Archive for the 'Mandolins' Category
An Underrated Rock Instrument
When you think of electric instruments, the guitar and bass probably spring to mind immediately. It may come as a surprise that the mandolin – an instrument so often associated with delicate, classical songs – has also been amped up in a number of classic rock and roll standards. Seeking a bridge between the hard-edged electric side and the softer acoustic side of their classic third LP, Led Zeppelin employed an electric mandolin on the old traditional “Gallow’s Pole.”
But perhaps the most famous use of the electrified mandolin came a year later on Rod Stewart’s quintessential album Every Picture Tells a Story. “Maggie May” remains an FM radio staple to this day, and its innovative mandolin solo is easily the most distinctive feature of the flawless composition. It just goes to show that aspiring rock musicians can benefit from adding a bit of variety to the standard guitar-drums-bass lineup.
Extra Thoughts on the Mandolin
A mandolin’s typically hollow wooden body has a neck with a flat (or slight radius) fretted fingerboard, a nut and floating bridge, a tailpiece or pinblock at the edge of the face to which the strings are attached, and mechanical tuning machines, rather than friction pegs, to accommodate metal strings. Like the guitar, the mandolin has relatively poor sustain; that is, the sound from a plucked string decays quickly.
A note cannot be maintained for an arbitrary length of time as with a bowed note on a violin. Its small size and higher pitch makes this problem more severe than with the guitar, and the use of tremolo (rapid picking of one or more pairs of strings) is often used to create a sustained note or chords. This technique works particularly well with a mandolin’s paired strings, where one of the pair is sounding while the other is being struck by the pick, giving a more rounded and continuous sound than is possible with a single coursed instrument.
Maximizing Practice Time
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| by Frederick Burton |
| Self-discipline.Author Napoleon Hill defines self-discipline as:
“Taking control of your mind, your habits, and your emotions. Self-discipline is the ability to do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you want to or not.” I think that sums it up, but as a musician, there are things you can do to make the most of your practice time. I’ve heard a lot of musicians say that they practice while watching TV, listening to music, etc. They claim they need some sort of distraction in order to better concentrate or they become bored. In my opinion, this is a deep pitfall. Sometimes, something is better than nothing, and sometimes it’s not. Remember, what works for one person doesn’t always work for everyone. It’s up to you to find what is right for you. But here is some advice to develop a musical environment that will maximize your practicing. First off, let’s find a quiet room: a room away from everything that can be distracting, a room without a television or a radio. Let’s make this room very bright, but without blinding yourself. This will minimize unnecessary straining of your eyes, thus causing a headache. Your area should have all equipment necessary for your practice session: guitar, music stand, necessary books and music, a good chair with a sturdy back for support, a foot stool, tape recorder, and believe it or not, a notepad and a writing utensil. It’s also cool to have posters of your influences on the wall. Now, your ready. But wait… An important aspect of practicing is the all-important goal setting. Do you have a goal when you begin your sessions? I do, and its very important for all to develop one. An example of a goal is: “I have two hours today, I’m going to first work on my I-VI-II-V chord progressions in every key using the 5-4-3-2 string group.” This is a short term goal. A long term goal is: “Man, give me two years, and I’m going to be as good as Jimmy Bruno.” This goal is a bit more unrealistic, but with practicing, who knows… I’m really just throwing out some ideas, but the point is to create a goal, both short and long-term. Write them down and tape them to a wall in your newly created musical room. Recite them to yourself, and let it soak into your subconscience. Another thing you can do is to write down on your notepad all the things you may wish to practice: Scales, Arpeggios, Technical Mechanics, Tunes, Sight Reading, Improvising, etc. In those two hours ,maybe you can touch on all these topics spending 15-20 minutes on each aspect. If you happen to be strong on scales and weak on sight reading, then concentrate more on the sight reading and less on your scales. You be the judge. Having a routine agenda makes the self-disciplinary process easier to achieve and maintain. Remember this point: repetition leads to habit which leads to routine which leads to self-discipline. But, never forget the importance of rest. It’s good to develop a routine, but let’s be realistic: don’t harm yourself with continual non-stop repetition, as this can be harmful, especially after coming back from a long period of non-playing. Hopefully, these tips will prove to be helpful in developing your fullest potential as a musician. Good Luck!
