A little over a year ago, I went with my son on a school field trip to the music museum at SDSU. There I saw a sackbut.
As for me, virtually nothing. I took a few classic guitar lessons many years ago, but went nowhere with them. I rang handbells for a performanceof a church choir. I was master of the pitchpipe for our high school madrigal group.
But what I really wonder is iffin ya want lessons in playing yer elbow? hmm? do ya? do ya? I think it's MUCH prettier that all these mandolins, banjos and accordians!!!! ;)-->
I took your advise and bought a mandolin on e-bay with a DVD instruction with it. ($41.00 total) Looks and sounds great. Can you suggest any beginers book to use?
ovr50: Try Jay Buckey's Virtual Band stuff for mandolin. His website also has a ton of free tabs with both violin notation and mando tab on the same page. http://www.jaybuckey.com/FREE_Tablature.htm
Be sure to check out the Mandolin Cafe, too. It's a great source of mando info.
Do yourself a favor and buy a set of Thomastik-Infeld flatwound mando strings, too. They're expensive ($22 or so a set) but they're nigh-indestructible. I use the Lights, but they make Mittel (mid) and Stark (hvy) too.
Welcome to the 8-stringed world! :D-->
The fool hath said in his heart, "PFAL is the Word of God..."
Whats the differance between light,mid and heavy strings for beginners? Which should I use and why?
I was able to play a song the first day by using the same fingering as my violin - "Red River Valley". The strings are much harder on the finger tips though.
Started playng on drum pads when I was three.........got my first set (Pearls) when I was 6
Played in a few bands in my teen years and the girls seemed to like the singers best........but can't complain ;)-->
The best set I ever played was Ludwigs with double-mounted toms and two floor toms, snare and bass............14" Zildjan hi-hats, two 16" Zildjans and an 18" Zildjan rider
ovr50: If the strings are tough on your fingers, the action on the mando may be a bit too high. You can have a guitar shop adjust it, or try the Thomastik flatwound light strings. Easier to fret, and since they're flat wound instead of roundwound, the windings don't bite into your fingers. Elderly Music sells them online.
You use middle or heavy strings to get a louder sound. I'd stick with lights or middles with the inexpensive mandos. Too much tension can crack any stringed instrument.
Re: Red River Valley, that's the cool part about the two instruments. First position on the violin equates to frets 2, 4, and 5 on the mandolin. :)-->
The fool hath said in his heart, "PFAL is the Word of God..."
[This message was edited by Zixar on January 07, 2004 at 8:27.]
My primary intruments are electric bass guitar and my vocal chords. But I can keep a beat on a drum or drumset and make decent music with a piano or keyboard. Wind instruments might be my next thing.
I am currently investigating music's role in white magic alchemy, as well as in speaking with tongues and various forms of shamanism and chakra-work.
My wife won 2 tickets to Lollapalooza on the radio, and so I enjoyed that show this Friday: Jane's Addiction, A Perfect Circle, Incubus, Audioslave, Jurrasic 5, and others. I only wished it were twice as loud.
This topic is still in Birthdays and Anniversaries??? Weird.
Anyway, I've decided to branch out a bit more, emboldened by my modicum of success on the mandolin. I went out and bought a banjo yesterday.
Now, I always liked the banjo, but it looked darn near impossible to play, so I was scared off. I shouldn't have been. Even though it looks complicated, there are a few tricks that make it actually rather simple to play--slowly. Where practice comes in is in building speed. When you hear fast stuff like Foggy Mountain Breakdown slowed down, you see there isn't really much going on. Rather, it's the speed that makes it all mesh together.
There's always been a good-natured rivalry between mandolin players and banjo players that I didn't really understand until yesterday. You can play a mandolin softly if you want to, it's no big deal. In fact, it's volume that's the problem on a mando because it's so small, even with the doubled strings. Not so on a banjo. Even if you strum lightly, everyone in the house will instantly know it's practice time again. The combination of the large snare-drum-type head and the wooden resonator on the back make "quiet banjo" an oxymoron like "jumbo shrimp". So, in any bluegrass band, the mando player is basically having to bust his strings to be heard over Mister Banjo, even if banjer-man is trying to play softly.
How's everyone else doing with their chosen noisemakers? :D-->
Ive been experimenting with alternate tunings and partial capo'ing on my guitar for a few months, an Esuspended capo seems to give a nice celtic flavoring similar to DADGAD but with a few more options that I really like. Ive been using it to work up some arrangements of old christmas songs ( Holly and.., God rest ye,, Hark the herald..Joy to...familiar melodies that are easily adaptable to a celtic style---as well as some 1700's Scottish carols I found in a book this year)
How many strings on the banjo?--they make so many now. 4-5-6 or?
