Mandolin vs Banjo

[greg_tsam]

P.S. - My first instrument of choice was a banjo. I have always loved it's sound but a hand injury makes it impossible to perform anything requiring precise motor skills of my right hand like banjo rolls. The mandolin was my next choice, I love it, and was able to adapt and overcome my physical limitations.

[allenhopkins]

Just pick one, for whatever reason, and get started.

I started on 5-string banjo, 'cause I loved the Kingston Trio, and Dave Guard's rudimentary banjo picking. Once I got the hang of frets and strings, tuning, chords, and picking, the next instrument (guitar) was easier, mandolin came much faster, and then the race was on, through Autoharp, Appalachian dulcimer, Dobro, bass fiddle, uke, and all the variants thereof. (Not talking about concertina, definitely another whole ballgame.)

Whichever you pick, first one's the hardest. Learning one's way around melody and chords, coordinating both hands, figuring out how to learn songs and tunes.

[Eddie Sheehy]

Banjo: 5-string, Plectrum, Tenor ?
Mandolin: Mandolin

[vegas]

Having once built and played banjos, here are the benefits of the mandolin I have discovered (listed in the order that they popped to mind)-

1. Small case and light instrument. You will retain the circulation in your fingers when carrying the case from place to place.
2. Wide range of music genres that you can start with. If you read music, all violin sheet music is waiting!
3. Doesn't need a mute to sound pleasant.
4. Lovely range of design and form.
5. Easy to join in with jams after mastering just a few chords.
6. Pricing and quality of instruments range from ridiculously cheap to high-end investment.
7. No need for a capo.
8. Wide range of tonal complexity and subtly.
9. Used for both rhythm and melody.

10. Having The Mandolin Café as a resource for learning all things mandolin and help with solving problems for any level of skill.



Maybe there is a similar resource for banjo? Generally, the people here are very willing to help out and even when there is a sharp difference of opinion, are mostly polite about defending the one they believe to be true.

[belbein]

Because the mandolin can play most any style of music I put it ahead of the banjo.
I find nothing more satisfying than playing Big Sciota clawhammer style on the banjo.
Playing a few fiddle tunes on the mandolin, then some Bach, very cool.

Maybe the way to decide is this: How many teeth do you have?

Teeth aside, and not to be (too) argumentative, but what style of music can't the banjo play that the mandolin can?

[Barry Wilson]

I can pack a small amp in the trunk of my motorcycle and strap the mandolin on the tiny rack and ride the almost 2hr trip to my weekly sunday jams now... with a passenger. The OM or banjo would require leaving the passenger home or taking the car...

we play rock folk and blues with some country and southern rock. someone asked me how long I have played ukelele last night haha.

[Bertram Henze]

...what style of music can't the banjo play that the mandolin can?

Good question. Reminds me of this old video - seems hard to decide which one to remove from this.

[JGWoods]

Teeth aside, and not to be (too) argumentative, but what style of music can't the banjo play that the mandolin can?

Here on the internet we all know that any instrument can be used in any setting to play any kind of music. I'm not sure what that proves.
What can't the banjo play? All the notes are there so it can play anything. Sorry that is not a helpful answer .

[Nick Royal]

I was a banjo player when someone gave me a mandolin to sell. I ended up buying it, and eventually got
really involved in learning the mandolin. I had played 5 string banjo for a number of years, but still found frailing the banjo
not easy to do. (I really like that style of banjo played well.)
When ever I travel I take along the mandolin....which is easy to carry on the plane. Often, while waiting for a flight, someone will ask me if I have a uke or some other non-mando instrument.

[greg_tsam]

Everything discussed here is right on and relevant but all the OP really needs to hear is Pick the one that makes you feel happiest and most comfortable and get busy picking. You can always change as you get familiar with what you're doing.

[Cecily_Mandoliner]

I'm thinking about buying either a mandolin or banjo. I was wondering which one of these sound the best solo, and which one is easier to learn. I have a very small musical background (piano for a couple years about 10 years ago).


Thank You for your help!

I have a piano background, (with some attempts at violin and guitar), and I found the mandolin to be very accessible - I started with a book and CD, then started lessons at my local music shop. I've had a lot of fun with it. I've even dared to play in public a few times with my fellow beginning jammers, and even posted on YouTube. I'm taking lessons to build soloing and instrumental break skills. The sound of the mandolin is so cool and alive to me.
And, then, I've always loved the sound of banjos. So, when my hubby and I found a banjo pack (included a book, a gig bag, picks, strings, tuner, and tools), we snapped it up. I haven't devoted a lot of time to it, yet, but I sure enjoy the sound of it when I play out on the porch. No one's thrown any tomatoes at me, yet... chords are really easy on it, and the open tuning makes it fun to just plink around on it. Check out BanjoHangout for a good banjo forum.
My answer is: assume you're going to have both eventually, pick one for now, and budget accordingly for the other.
Have fun picking, whatever you decide!

