past, we have done blues duos where both of us play guitars, but I would like to play blues on mandolin (since I play everything else on mandolin, and I am really more mandolinist than guitarist).

My problem is, I don't know how to support him on mandolin when he takes a solo. None of the seventh chord voicings on mandolin sound very satisfying, and none of them provide him with the harmonic support he needs while soloing.

Does anyone have a good solution about what voicings to use or how to play a shuffle rhythm on mandolin that doesn't sound like a scratch track? Ideas welcome, audio or video examples would be fantastic.

[Jim Bevan]

Learn to play that standard VIm-Vm blues chord lick, and you'll be good to go.

For example: Say you're in G, and since it's a blues, you're in 12/8. Play the open G on "1", and play an Em (G (12th fret)-B-E on the bottom strings) on "4" and a Dm (same chord two frets lower) on "6". For variety, play B-G-E (on the bottom strings) and slide down two frets to A-F-D.

[mandocrucian]

mandolin (since I play everything else on mandolin, and I am really more mandolinist than guitarist).

My problem is, I don't know how to support him on mandolin when he takes a solo.

Play "guitar" on mandolin. Use riff figures (think Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf) as close as you can to the way - notewise - they were done on guitar. Split string stuff and voicings on the G and D strings will help fatten things up, giving you 3 pitches or even 4 instead of just 2.

Octave doubling and added unisons help too to thicken it up, and add "weight". Use an oval-hole mando if you have one; it'll give you a fatter sound than something with f-holes, and you can overdrive the top if you have a hard attack. Attack, muting, etc can make a big difference - try to emulate an electric guitar sound/feel.

I could do (and have taught) a 12 hour workshop on the subject. Ask Rene the "bluesmandolinman" (his cafe handle); he earned the "skull and crossbones" on his headstock!

You're in SC, why not ask Alan Bibey to bring me down to his mando camp?

[bluesmandolinman]

hehe haven´t been here in a while but coming back i see this post =)

dwc if you get the chance to attend a bluesmandolin workshop by Niles don´t miss the opportunity.
Niles is the man to show what´s needed to play blues on the mandolin and you will not find anything similar in any method currently available on the market. Most mandolin methods show a tune as an example or a solo that´s it. But blues back up is not easily accessible.

Here is a little beginners video I did showing a possible back up for a blues song a la Rock Me Mama.
And Niles can show a lot more !!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN5UmGvGlRM

and here another one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bpmLuOP9ao

Go for it !

Cheers René

[Don Julin]

Here is one approach that works in some blues grooves.

[dwc]

I wanted to thank everyone who has responded thus far. I feel a little humbled that such an esteemed group of musicians and music educators took time to give me some pointers on this often overlooked topic. I am working on the rhythmic figures and then transposing them to different keys (I don't really feel like I understand something until I can play it several different keys).

[mandocrucian]

The actual pitches are only HALF the story. Pat Boone covered Tutti Frutti, but it paled in comparison to the screamer Little Richard original. The same vocal analogy is often true with blues played on an instrument. You want something aggressive and in your face ala SRV, not a laid back delivery of Mr Nashville/Chet Atkins.

When I say "play guitar" I mean "play like an electric guitar". Because it's a different instrument and a different tuning, you won't be doing things exactly the same as you would on a guitar....the point is to get something that comes close to the sound of an electric guitar.

The pitches are just the starting point. Where's the sting of left hand vibrato, bending etc? ..... the attack of the right hand (which also includes muting of some notes) and the variety of tone coming from where you play along the string length? And then there's the other "finger English" of grace notes, slurring, ornaments, and other stuff. There's a lot more happening than ripping out the melody of a fiddle tune with the every-note-with-a-pickstroke articulation. The vamp or rhythm figure or bass line is a starting point, but you want to end up with Little Richard or Howlin' Wolf.

For me, I'm out for something more like (SRV) "Cold Shot" or "Pride And Joy" than some smooth, clean, all-notes-even volume Texas fiddle contest mando sound. For this material, that sound isn't convincing.