That's a riot!
That's a riot!
Ah, yes, about those "Hillbillies"....
Charley
A bunch of stuff with four strings
I really like how the little emoticon seems to be whistling right along with the clarinet part toward the end
I found the man dancing with the raccoon and the song to be very funny. But I went in the kitchen and, whilst cutting up greens, started thinking more about it. Alot of things that were considered to be funny years ago are looked at differently now. Is that right or wrong? I don't know. some people take it personally, other people don't care. It's good to be considerate of people's feelings, but I've also heard that comedians have a hard time finding material these days. Too many things are serious. Maybe it's not cut and dried. I don't know. Anyway, I know this isn't the venue to address this issue, and I'm not trying to start anything, but I was thinking about what Bill McCall said above, got to feeling a little uncomfortable and wanted to acknowledge it.
Last edited by Sue Rieter; Apr-29-2021 at 6:07pm.
Sue, I think that would make the cut for "Americas Funniest Home Videos".
Charley
A bunch of stuff with four strings
No offense intended with the “hillbilly” thing. The raccoon thing is a joke, right? I do tend to like the bluegrass mandolin sound the most. I think the Del McCoury Band is one of the best I’ve seen.
Enjoy your mandolin journey! You need to seek your inner "Jethro"....Burnes that is.
Charley
A bunch of stuff with four strings
There are always too many guitarists. I'm just OK on guitar, but I put in the time on bass and mandolin so I could play in more jams. I play banjo, too, but it's hard to make work across as many genres as Bass and mandolin. The older I get the more disdain I have for the genre labels.
Steve Lavelle
'93 Flatiron Performer F
Customized Eastwood Mandocaster (8str)
All that may be true, but the mandolin really came into its own thru BG.
It was already pretty well established in Italy and Europe; then there were the late 1800's mandolin orchestras, for which the F 5 was intended....plus string bands in both old-time music AND jazz and blues.
Not to mention choro in Brazil!
I will admit that BG music made the mandolin even MORE popular, to the point where some folks may think it was invented by Gibson for use by Bill Monroe.
But came into its own? It was already there.
Really? Unless you were THE lead player to which the others refused to adapt (meaning, their choice to be obstinate), I can't think of a situation where mandolin can't be made to fit in, even if that's "only" as fairly sparse accompaniment.
Personal opinion: Some seem to STRONGLY think of "chop" as a "bluegrass-only" technique, while I equate that to also thinking of "beat" as a bluegrass-only technique... Hogwash!! If the mandolin isn't fitting in, that's some person's fault and/or misguided perception (and/or overplaying?), not the instrument's.
Aside: I first got into mandolin after a major shoulder/arm injury prevented me from playing guitar for about 18 months, my impetus to learn mandolin. Fortunately, I got into a regular "beginner-tolerant" acoustic jam (largely classic rock but lots of other, often 4-5 hours) where rudimentary skills were accepted (especially my singing!). I'd switch from mando to guitar every half-hour or so, as strength/stretch or talent level would tolerate, eventually committing to: "TODAY I play only mando OR guitar". Never hit a situation where mandolin couldn't "fit in".
- Ed
"Then one day we weren't as young as before
Our mistakes weren't quite so easy to undo
But by all those roads, my friend, we've travelled down
I'm a better man for just the knowin' of you."
- Ian Tyson
Agree.
It could be that the public's association of mandolin with bluegrass, has actually boxed the mandolin into a corner and resulted in far too many people thinking that the only thing a mandolin is good for is bluegrass (or bluegrass-style playing in other genres).
Rather than restoring the public perception of the mandolin's versatility and capabilities in multiple genres, instead there's a public misconception of the mandolin's perceived limitations.
Bluegrass is a fine genre in its own right, and much of it sounds great (if one can even agree as to what a definition of bluegrass might be - there are already MandolinCafe threads on that, won't get into it here - seems that nowadays it includes more and more styles than in previous years).
But nevertheless a bluegrass style of playing isn't necessarily the right choice of style for all music. Especially given that there are *so* many completely different genres where a mandolin can really enhance the group sound when played in a less-strident non-'bluegrass' way.
About groups/bands - as with any genre, there are awe-inspiring and wonderful sounds that can be created *if* the player is willing to think/hear in terms of the overall *group* sound, instead of limiting their perception (whether because of ego or just inexperience) to only how their own instrument sounds. An experienced player, of mandolins or anything else, can adapt their playing to the music, to produce the best overall sound for that particular piece.
