Playing the Mandolin with a Bow

[MandoNina]

.
Lately I've been playing around with the mandolin as a bowed instrument.
I have an old violin thats not in use, so I blew some dust of the bow and tried it on the mandolin.
I'm not saying it sounds great, but I don't think it sounds horrible either and considering I've never played a bowed instrument so I have no right hand technique, and the fact that the bow was a cheap student bow some 20 years ago, I'd say that it can definitely sound a lot better.

I know that something called rosin is applied on to a violin bow before playing (not sure how often or how much ), but I have no idea if this is something that would help in this case, since the strings are different.


Has anybody had any experience playing the mandolin with a bow, or know about some of the things to keep in mind whilst exploring?

[Roger Moss]

.
Lately I've been playing around with the mandolin as a bowed instrument.
I have an old violin thats not in use, so I blew some dust of the bow and tried it on the mandolin.
I'm not saying it sounds great, but I don't think it sounds horrible either and considering I've never played a bowed instrument so I have no right hand technique, and the fact that the bow was a cheap student bow some 20 years ago, I'd say that it can definitely sound a lot better.

I know that something called rosin is applied on to a violin bow before playing (not sure how often or how much ), but I have no idea if this is something that would help in this case, since the strings are different.


Has anybody had any experience playing the mandolin with a bow, or know about some of the things to keep in mind whilst exploring?

No, but I saw Nigel Tufnel play an electric guitar with a violin...

[pjcrawford]

Now, if I was tempted to try playing my mandolin with a bow, I'd just go play my fiddle...

[Willie Poole]

I sent this before but it looks like it didn`t come through....

A violin has an arched bridge and the mandolin has a flat bridge so how would you ever bow the middle strings on a mandolin? If a person made an arched bridge for the mandolin he/she would also have to make an arched fingerboard....

Don`t seem like a good idea to me ...BUT...

Willie

[Jim Garber]

Here ya go:

[Jim Garber]

Then again, you could have the opposite—a plucked violin:

[Mandobar]

Rosin makes a lot of dust. Sticky dust. It will gum up your strings and stick to your mandolin’s finish. That said, there’s a reason maybe why you don’t see a lot of people playing mandolin with a bow.

[Bertram Henze]

For reasons stated above, the bow and the mandolin are not made for each other, so bowing a mandolin is not a good idea.
It provides, however, the solution of another issue: lose the bow but keep the rosin dust and use it on your thumb against pick slippage.

[Jess L.]

... Has anybody had any experience playing the mandolin with a bow, ...

I did that once just for fun, as mentioned briefly in an older thread. It wasn't a serious pursuit though, so, probably not helpful to your question.

... know about some of the things to keep in mind whilst exploring?

What Willie said, about the flat bridge & flat fingerboard. But you can play a lot of drones and double stops.

Also, IIRC, the volume was much lower than one would expect from a bowed instrument, not nearly as loud as a fiddle.

... lose the bow but keep the rosin dust and use it on your thumb against pick slippage.

Lol. Been so long since I've had any instruments that require rosin, I barely remember its properties. All I remember about rosin is that after I'd been playing fiddle a while, I switched away from the cheap light-colored rosin to some expensive brand of dark rosin that came in a somewhat-annoying little velvet-like wrapper. I liked the expensive dark rosin better because it seemed more consistent (easier to play) and the tone seemed a little better... with my fiddle playing, I needed all the help I could get! Never did get an expensive bow though, hmm, wonder if that would've helped...

[Bertram Henze]

I did that once just for fun, Also, IIRC, the volume was much lower than one would expect from a bowed instrument, not nearly as loud as a fiddle.

...due to the absence of a soundpost.

[Jess L.]

...due to the absence of a soundpost.

Good point.

[Tim N]

I quite often see fiddlers plucking along at a session, but I've never seen a mandolinist bowing. In fact, you barely see a mando player at the Irish session (and I only ever take my bouzouki along) I know a guitarist who sometimes uses a bow in his duo (The Blackheart Orchestra), but there again, he is pushing the limits...

[Tom C]

the wound strings will not be bow friendly for sure.

[Zach Wilson]

Was this an April fools joke?

[Jim Garber]

Here ya go:

Was this an April fools joke?

Mine was.

[DataNick]

It's called a rebec, an ancient mandolin type instrument with 1-5 strings, tuned in fifths and played with a bow...

[mandroid]

During a rather slow winter my local instrument repair guy put fret wires on a fiddle..

[MandoNina]

A violin has an arched bridge and the mandolin has a flat bridge so how would you ever bow the middle strings on a mandolin? If a person made an arched bridge for the mandolin he/she would also have to make an arched fingerboard....

Yes I think your right and I don’t see this being implemented in an orchestra any time soon, but you could probably play some nice lines on one or two of the strings at a time.
Maybe loop a bass line on the G string and regular mandolin improv on top or something.

And, as has also been mentioned, wound strings and a bow ( especially with rosin ) is not a match made in heaven.

[Seter]

[MandoNina]

Then again, I just stumbled across this

[Jeff Mando]

Forget the bow, how 'bout Jimmy Page wearing a sweater vest?! Didn't know he had anything in common with Rick Santorum.......still not sure it makes sweater vests cool, though.......?

[DHopkins]

People have mentioned plucking a violin. It's done all the time and sometimes it's written into the music. It's called pizzicato.

I've never seen any music written for a bowed mandolin.

[chrisoff]

Guitarists in prog and alternative bands have done it for years. If you like the sound and it fits with what you want to do then go for it.

[Bertram Henze]

Then again, I just stumbled across this...

Here is explained how it works

[DHopkins]

I'm sorry Bert. Ain't no way I'm gonna look at that video.