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Thread: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

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    Registered User Sherry Cadenhead's Avatar
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    Default Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    I'm hoping to play my mandolin in church and am looking for suggestions for pieces for choir that include a not-too-difficult mandolin solo. I would also like to know where to find the sheet music, if known.

    Really, either contemporary or traditional would be fine.

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    Worlds ok-ist mando playr Zach Wilson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    The one that comes to mind is 10,000 Reasons (bless the Lord) by Matt Redman.

    Pretty easy. Good song. Popular with the congregation/well known. Mixes well with a contemporary band. Worshipful.

    YouTube the song title + Mandolin and you'll get dozens of tutorials and play throughs.
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    Registered User Ben Vierra's Avatar
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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    Year of Grace by Robin Mark has a mellow, nice-sounding mandolin intro.

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    Martin Stillion mrmando's Avatar
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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    Go back a few years and you'll find a brief mandolin lick in one of the most popular CCM tunes of all time: Amy Grant's recording of "El-Shaddai" by Michael Card.

    But seriously — any song can have a mandolin solo in it. The vast majority of CCM producers lack the common sense and good taste to include mandolin solos on recordings, but that doesn't mean you have to imitate them. Pick a song you like and throw in a mandolin solo.
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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    Rend Collective and Jars of Clay both use some mandolin, but they tend to be more in the mix rather than featured solos. My Lighthouse by RC is fun and has a pretty repetitive mandolin riff you can probably pick up by ear (it’s really easy to at least get something close enough that works, and I’m not great at that skill). It also has a nice fingerpicking guitar part that’s fun. I use mandolin for the main rhythm part of Build Your Kingdom Here when I play with our adult praise band because the guitarist is older and just can’t keep up with it, lol (I’m usually the adult supervision for our youth band). No disrespect intended, I work up a pretty good lather on that one myself.

    Deep Cries Out by Bethel Church also has a guitar lead that falls nicely on mandolin (I usually play it on my emando) and is easy to pick out by ear. It has a pretty intense drum line, though, so there’s that to consider. Chords are pretty readily available via google. For some nice mandolin solo options on older hymns check out Steve Kaufman’s “Flatpicking the Gospels.” 10,000 Reasons is a great suggestion as well. Good luck!

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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    [SIZE=4]A mandolin solo can be as simple as playing the melody line out of a hymnal.
    I play with the choir every Sunday. Except for prelude music on Christmas or Easter, I do not play a solo during a hymn.
    I am usually playing the melody line or very close to it. Sometimes chords or double stops, but usually sticking pretty close to the melody.
    Some sheet music will have a melody line and a descant or harmony line.
    If the sheet music is written out in parts, I will generally play the soprano's line.

    Have you talked to your church's organist or choir director?
    They could probably set you up with sheet music.

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    Worlds ok-ist mando playr Zach Wilson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    I agree with mrmando, you could add mandolin to any Worship song. Work on playing by ear and picking your spots not to crowd the mix. Open chords, tremolo, double stops, playing melody, etc. all can add a lot. Keep it simple, play with excellence, be authentic to the purpose you are there.
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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    Contemporary: Crowder's Ain't No Grave and This I Know are ones I'd like to try someday,
    Traditional: O' For A Thousand Tongues, In the Sweet By and By, This is My Father's World, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, most hymns, River of Jordan, I'll Fly Away

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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    Quote Originally Posted by Zach Wilson View Post
    The one that comes to mind is 10,000 Reasons (bless the Lord) by Matt Redman.
    Pretty easy. Good song. Popular with the congregation/well known. Mixes well with a contemporary band. Worshipful.
    YouTube the song title + Mandolin and you'll get dozens of tutorials and play throughs.
    Did this one a few years back with my daughter and it went over great. This song will get up in your head. We followed up with How Great Thou Art, which also has a lot of easy walk throughs on the Tube (and other learning sites).
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    Registered User Sherry Cadenhead's Avatar
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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    Quote Originally Posted by Joseph Baker View Post
    Have you talked to your church's organist or choir director?
    They could probably set you up with sheet music.
    No and this is probably what I should do. I'm taking voice lessons from the music director. He took the choir to Carnegie Hall a couple of years ago and has been invited back for a performance next November. There's also a praise band; consequently, I could play with either. Since my primary teacher is a professional violinist, my strong suit is playing melody from notation. I can play chords but am not particularly proficient in that department. Forget playing by ear!!! At this point I wouldn't feel comfortable singing a solo while playing.

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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    The hymn book is full of good old melodies that most folks are familiar with, complete with 4 part harmony.

    I play out of it a lot (by ear, I can read notation but it's so much faster for me to look at the key and play by ear, reading only as a last resort to sort through any muddles).
    Clark Beavans

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    Worlds ok-ist mando playr Zach Wilson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    I'm approaching this more from a modern worship perspective where you're parts aren't written down (you'll generally at most have a lead sheet but most likely only a chord chart) or even in the recordings... you're making a lot of parts up, filling spaces between acoustic guitar strumming, keyboard leads, electric guitar leads, etc. Learning to play by ear is a necessary skill and is incredibly fun, challenging and rewarding.

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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    Quote Originally Posted by Zach Wilson View Post
    I'm approaching this more from a modern worship perspective where you're parts aren't written down (you'll generally at most have a lead sheet but most likely only a chord chart) or even in the recordings... you're making a lot of parts up, filling spaces between acoustic guitar strumming, keyboard leads, electric guitar leads, etc. Learning to play by ear is a necessary skill and is incredibly fun, challenging and rewarding.
    All of this is quite true when playing with a praise band.
    If you are playing with a choir and an organist, things are more structured.
    Choirs and organs tend to be tied to sheet music. Everybody is literally "on the same page".