[Ivan Kelsall]

I've played banjo for 50 years this year & it still gives me a buzz. However,i'm a strict Scruggs stylist & don't play much 'melodic' style.Having taken up the mandolin 8 years back,i can now play some of the more 'jazzier' sounding tunes that i couldn't (never really tried to play) play on banjo.They're both great instruments & if you can afford both,buy both & enjoy yourself twice over !,
Ivan

[CHASAX]

cannot find the delete button

[Bernie Daniel]

cannot find the delete button

No matter. Maybe the OP if he is still on the site will tell us, 5 years later, which instrument he decided to play? Or maybe he lives on the Banjo Hangout now?

[Br1ck]

Can you bear the brunt of the thousands of banjo jokes? You will eventually hear them all.

And while every new player can benefit from a sound proof room, banjos more than anything else. Fiddle being a close second.

[OldSausage]

cannot find the delete button

This is the reason a lot of people end up playing banjo TBH.

[Br1ck]

Let the onslaught begin.

[CES]

5 year old thread, but, as I'm in the process of downsizing a bit, a better initial response to the OP's question should perhaps be, "What instrument does your significant other prefer?" I generally play my banjo when my wife's not at home Even if I mute it, she's not a fan. She can tolerate a little bit of Fleck/Pickles style banjo, but that's about it. She just doesn't like the way they sound and, probably, their associated toothless redneck stereotypes And, now she's got no where to hide

[Tim N]

It could be the neighbours who decide...?
The sheer lightness and smallness of a mandolin is part of its delight. And for me, that aforementioned Q about the pinkie really was an important factor. (but I've no wish to kick start that discussion again...)
But I do like the sound of a banjo too.

[catmandu2]

... stereotypes ...

Also beyond this banjo has a more nuanced lineage - what with Django, jazz, etc. For me bnj means upbeat - I don't play it any more, have lost my chops. I loved jelly roll and raggy tunes.
But it's generally a raucous implement. I always loved Danny Barker and that trad stuff. It's a great harmony and rhythm machine.

[Steve Lavelle]

Like others here, I play both and bring both and an electric bass to the gigs I play a few times a month. The Banjo is heaviest by far. I can't say which is easier to learn, as I am self taught and tend to progress on both erratically. I started banjo at about 15 and picked up a mandolin a few years later, but didn't really get decent until I decided that my lot in life was to be the only guy not playing guitar in my 40s.

Which sounds better as a vocal solo vocal support instrument? I've go to go with banjo because the Pete Seeger, John Hartford, Steve Martin , and his friend John McEuen had a lot of success in their solo careers without other instruments playing along. This being a mandolin forum I'm sure subsequent posts will advocate for solo mandolinist/singers that I can't think of, but the mandolin seems to work best with other instruments. I find the mandolin to be more intellectual and the banjo to be more intuitive.

[TX2AK]

I realize this is an old thread, and likely the OP has chosen one or the other or has fallen out all together. I just wanted to chime in for future searchers being in the throws of this decision. I started on 5 string banjo in 2001 as a college student, because of my musical progression: I was a huge fan of the Grateful Dead, grew up in a household originally who were not fans; parents divorced when I was 9, step mother 3 years later was from California and had the Europe ‘72 LP double album, and the cover art really drew me in more than the music originally, to be honest - I was a little kid. I became a huge fan of the Dead listened to that album over and over. I first picked up a guitar and learned basic chords in the early 90s, but I was bored by that, and found it to be a little generic - everyone who plays music for real on any moderate level knows the guitar basics. I found the banjo in 2001 as a college student, because I took a dive and learned that Jerry Garcia played it in the early days (before his electric guitar, he wanted to be a bluegrass banjo player) and with Old and in the Way - there began the 20+ year rabbit hole. I’ve gone through 3 finger phases, clawhammer phases (for 6+ years), back to 3 finger, etc. Recently, I was open to the mandolin (long story of goofiness that isn’t worth recounting), and was shocked by how obsessive I became. Dawg Grisman played with Jerry and the Dead, and I was intrigued by that, but it was Sam Bush, in a roundabout way - through the Dead, into bluegrass, back to Bella Fleck and Sam Bush and the Newgrass Revival, that I really found my jam - which is the JamGrass, or whatever you want to call it. There spawned my re-interest in the mandolin, which is the instrument de jour for me, without question.