How are you approaching it? I love a banjo but never moved beyond some basic clawhammer stuff, you cant beat the sound aand simple pleasure of listening to a banjo.
If sirguess is still there (its been awhile)
quote: I am currently investigating music's role in white magic alchemy, as well as in speaking with tongues and various forms of shamanism and chakra-work.
Mstar: The most common number of strings is 5, although there are plenty of 4-, 6-, and even 3-string banjos around. I'm trying to learn bluegrass (Scruggs) style, but I'm hearing more and more good stuff about clawhammer style now. Might have to look into that down the road.
Mine's tuned gDBGD, the open-G bluegrass tuning. Quite a change from the simple GDAE of my mandolin...
If you like the Celtic stuff, you might want to look into the Irish (tenor/short) banjo (4-strings, tuned like a mandolin) or the Irish bouzouki (8-strings, bottom two courses in octave, top two in unison, tuned 1 octave lower than a mandolin or else tuned G'D'A'D'.) Both give a unique sound to Celtic and Christmas carols.
Hey Zix, what kind of finger picks are you using? A friend of mine that plays sent me some John Pearse, thumb and 3 fingers and I worked with them for awhile to learn a couple rolls. I'm not that good at it. Liked the John Pearse's though.
She's the wave, She turns the tide, She sees the man inside the child,
it's alright, it's alright, alright, She moves in mysterious ways....
I'm at a point where it's like a train wreck about to happen. Long as I keep moving it's okay! Getting in and out is a challenge.
I'm doing this on guitar, and I've got one little "diddly dip" thing I can use, and another like it, and that's about it. The JP's helped me get past the comfort thing, for some reason finger picks always felt like I had weights on.
She's the wave, She turns the tide, She sees the man inside the child,
it's alright, it's alright, alright, She moves in mysterious ways....
Well for that matter Happy Birthday to the Glockenspiel-i like those little bell like undertones strategically placed---
Z...the music store up the road has a bouzouki and a cittern which I go up and play semi regularly and threaten to buy--one of these days alice--one of these days--they are great and joyful sounding instruments, but I am already likely to play hookey from work way to often without another thing to keep me enthralled .
They also have a 6 string banjo that is tuned like a guitar-(which is sort of like cheating).You cant get the cascading runs of a normal banjo, but other strange things can happen. (Bach on banjo -anyone?)
Good to see a banjo player playing in an actual standard tuning--the banjo picker I play with always seem to be altering tunings after every song, The joke is banjo players spend half the time tuning , the other half playing out of tune.
If you like old banjo tunes there are an equal amount of old banjo jokes..
Whats the first prize at a banjo contest?
an ice pick and ten free fiddle lessons ;)-->
happy pickin
[This message was edited by mstar1 on November 21, 2003 at 6:48.]
Maybe I could post some MP3's of my classical playing. Or perhaps via a link. Wait, isn't Sudo the MP3 master? I'm anxious to hear my newest guitar's recorded sound. I suspect it will sound particularly beautiful. We'll see.
Right now i'm on a Brazilian kick. I've got some Baden Powell, Marco Pereira (SO cool) & Paulo Bellinatti under my belt and am learning more Bellinatti as I type.
Just record your guitar and then let me know. If you can manage to somehow get it on your hard drive.. I assure you I can get direct you how to get it to me via ftp to a server I have control over. Then I'll be more than glad to post it.
Have you considered the easy way?? Just use the Sound Recorder in Windows and play the guitar in front of your computer's microphone.
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Psalm 71 one
I would like Vickles to notice that I have successfully killed THIS thread, at least!! HEEE HEEHEE!
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Lifted Up
No, you are not succesful in your murder attempt.
A little over a year ago, I went with my son on a school field trip to the music museum at SDSU. There I saw a sackbut.
As for me, virtually nothing. I took a few classic guitar lessons many years ago, but went nowhere with them. I rang handbells for a performanceof a church choir. I was master of the pitchpipe for our high school madrigal group.
-------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SSSWWWAAAATTTTT!!!!!!!!
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Psalm 71 one
Okay, Lifty, I'm gonna hafta see a sackbut! LOL!
But what I really wonder is iffin ya want lessons in playing yer elbow? hmm? do ya? do ya? I think it's MUCH prettier that all these mandolins, banjos and accordians!!!!
;)-->
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ovr50nfree
Zixar - Mstar1
I took your advise and bought a mandolin on e-bay with a DVD instruction with it. ($41.00 total) Looks and sounds great. Can you suggest any beginers book to use?
