Blowing through a phrase

[dwc]

I am brushing up on some Christmas music (for those of you who, like myself are new to mandolin, they are pretty easy by and large and real crowd pleasers). I have the sheet music to Angels We Have heard on High and I don't really know how to deal with measures 7 & 11, the Gloria part. When I played trumpet, I would just "blow through" the phrase, but I can't do that on a mandolin. I can't even "bow through" it the way a violin would. Do I have to fall back on tremelo, or is there a better alternative? Just wondering how mandolinists deal with these issues, I know they come up often in classical music.

[mmukav]

I think tremolo would be your best bet. Or you could make it 16th note runs of each note. (does that make sense?)

Or grab one of the great electric mandos off the classifieds and let the sustain do the work for you!

[Philip Halcomb]

tremolo a double-stop.

[Jasper]

Yup, tremolo is the simple and correct answer for me as well...sounds especially nice with the double stop per flip's instruction

[Rich]

I put in something rythmic with double stops.

[Brad Weiss]

See what Ted has to say on the subject at jazzmando.com

[jlb]

Just my opinion, but I think tremolo sounds a little off in Christmas music. I would either strum or cross-pick double-stops or drones.

[GVD]

Just my opinion, but I think tremolo sounds a little off in Christmas music. #I would either strum or cross-pick double-stops or drones.

Have you ever listened to Butch Baldasarri's Evergreen Christmas Music for Mandolin?

Evergreen

GVD

[Ted Eschliman]

Also one in the small minority who feel tremolo tends to be overused, I don't think there's any substitute for good left hand finger control and accurate right hand/left hand coordination. (The best tremolo in the world still won't cover this weakness up!)
Trombonist's perspective...

[Martin Jonas]

I use very little tremolo as a rule, but with the long notes in Silent Night, tremolo is a must! #This is best (I think) if played very straight, no double stopping, no decorations, lots of tremolo.

In other contexts, I would agree that tremolo is best used very sparingly or avoided altogether; with good fretting and a decent instrument, sustain alone can carry you through even quite slow phrases and it gives the music the necessary space to breathe.

Martin

[jlb]

Gotta throw in the towel for Silent Night...that is a tune just begging for tremolo.

[glauber]

Yes, but i think the key is to not use it in every note. Throw in some arpeggios and scales for variety sake.

Or listen to Mahalia Jackson's version, if you can find it. See how she sustains some notes but not all, and how she adds some melodic variation.

[dwc]

Thanks for the replies. I looked at Ted's jazzmando.com site and low and behold, almost the exact answer I was after, even used the same terminology (please don't sue me). The funny thing was, I have read that on his site previously. The key for me was to eliminate the open A fingering and work way up the neck moving the Bb to the D string, avoid string changes as much as possible (for tonal consistancy), holding the note and trying to "slide down" through the descending passages. I try to avoid tremelo as much as possible. I'm not very good at it, and it seems like a crutch, one that is all to often is artificially inserted simply to make a mandolin sound like a mandolin. Of course, the fact that I don't do it very well colors my perception.