Back when I was first learning guitar, I found an instruction book which mapped out the "soloing positions" around the fretboard. You know, say a song is in "E". your boxes are rooted around the 9th, 12th, and 15th frets as well as the open position at the bottom (corresponding roughly to the "E" chord positions). It was a Rosetta Stone for me when it came to improvisation.
Is there an equivalent for mandolin soloing? I know the tuning is completely different, but I would like to start getting my groove on with playing a few runs.
When I was first learning the mandolin I found that Folk of The Wood has some VERY good lessons. I made the link go to the mandolin lessons page. Check it out!
I also got this handy dandy little chart from MusicDials.com. It costs $8.95 US.
..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ .·´
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´ -:¦:- Elecktrablue -:¦:-
"Don't wanna ride no shootin' star. Just wanna play on the rhythm guitar." Emmylou Harris, "Rhythm Guitar" from "The Ballad of Sally Rose"
Ooooh! Thanks for the link to Folk of the Wood! I may pick up the chart also!
I play a lot of Irish mandolin and if you are new to the instrument you may like to try and find a "session" near you. Hopefully there is one nearby and you will find a great deal of help there. In addition you should have a peep at http://www.mandolincafe.com for a host of material.
In terms of books I found "The Irish Mandolin" by Padraig Carroll a wonderful book.
Finally, an investment in software called TablEdit could be helpful then set the tab to mandolin and import the thousands of midi files available. If you are stuck for where to look and need some tips let me know.
D
What did the guitarist do when he was told to turn on his amp?
He caressed it softly and told it that he loved it.
You're more than welcome! Here are a couple more mando lesson/tab sites.
MandolinCafe
BluegrassBooksOnline/Free Lessons
The Scottish Mandolin
John Baldry Mando Tablature
EDIT: Oops! Welshman beat me to the MandolinCafe! :D
..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ .·´
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´ -:¦:- Elecktrablue -:¦:-
"Don't wanna ride no shootin' star. Just wanna play on the rhythm guitar." Emmylou Harris, "Rhythm Guitar" from "The Ballad of Sally Rose"
This is a great post! I have a mandolin but haven't played it in a while due to a lack of material, and now I don't have an excuse.
Steve-0
At the risk of mentioning "the competition" (somehow I don't think the moderators will worry as there is always room for everyone in the world of music) there is another brilliant discussion forum available that centres largely around Irish traditional music (ITM) - visit http://www.thesession.org abd you will fin a huge range of subjects being covered as well as a host of sheet music/ abc and midi files for you to explore.
D
What did the guitarist do when he was told to turn on his amp?
He caressed it softly and told it that he loved it.
Here are some other handy mandolin links.
Mandolin Javascript Chord Chart
All Tabs Mandolin Tablature (these are in .tef format so you'll need a TablEdit Viewer, downloadable from this site)
Jethro Burns Lesson Tapes These are GREAT!!!!
Simple Gifts Mandolin Tablature
..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ .·´
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´ -:¦:- Elecktrablue -:¦:-
"Don't wanna ride no shootin' star. Just wanna play on the rhythm guitar." Emmylou Harris, "Rhythm Guitar" from "The Ballad of Sally Rose"
Thanks to all!
Also check out musicmoose for some free instructional videos!
Sorry to ask what is probably a really obvious question but I've been thinking about getting a mandolin to play bluegrass for some time now. Looking at the links, am I right in thinking that bluegrass solos are mainly played in the major scale? Is there any call for my hard-learned minor and major pentatonic scales for the guitar? Am I also right in thinking that not much is really played beyond the fifth fret of the mandolin?
Thanks