"Let Your FREAK FLAG Fly"
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Zixar
ovr50: Try Jay Buckey's Virtual Band stuff for mandolin. His website also has a ton of free tabs with both violin notation and mando tab on the same page. http://www.jaybuckey.com/FREE_Tablature.htm
Be sure to check out the Mandolin Cafe, too. It's a great source of mando info.
Do yourself a favor and buy a set of Thomastik-Infeld flatwound mando strings, too. They're expensive ($22 or so a set) but they're nigh-indestructible. I use the Lights, but they make Mittel (mid) and Stark (hvy) too.
Welcome to the 8-stringed world!
:D-->
The fool hath said in his heart, "PFAL is the Word of God..."
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ovr50nfree
Zix
Whats the differance between light,mid and heavy strings for beginners? Which should I use and why?
I was able to play a song the first day by using the same fingering as my violin - "Red River Valley". The strings are much harder on the finger tips though.
"Let Your FREAK FLAG Fly"
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firebee
Started playng on drum pads when I was three.........got my first set (Pearls) when I was 6
Played in a few bands in my teen years and the girls seemed to like the singers best........but can't complain
;)-->
The best set I ever played was Ludwigs with double-mounted toms and two floor toms, snare and bass............14" Zildjan hi-hats, two 16" Zildjans and an 18" Zildjan rider
plus a 20" inverted crash
Someday I'll pick it back up
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Zixar
ovr50: If the strings are tough on your fingers, the action on the mando may be a bit too high. You can have a guitar shop adjust it, or try the Thomastik flatwound light strings. Easier to fret, and since they're flat wound instead of roundwound, the windings don't bite into your fingers. Elderly Music sells them online.
You use middle or heavy strings to get a louder sound. I'd stick with lights or middles with the inexpensive mandos. Too much tension can crack any stringed instrument.
Re: Red River Valley, that's the cool part about the two instruments. First position on the violin equates to frets 2, 4, and 5 on the mandolin.
:)-->
The fool hath said in his heart, "PFAL is the Word of God..."
[This message was edited by Zixar on January 07, 2004 at 8:27.]
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Raf
Ok, why is this in the birthdays and anniversaries forum?
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit excedrin cocktails.
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Zixar
I was wondering that, too. Paw?
The fool hath said in his heart, "PFAL is the Word of God..."
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mstar1
Maybe Paw associates music with "Happy Birthday to you"
Are y'all seeing any good live music this summer?
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sirguessalot
My primary intruments are electric bass guitar and my vocal chords. But I can keep a beat on a drum or drumset and make decent music with a piano or keyboard. Wind instruments might be my next thing.
I am currently investigating music's role in white magic alchemy, as well as in speaking with tongues and various forms of shamanism and chakra-work.
My wife won 2 tickets to Lollapalooza on the radio, and so I enjoyed that show this Friday: Jane's Addiction, A Perfect Circle, Incubus, Audioslave, Jurrasic 5, and others. I only wished it were twice as loud.
Todd
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Zixar
This topic is still in Birthdays and Anniversaries??? Weird.
Anyway, I've decided to branch out a bit more, emboldened by my modicum of success on the mandolin. I went out and bought a banjo yesterday.
Now, I always liked the banjo, but it looked darn near impossible to play, so I was scared off. I shouldn't have been. Even though it looks complicated, there are a few tricks that make it actually rather simple to play--slowly. Where practice comes in is in building speed. When you hear fast stuff like Foggy Mountain Breakdown slowed down, you see there isn't really much going on. Rather, it's the speed that makes it all mesh together.
There's always been a good-natured rivalry between mandolin players and banjo players that I didn't really understand until yesterday. You can play a mandolin softly if you want to, it's no big deal. In fact, it's volume that's the problem on a mando because it's so small, even with the doubled strings. Not so on a banjo. Even if you strum lightly, everyone in the house will instantly know it's practice time again. The combination of the large snare-drum-type head and the wooden resonator on the back make "quiet banjo" an oxymoron like "jumbo shrimp". So, in any bluegrass band, the mando player is basically having to bust his strings to be heard over Mister Banjo, even if banjer-man is trying to play softly.
How's everyone else doing with their chosen noisemakers?
