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Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | why not tell us how you do that fancy mando stuff with the ovation electric mando.,
do you use guitar tuning or mando tuning?
if you are used to playing guitar are there any pointers to transfering to mando etc
chord forms?
solo techniques?
thanks
al |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Al
Am I missing something here, is there an Ovation mandolin player making waves? Give us more details.
Bailey |
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December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | click on bulletin board and then go to matt smith.
matt is a clinician for Ovation and Hamer and if you have not heard him play you need to. |
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Posts: 386
Location: nyc area | hey al... the mandolin just kinda came naturally.. I taught myself by figuring out Jimmy Page licks, then related what I knew about open tunings... I realised mando scales use 4 notes per string instead of 3, like a guitar.. then I worked out the double stops and barre chord forms,
and I was off and running.. If you have a good basic knowledge of music theory, and chord construction, any stringed instrument can be played.. |
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Location: nyc area | my biggest inspiration is the late great Jethro Burns, (of Homer and Jethro fame) the father of Jazz mandolin.. also, blues mandolinist Yank Rachel, who played electrified mando.. of course the modern players, such as Grisman,Bush, and the late great Bill Monroe, although I prefer not to play the instrument traditionaly... |
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Location: nyc area | oh yeah, I play alot of instruments, all in their intended tunings... at least to learn them... mandolin is GDAE from low to high...The mandolin family mirrors the violin family.. Mandola tuned the same as the viola, CGDA...Mandocello (I have an Ovation mandocello too, tuned the same as a cello.. great Idea CWK!)is tuned an octave down from the mandola, and theres a giant mandolin called the mandobass... very rare... |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Right on Matt Smith
Oldan Gray, a member, sent me a photo of a guy playing a mando bass. Now please tell these guitar wimps that until they throw away their capos and learn to play in positions, they will never master their instruments. Jethro is the best, and toured with Steve Goodman before he died.
Bailey |
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December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | Matt
what is your take on tuning the mando like a guitar and playing it. If you remember the late great Tommy Tedesco would double on every stringed instrument under the sun by tuning it like a guitar.
I never tuned my mando that way I bought some "how to play mando book" and then realized it was "upside down" and started doing that I also leaned a few tuns by ear and boy does that impress people but after those couple of tunes I am lost.
HELP!!!!! |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | Al
I didn't know Tommy Tedesco had left us, when I was in CA I used to love his columns on the jobs he had just finished etc. listing instruments taken, played, and so forth and his charts were wild with his notes and hints, and as you said, many times he reported playing a mando part on a guitar tuned mandolin and if you read music on guitar it is definately a quick way to become proficient on mandolin. I'll let Matt discuss the pros and cons of that idea, I always felt that Mr. Tedesco was keeping a mando player out of work, but I suspect he was better than any of them anyway.
Bailey |
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January 2002
Posts: 386
Location: nyc area | The late great Tommy Tedesco was a true master of his work. Hoowever, there are voicings and licks that cannot be played unless the mandolin is tuned correctly.. I think of the mandolin as more of a fretted violin than a guitar...
www.mattsmithsworld.com
[ December 08, 2002: Message edited by: mattsmith ]
[ December 08, 2002: Message edited by: mattsmith ] |
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Location: SoCal | I read a lot of Tommy Tedesco's columes in Guitar Player, and have on tape a clinic that he did about 20 years ago which was broadcast on PBS. I don't know if he ever thought of himself as a great musician. I do think he considered himself as somebody who could get the job done no matter what. |
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December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | I read every tommy tedesco column and his books and all I can say is that he was inspiring. I liked the section in the book on tunings and how to tune your guitar to similate sitar etc. I gotta find that book and reread it.
Matt do you play violin too? I truely hate you!!! you make it look so damn easy.
If you have not seen Matt play do so. He is great.
btw thanks for the mando tips I guess now all I need is a delay pedal and an overdrive.... or a bruno underground 30.... |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Al
One advantage to a mandolin that is tuned as a mandolin is that the chords are the same in all keys, you just move them up or down the neck or the fretboard as the interval is the same between the strings. Scales likewise if you can play closed scales, i.e. no open strings. When you look at that tiny, short neck it's amazing that all the violin concertos in the world have been played on it. On the down side, I saw a John Hiatt show on Austin CL on sat night and his mandolin player was using a capo.
Bailey |
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Hey MATT