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Don’t Be Without Perseverance
One of the biggest things for most guitar
players comes from their own belief that, in order to be a great player, one must have natural ability. I¹ve learned over the years and I hear things like, I’ll never be a good playerf or, Players like Stevie Ray Vaghan or Jimi Hendrix must have been born with natural musical talent. I usually respond by telling that person that he (or she) will never be a great player as long as one believes those things. Great players didn’t just pick up the guitar one day, practice for a little while and then become good. Both of them had worked extremely hard developing their skills. Many musicians say that they practiced 8 hours a day between the ages of 13 and 18! If they were born with all of this talent then why did they all have to work so hard to get where they are today?
A great non-musical example of perseverance would be the great basketball star, Michael Jordan. Jordan wasn’t even good enough to make it on his local high school basketball team! Most people would have given up after such a disappointment and most would have believed that there would be no point in trying again next year, since they obviously would assume that they don’t possess the talent. We all know that this was not how Jordan thought about his situation. He worked extremely hard everyday, practicing and asking the coach to teach him, even though he was not a member of the team. The next year, Michael made the team and went on to eventually become one of the world’s greatest athletes of all-time.
There will always be some players that will believe in natural talent no matter what. It is always the same kinds of people who believe in this concept (players who are not great!) I’ve never heard a great player / virtuoso claim that he (or she) didn’t have to work really hard at their playing. The next time you have an opportunity to talk to a truly great player, ask him if it just all came easy to him. I bet you’ll hear about how many thousands (if not tens of thousands) of hours that he worked at his playing! The other types of players will often blame their own lack of progress on the belief that they lack the genes to play great.
Despite all that I’ve just written, I have known some players that did seem to be naturally better at some musical aspect more than other players, but this usually happens in only one area. The fact is that to be a good musician one needs a lot of different types of skills. A musician needs: a solid physical technique, a good ear, a good sense of rhythm, a creative mind, an intelligent mind to understand and apply music theory, good improvisational skills, a good ability to compose music, etc. So even if one possesses some good natural talent in one area, no one is born with it all, so we all have to work hard on all the elements that go into becoming a musician.
I’ve known a few people to believe that they did have natural musical ability. Unfortunately, I have watched them waist their time waiting for their ‘natural ability’ to turn them into great musicians. They showed some initial progress when they practiced, but depended too much on their talent to do the rest of the work for them. Usually at this point, they begin to become lazy and practice less, thinking that they will be great anyway. It is always hard for me to see people fail because they didn’t persevere when the potential was there.
What does all of this mean for you? It means that you can achieve great things if you have the passion in your heart for music and if you have the perseverance to learn and practice each day. It will take a long time, but it is well worth it. Each of you has basically the same potential as everyone else to accomplish great things. Don’t wait for some natural abilities to take you where you want to be though. You must believe that you can do it only if you work hard and long. If you believe in this concept and believe in yourself, you wil be great.
The Storied History of the Mandolin
A mandolin is a string instrument in the lute family. It has a body with a teardrop-shaped soundboard. Mandolins originally had six double courses of gut strings. But the design today has eight metal strings in four pairs that are plucked with a plectrum. This design originated in Naples, Italy during the third quarter of the 18th century.
Mandolins have had a long history in the music world. In fact, there have been groups and orchestras that have played music specifically for mandolins. Mandolin playing almost died out, but it found a new place in American country and folk music. Its resurgence is greatly appreciated, since it is a classic string instrument. Both tremolo and finger picking methods are used while playing a mandolin.