:D-->
Secret Signature of the Day==v
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mstar1
Ive been experimenting with alternate tunings and partial capo'ing on my guitar for a few months, an Esuspended capo seems to give a nice celtic flavoring similar to DADGAD but with a few more options that I really like. Ive been using it to work up some arrangements of old christmas songs ( Holly and.., God rest ye,, Hark the herald..Joy to...familiar melodies that are easily adaptable to a celtic style---as well as some 1700's Scottish carols I found in a book this year)
How many strings on the banjo?--they make so many now. 4-5-6 or?
How are you approaching it? I love a banjo but never moved beyond some basic clawhammer stuff, you cant beat the sound aand simple pleasure of listening to a banjo.
If sirguess is still there (its been awhile)
I'd like to hear what he is finding outLink to comment
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Zixar
Mstar: The most common number of strings is 5, although there are plenty of 4-, 6-, and even 3-string banjos around. I'm trying to learn bluegrass (Scruggs) style, but I'm hearing more and more good stuff about clawhammer style now. Might have to look into that down the road.
Mine's tuned gDBGD, the open-G bluegrass tuning. Quite a change from the simple GDAE of my mandolin...
If you like the Celtic stuff, you might want to look into the Irish (tenor/short) banjo (4-strings, tuned like a mandolin) or the Irish bouzouki (8-strings, bottom two courses in octave, top two in unison, tuned 1 octave lower than a mandolin or else tuned G'D'A'D'.) Both give a unique sound to Celtic and Christmas carols.
Secret Signature of the Day==v
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Zixar
er, make that gDGBD, instead...oops!
Secret Signature of the Day==v
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socks
Hey Zix, what kind of finger picks are you using? A friend of mine that plays sent me some John Pearse, thumb and 3 fingers and I worked with them for awhile to learn a couple rolls. I'm not that good at it. Liked the John Pearse's though.
She's the wave, She turns the tide, She sees the man inside the child,
it's alright, it's alright, alright, She moves in mysterious ways....
(U2)
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Zixar
Just some no-name metal picks...
Man, these rolls aren't that difficult, they just need a lot of practice so you can perform them continuously without screwing up.
Secret Signature of the Day==v
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socks
Not hard for you, maybe!
:)--> I hear ya though.
I'm at a point where it's like a train wreck about to happen. Long as I keep moving it's okay! Getting in and out is a challenge.
I'm doing this on guitar, and I've got one little "diddly dip" thing I can use, and another like it, and that's about it. The JP's helped me get past the comfort thing, for some reason finger picks always felt like I had weights on.
She's the wave, She turns the tide, She sees the man inside the child,
it's alright, it's alright, alright, She moves in mysterious ways....
(U2)
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Raf
Happy Birthday to the Harpsichord!
It's not, but I figured since it's the birthday forum...
Happy Anniversary to the Bass and the Cello. Hundreds of years together, and still Junior High School students can't tell you apart!
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mstar1
Well for that matter Happy Birthday to the Glockenspiel-i like those little bell like undertones strategically placed---
Z...the music store up the road has a bouzouki and a cittern which I go up and play semi regularly and threaten to buy--one of these days alice--one of these days--they are great and joyful sounding instruments, but I am already likely to play hookey from work way to often without another thing to keep me enthralled .
They also have a 6 string banjo that is tuned like a guitar-(which is sort of like cheating).You cant get the cascading runs of a normal banjo, but other strange things can happen. (Bach on banjo -anyone?)
Good to see a banjo player playing in an actual standard tuning--the banjo picker I play with always seem to be altering tunings after every song, The joke is banjo players spend half the time tuning , the other half playing out of tune.
If you like old banjo tunes there are an equal amount of old banjo jokes..
Whats the first prize at a banjo contest?
an ice pick and ten free fiddle lessons
;)-->
happy pickin
[This message was edited by mstar1 on November 21, 2003 at 6:48.]
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Zixar
I guess the obligatory banjo-picker reponse to that would be:
"Well, if'n y'all'd just play everythang in the key of G, we'd get along jest fine!"
Secret Signature of the Day==v
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TheEvan
Maybe I could post some MP3's of my classical playing. Or perhaps via a link. Wait, isn't Sudo the MP3 master? I'm anxious to hear my newest guitar's recorded sound. I suspect it will sound particularly beautiful. We'll see.
Right now i'm on a Brazilian kick. I've got some Baden Powell, Marco Pereira (SO cool) & Paulo Bellinatti under my belt and am learning more Bellinatti as I type.
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Sudo
Evan,
Just record your guitar and then let me know. If you can manage to somehow get it on your hard drive.. I assure you I can get direct you how to get it to me via ftp to a server I have control over. Then I'll be more than glad to post it.
Have you considered the easy way?? Just use the Sound Recorder in Windows and play the guitar in front of your computer's microphone.
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