If a group already has a bunch of chord-thrashers on guitars and piano, the music probably doesn't need yet another chord player (whether mandolin or guitar).
So that would be a great time to try what Ed said, "fairly sparse accompaniment" which can sound really nice when done right.
It's perfectly understandable that at first with a new instrument, one is totally concentrating on trying to play the right notes, the right chords, using the right technique, trying to not drop the instrument, trying to keep the beat, not trip over cables, not tip over your beer or tea or whatever, remember lyrics (if you're playing songs rather than instrumental dance tunes) etc. All that can be overwhelming and almost like tunnel vision for awhile, no energy left over to evaluate anything other than one's own playing.
But after awhile (took me years) one starts to notice that sometimes one's playing fits in better than other times. That starts a process of trying to figure out *why* sometimes things sound better, the goal being to create that sound (or even better sounds) again on future occasions.
Making good music is just as much about listening as it is about playing.
- IMO, FWIW, YMMV etc.
What I play
2021 Skip Kelley Two-Point
Eastwood 'Ricky'
Morgan Monroe RT-1E
Epiphone Genesis guitars
Various Basses
- Ed
"Then one day we weren't as young as before
Our mistakes weren't quite so easy to undo
But by all those roads, my friend, we've travelled down
I'm a better man for just the knowin' of you."
- Ian Tyson
This river don't go to Aintry.
It has been my experience that non-players by and large do not view the mandolin particularly as anything. If a mandolin is recognizable as such by the general non-playing public, it is likely to be a bowlback. If you show them an A style they are as likely to identify it as a mandolin, a small guitar, or as has happened to me, a banjolukee.
As to an F-style, the non-playing public, by an large, have likely hardly ever seen one, and certainly not recognized one. I don't think the general public has paid much attention to bluegrass, except maybe sometimes as a country music number.
I would guess that the general non musician casually music aware public is more likely to have seen and recognized a mandolin from Italian music than bluegrass.
My experience has been that the general classical music loving crowd will recognize a bowlback, but in many cases wonder if it is played anymore, or mistake it for a lute.
All that said, I did not think Pgambon was referring to hillbilly instruments, but to hillbilly music. He doesn't say what genre he is chasing after, but dollars to donuts it is not the mandolin part in Mozart's Don Giovanni.
For me, that was true back in the years when I did Renn Faires and stuff like that w/ an out-of-period bowlback.
Overall, though, at least since I moved to California, folks associate mandolins with Old Time music or Bluegrass, or some rootsy combo of both (with a bit of rock in the mix!), unless they are specifically Italians or interested in European folk music.
There is a small but dedicated classical mandolin following, including some really fine players, some of whom post here at times.
Some interesting responses and I'm with most of you. I too came to mandolin from guitar. My best suggestion is to learn to play mandolin separate from guitar technique or you'll adopt the deadly 'death grip' most of us guitar players take on the neck. It's a great instrument and, also like others, I haven't found a song or style in which I can't add something nice on the mandolin. I play an F hole A style so really get the 'what is that thing' question most often. Once our duo plays 'Losing my Religion' some folks connect the dots, but otherwise, nope!
In Santiago de Chile they associate the mandolin with evangelizers.
Understandable — I've seen/heard the evidence. And gotta say, with some degree of admiration, that those standard chords played hard enough can cut through the city noise quite well.
mando scales
technical exercises for rock blues & fusion mandolinists
mp4 backing tracks & free downloadable pdfs
jimbevan.com
The guy in Deliverance plays the Banjo but I get your meaning.. LOL
Hahaha I guess Jerry Garcia IS my favorite "Hillbilly"
Yes indeed, Jerry was just your average downhome cosmic bluegrass playing bib overall cosmic hippie, and a fine musician - now THERE'S a man to dance with racoons like he means it. Hang on, we have BIG hailstones (for UK, they wouldn't signify in Kansas) coming down on the conservatory roof with gaps between, it sounds like bad drum kit pratice. Now they're speeding up, it sounds like a bad drum solo (is there a good one?).
Wait wait, this is news to me. There is a public perception of the mandolin? More of the public can identify the mandolin (slicer) on a cooking show, than identify the mandolin in a band line up, except by elimination. The mandolin must be the thing that is not the banjo, or the guitar, or the bass. Wait, its not the fiddle either, is it?
This should be posted above everyone's music room door, or inside everyone's instrument case, or on everyone's music stand. Maybe a tattoo on the inside of the left arm.
Making good music is just as much about listening as it is about playing.
Last edited by JeffD; May-05-2021 at 1:44pm.
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