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Thread: Good rock songs?

  1. #1
    Registered User TonyEarth's Avatar
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    Default Good rock songs?

    What are some good rock songs to play and sing on the mandolin? i know losing my religion, dance tonight, and you've got to hide your love away. I'm looking for more so i could get a gig somewhere or have fun and make a fool of myself singing on the street Ideas?

  2. #2

    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    Heart in a Cage is an obvious one. The Chris Thile Cover.

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    Registered User TonyEarth's Avatar
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    Thanks, both cool songs.

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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    I hate to mention this one but copperhead road goes over great on the street.lots of people will ask for maggie may by rod stewart.thank you by zeppelin is easy and works well. have fun

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    Registered User wellvis@well.com's Avatar
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    Here are a bunch of rock song tabs from this very same site:
    http://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin/...earchterm=rrck
    Other songs I'd recommend include "Friend of the Devil" and "Ripple" by the Grateful Dead (David Grisman on mandolin), but really just about any song you can play on guitar could be played on mandolin.
    Brad's Page of Steel:
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    String-Bending Heretic mandocrucian's Avatar
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    I may as well put in a plug for my On Fire & Ready! disc, released way back in 1993. This one hits the spectrum of roots-rock stuff from blues, rockabilly, country rock, Fairport-ish folk-rock, etc. I consider the thing to be "acoustic rock". Mandolin carries the rhythmic function of guitar on a lot of the tracks (guitar entirely absent on numerous tracks). But when there is guitar, it's folks like Richard Thompson, or Martin Simpson, or Erik H. (other personel include pianist Ann Rabson an vocalist Gaye Adegbalola from Saffire, blue harmonica Phill Wiggins, ex-Trapezoid bassist Ralph Gordon, Peter Eri of the Hungarian band Muzsikas on rhythm viola, and some other players who've never heard of before but who can really play, like the jazz drummer from Puerto Tico who's on most of the tracks. Yes folks, drumming on almost everything!

    Tracks include stuff like: I'm Ready (Muddy Waters), Fire (Hendrix meets Tull), Summertime Blues (Eddie Cochran), Honky Tonk Blues (Hank Sr. ala Cooder), Low Down Blues (Hank Sr. ala New orleans R&B), Tyrant's Jig and a several other originals (NH, ala Fairport Conv.)

    16 tracks, 65 minutes long.

    Niles H

    Mandocrucian tracks on SoundCloud

    CoMando Guest of the Week 2003 interview of Niles

    "I could be wrong now, but I don't think so!." - Randy Newman ("It's A Jungle Out There")

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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    Battle of Evermore

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    Registered User TonyEarth's Avatar
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    Actual chords for mandolin are hard to find, i know one can just use guitar chords read as mandolin chords, but sometimes they sound weird.

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    mandolin slinger Steve Ostrander's Avatar
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    If you go to chordie.com you can automatically transpose chords to mandolin, as well as change the key. Very handy.

  11. #11
    Registered User TonyEarth's Avatar
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    wow, thanks, thats really cool

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    Registered User Jim MacDaniel's Avatar
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    Here's a somewhat recent take on an old classic:


    And here's the original -- although JPJ doesn't get as much camera time in this video:
    "The problem with quotes on the internet, is everybody has one, and most of them are wrong."
    ~ Mark Twain


    Mandolin shirts, hats, case stickers, & more at my Zazzle storefront

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    Smile Re: Good rock songs?

    Good luck singing those high harmonies .

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    Registered User TonyEarth's Avatar
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    By the way, is there any way to transpose guitar tabs? Because it would be great if i could learn "dust in the wind" by kansas, or other classics that aren't really chords or have a tab intro and later go into chords.

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    Registered User JimRichter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    Transposing guitar tabs? Yes, but it means knowing both the mandolin and guitar fretboards inside out, since you will have to really think positions for the mandolin. Guitar-driven music can be hard to apply to an instrument tuned in 5ths.

    To give you an idea about how to work a guitar piece into something mandolin ready (without making it bluegrass or altering the melody or feel drastically since we're not talking about any of the Pickin' on joke stuff), refer to some of my YouTube videos.

  16. #16
    Registered User Mike Herlihy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    Quote Originally Posted by JimRichter View Post
    Transposing guitar tabs? Yes, but it means knowing both the mandolin and guitar fretboards inside out, since you will have to really think positions for the mandolin. Guitar-driven music can be hard to apply to an instrument tuned in 5ths.

    To give you an idea about how to work a guitar piece into something mandolin ready (without making it bluegrass or altering the melody or feel drastically since we're not talking about any of the Pickin' on joke stuff), refer to some of my YouTube videos.
    Yes, I highly recommend Jim's Youtube videos. I've learned three great songs from Jim's videos. Thanks, Jim

  17. #17
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    There's a few Steve Earle tunes that work well. Galway Girl is another good one, as is Sometimes She Forgets, though the latter is more-or-less a straight up country tune. I also vaguely recall doing a cover of Devil's Right Hand on mando one night at a party a few years back.

  18. #18
    working musician Jim Bevan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    There are tons of rock songs that work great on mando (and I've written a few of them out (notation), if people want 'em), but the one that I find gets the fastest and loudest reaction is Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love". It's pretty easy, too, including the solo.

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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    Every Breath You Take by The Police. Simple, and people know it (the biggest thing about going over on the street/in public).

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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    I have a friend who plays baritone uke. He loves doing (and others eat it up!) "Like a Prayer" by Madonna, "Hit Me Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears, and "Faith" by George Michaels...People honestly go nuts...
    Valley Road Bluegrass Band
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  21. #21
    fretboard roamer Paul Merlo's Avatar
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    I like to play Hotel Yorba by the White Stripes for people. It's a short, high intensity jangle with a pretty easy G C D G chord progression too.

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    Registered User TonyEarth's Avatar
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    Yes, I highly recommend Jim's Youtube videos. I've learned three great songs from Jim's videos. Thanks, Jim
    I went to his youtube page, and he has some amazing songs there. but how did you learn songs mike? did you just look at the chords while he was playing them? i can't really do that, and i dont have an extraordinary ear for chords. help?

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    Registered User Marcus CA's Avatar
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    How about "Wipeout"?

    still trying to turn dreams into memories

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    Registered User Mike Herlihy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    Quote Originally Posted by TonyEarth View Post
    I went to his youtube page, and he has some amazing songs there. but how did you learn songs mike? did you just look at the chords while he was playing them? i can't really do that, and i dont have an extraordinary ear for chords. help?
    sorry for the slow reply. If you go to Jim's website http://www.jimrichter.com/ he has tab in Tabledit format. You can get a FREE reader http://tabledit.com/ here. My approach is to learn one phrase at a time play along to the Tabledit file (you can slow the playback down. Takes some work but is worth.

  25. #25
    Registered User TonyEarth's Avatar
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    Default Re: Good rock songs?

    two problems.. tabledit files do not work when i download them. also, i dont know how to change the setting in table edit from acoustic guitar to mandolin.

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