I can say that for someone picking up a new instrument, I recommend bass - period. I played banjo and guitar reasonably well, and sometimes for money, for a long time; but the bass is the first instrument and easiest instrument to learn to be musical - the progressions, shapes, and other things just fall so easily on the bass, it’s easy and not painful to play; and theory is so necessary and evident in the basic Nashville Number System, that it is my “go to” for learning MUSIC. It’s not always sexy, but bass grounds the band; and if you are a dancer, bass is what your are dancing to. It’s an underrated and under-appreciated instrument, and as far as I know, is the easiest instrument to get playing and learn valuable theory. Because I know most won’t want to explore bass, and to the originally question - Mandolin is easier if you know music theory, to me - by a factor of 1,000 - it’s so straight forward, that if you understand music theory, it and the fiddle and bass are the perfect instruments - tuned in 5ths or 4ths. Banjo, on the other hand - which is my primary instrument - is easier to fret with the noticeably lighter string tension (meaning easier calluses - mandolin will hurt for longer - even if you play bass and banjo, calluses are rough on mandolin) and is incredible and wholly, uniquely American and interesting, and is easier and more fun to roll chord progressions, easier to just play something musical out of the box - so if rolling on backup is your goal; play the banjo. It’s tuned to open G, which makes the chord shapes easy to find and fret; but if you want to play Music, you have to pick the instrument that tickles your fancy. The mandolin weighs little enough to be a non-discussion point; while the typical tone ring banjo weighs 11-12 lbs, with my heaviest - a ‘77 Stelling - weighing 13.5 lbs. For standing and playing, I know I can’t do that, so it is the guitar, bass, or mandolin for a standing gig - If seated, I can play banjo all day and night. All stringed instrument share musical theory - which one is your favorite is wholly subjective. I would argue that if you know no music theory, you would do yourself a favor by starting on bass. The theory is easily picked up there, and translates to ever stringed instrument; so it becomes a matter of what you feel most. If you knew what you loved, you wouldn’t be looking at this thread. Obviously, the shortest route from beginner to master is on one instrument, but if you don’t know what your exact jam is, bass is the foundation, and easiest instrument to learn all the theory that unlocks all other doors; or at least is was for me.

[JiminRussia]

I'm thinking about buying either a mandolin or banjo. I was wondering which one of these sound the best solo, and which one is easier to learn. I have a very small musical background (piano for a couple years about 10 years ago).


Thank You for your help!

I seem to be having some trouble posting a reply to your OP, so I’ll try posting with a quote. Hmm…. Seems to be working that way. In any respect, I am a recovering banjo player that was saved from a life of pain and humiliation by the mandolin and the guitar. Many years ago I got hooked by the bluegrass bug and bought a banjo. It took me about one year to be able to play my first tune on the banjo, (three finger Scruggs style) it was, of course, “”Foggy Mountain Breakdown”. A few years later I added the mandolin. In retrospect I can say that the banjo is probably easier to learn, overall, but you can learn to play a couple of tunes on the mandolin sooner than on the banjo. This is what I discovered. Learning basic Scruggs style banjo is training your fingers to do about eight or ten different “rolls”. The rolls are a pattern of picking strokes using the thumb and two fingers of the picking hand. The fretting hand is going to be more or less the same for either instrument. Once you get the finger rolls to work for you at speed, then it is just a matter of plugging them into a tune at the right place and playing a lot out of chordal positions. On the mandolin it’s more learning scales and how to use them. No, you are not going to need an advanced degree in music theory to play the mandolin, but I highly suggest that you get a basic knowledge of scales, major, minor, chromatic, diatonic and later on you may want to explore pentatonic scales. In any case you need to teach your fingers (muscle memory) where the patterns are on the mandolin fretboard. After that you can disengage the brain and let the fingers do the walking.

[Sue Rieter]

the bass is the first instrument and easiest instrument to learn to be musical ... It’s not always sexy ...

Although I only play mandolin, I *do* think upright bass is pretty sexy and am fairly intrigued by it.

I keep trying to get my brother (electric bass player) to get one so that I can check it out

[CarlM]

Although I only play mandolin, I *do* think upright bass is pretty sexy and am fairly intrigued by it.

I keep trying to get my brother (electric bass player) to get one so that I can check it out

Upright bass is cool but it is physically hard. I have seen bass players blister their fingers. And if you ever do it try to find a real upright bass player to show you basics. There are specific techniques to plucking and it is different from electric bass. I don't claim to play it beyond a rudimentary level but have had enough exposure to know that much.