    If I get carried away at practice, the organist will turn to me and say, "Joe, that's not how it's written!"

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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    Do any of y'all play in a Catholic church?

    Quote Originally Posted by Joseph Baker View Post
    If you are playing with a choir and an organist, things are more structured.
    Choirs and organs tend to be tied to sheet music. Everybody is literally "on the same page".

    If I get carried away at practice, the organist will turn to me and say, "Joe, that's not how it's written!"
    uh-huh. And I'm the organist at our Catholic church.

    and occasional guitar and mandolin...but mostly organ. Even if it's just a keyboard...

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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    "Do any of y'all play in a Catholic church?"

    Yes, I do.
    And I mean absolutely no disrespect to any organist.
    Our organist is a talented person.
    The point that I was trying to make is that with congregational music, we are more tied to sheet music.

    If any of my statement was offensive, that was never my intention and i sincerely apologize.

    Joseph Baker

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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    I didn't read anything that should cause anyone to be offended, nor did I read offense in DavidKOS's response above.

    I'm extraordinarily fortunate to be a choir member for a director who not only plays piano and organ, but who is definitely not tied to what is written on sheet music unless she deems it important. She routinely transposes on the fly to make it easier for vocalists, and frequently changes the arrangement to suit a compressed time limit or her own taste.

    Since the pandemic, she (piano) and I (mandolin) have played quite a few duets as a prelude or postlude, most often a hymn or familiar gospel tune (for example, Of The Father's Love Begotten, a gorgeous, ancient, crooked melody). I've had to learn a fair amount of tunes I wouldn't ordinarily have learned, so it has been good for my musical education and forced me to do a little woodshedding.

    Mostly it has been a joy to have the opportunity to serve in a relaxed space where we both actively listen to each other and can respond in the moment. It has helped keep me sane these past couple years.
    Clark Beavans

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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    I started out playing the organ as a pre-teen with a teacher that went straight from the sheet music. She was good and I'm thankful for the basics she instilled in my young brain but my ever-wandering mind wanted to experiment which could only be done when no one else was around. Contemporary and praise music is different than the old hymns I grew up with where everyone was truly on the same page. I love both and play both regularly. The joy of playing guitar as a teen, and now mandolin in my senior years, is that I've allowed myself to play more by ear and use notation for the "muddy" spots as tree mentioned.

    Getting back to OP's topic, much of what I play is by ear. There are plenty of hymnals now that have a variety of styles from traditional to contemporary. And, you can find much of the music online. A good traditional resource not mentioned yet is Hymnary.org.
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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    King of My Heart has a Celtic feel to it. Great place for for an intro and solo for violin or mandolin. I usually kick it off and play along with the melody in the second verse.

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    Worlds ok-ist mando playr Zach Wilson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Edwards View Post
    King of My Heart has a Celtic feel to it. Great place for for an intro and solo for violin or mandolin. I usually kick it off and play along with the melody in the second verse.
    I second King Of My Heart!

    Ones I have found memories playing Mandolin on are:

    Seasons- Hillsong
    Reckless Love- Cory Asbury
    What A Beautiful Name- Hillsong
    Beautiful Things- Gungor

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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    We the Kingdom uses a mandolin/Mandola at times, you might find something from them and you can get a lot of free music/tabs from
    https://www.worshiptogether.com/





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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    Quote Originally Posted by Joseph Baker View Post
    "Do any of y'all play in a Catholic church?"

    Yes, I do.
    And I mean absolutely no disrespect to any organist.
    Our organist is a talented person.
    The point that I was trying to make is that with congregational music, we are more tied to sheet music.

    If any of my statement was offensive, that was never my intention and i sincerely apologize.

    Joseph Baker
    No problem, I understand what you were saying, thanks.

    Quote Originally Posted by tree View Post
    I didn't read anything that should cause anyone to be offended, nor did I read offense in DavidKOS's response above.

    I'm extraordinarily fortunate to be a choir member for a director who not only plays piano and organ, but who is definitely not tied to what is written on sheet music unless she deems it important. She routinely transposes on the fly to make it easier for vocalists, and frequently changes the arrangement to suit a compressed time limit or her own taste.
    Good - I have to do much the same thing depending on the range of the song, so as to fit the singers.

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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    All good choices and I agree that you can integrate mandolin into many contemporary Christian songs. A great source for sheet music, chord sheets, vocal sheets, etc. for any worship song is Song Select. Your church may already have access via CCLI, and it's a few more dollars for the account.
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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    Since I never tossed out all my suggestions, my favorites have been

    Shout And Shine - Southland Trio
    Jesus Saviour, Pilot Me - Stanley Brothers (just move the fiddle kickoff and guitar solo to mando)
    House Of Gold - Hank Williams
    Wayfaring Stranger - Garcia/Grisman
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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    mBeen singing and playing guitar in Catholic church choirs for somewhere around 40 years. The last 10-15 I have definitely involved more and more mandolin, mandola, and mandocello.
    I read a bit but rely mostly on ear and a song's "feel". To me it's mostly about blending and trying to bring out something within a song. I don't always hit the mark, but I always try.
    I do alot of chording and fills, kinda like "see a hole, fill it", and move on.
    So far no one has complained and I've gotten a few compliments on my "little guitar".

    Dave

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    Default Re: Contemporary Christian Music with Mandolin Solo???

    Quote Originally Posted by wreded View Post
    So far no one has complained and I've gotten a few compliments on my "little guitar".

    Dave
    Haha, yup! I hear that all the time Or, "is that a ukulele?"
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