mboucher - Posted - 08/11/2008:  05:40:48

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Please forgive me if this is a simple question. I'm a newbie.

In a Bluegrass situation. What do you play while the guitar is taking a 'break' and the mandolin is 'chopping'? Do you play chords? or melody line?

Thanks,

Mark

scrubber - Posted - 08/11/2008:  05:57:40

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There is no set rule for your question, mboucher, except to say that whatever you do should contribute to the overall sound without covering up or obscuring the guitar break. If the mandolin is already chopping, perhaps you should 'take a break' too, and simply not play until the guitar is finished?? It's better to not play at all than to make a negative contribution!

mboucher - Posted - 08/11/2008:  06:09:47

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On the mandolin there are two, three and four finger chords. Is this the same on fiddle?

Mark

coelhoe - Posted - 08/11/2008:  06:54:57

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All of the fingerings for the mandolin are (theoretically) available for the fiddle since the two are tuned the same, But the real issue is one of arrangement: who plays what and when. In my opinion, the dynamic range of an acoustic guitar is such that a solo can easily get lost if the other instruments continue to play at normal volume. During a guitar break, everybody else should back off, both physically and in terms of volume. the fiddle can continue to "chop" along with the mandolin, but it is overkill in my opinion. Just stop playing during the guitar break.

Part of the issue here is the arrangement itself. Most bluegrass bands swap lead instrument solos that play the entire melody line, one instrument after another. I keep wishing for a bluegrass group that would build instrumental breaks around all of the lead instruments where each would take a smaller part of of the passage, or play in an instrumental duet, as is typical of CW arrangements.

Most non-professional bluegrass groups follow the model of sing, instrumental break, sing , instrumental break, etc., without realizing that actually playing less, but in other combinations, is more intersting to the audience, and to the musicians.

Dennis




"Not being able to play very well is a good substitute for not having good taste." -Eddie Adcock

DougD - Posted - 08/11/2008:  07:52:20

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Mark, although as Dennis says all the mandolin chords are (theoretically) available for the fiddle, its pretty hard to hit more than two strings at once, unless you have an unusually flat bridge or very loose bow (and not so easy to play four string chords with all strings in tune). And I think I'd just let the guitar take it.

fiddlerdi - Posted - 08/11/2008:  07:52:33

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Good advice from Scrubber...sometimes I will simply play long notes of the chord in the background,softly. This has a smoothing effect on the overall sound. This is where knowing your chord notes comes in handy.

FiddlerDi

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Edited by - fiddlerdi on 08/11/2008 09:27:34

mboucher - Posted - 08/11/2008:  08:14:04

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Thank you for the responses.

Just trying to learn the playing differences, or roles, I would take switching from playing the mandolin part to the fiddle.

Thanks,
Mark

bj - Posted - 08/11/2008:  14:02:19

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Alternatively you can add a somewhat soft percussive across either one or two strings by bouncing the bow from up near the frog. The key here is to really keep it in the background, and play with the chord progression and on the downbeat.

^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^
Me on the Web --
http://doneinstyle.com

My inspiration:
http://www.pandora.com/?sc=sh14633812588807237

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Edited by - bj on 08/11/2008 14:02:56

Bird Dog - Posted - 08/11/2008:  14:29:05

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quote:

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Originally posted by coelhoe



Part of the issue here is the arrangement itself. Most bluegrass bands swap lead instrument solos that play the entire melody line, one instrument after another. I keep wishing for a bluegrass group that would build instrumental breaks around all of the lead instruments where each would take a smaller part of of the passage, or play in an instrumental duet, as is typical of CW arrangements.

Dennis

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Ah, me...there once was such a band, and we called it Tasty Licks. On our now frustratingly out-of-print first album we had a song where all the instrumental breaks were clustered together in the middle; others where the banjo and mandolin dueted. I once heard someone say we were ahead of our time. I don't feel as if I ever had a time now. Oh well...

Robin

coelhoe - Posted - 08/12/2008:  12:00:52

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There was another such band, ironically from Russia, called "Kukuruza" (which means "corn.") They even traveled with an arranger., when they toured the USA in the mid-90's. They did an album for Sugar Hill called "Crossing Border." It was produced by Jerry Douglas, and it is terrific.

Dennis

"Not being able to play very well is a good substitute for not having good taste." -Eddie Adcock

PeachyPicker08 - Posted - 08/19/2008:  20:50:49

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Actually their are beautiful songs where there can be 2 leading at the same time...you have to work this out with the other musicans of course...I heard a fiddle player repeating a lead, first the guitar, then the fiddle, then the guitar. You have to be quick on the timing. Love to hear 2 fiddles playing different parts of lead at the same time. A song called Two Rivers can be heard on efolk website. It is just lovely! They just weave in and out.

PeachyPicker08

Marc Metzger - Posted - 08/25/2008:  09:46:20

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A good example below of what Dennis was speaking of on splitting a break. Listen to the "All Prayed Up" track, which is the first MP3 link on the page.

http://www.bluegrassgospelproject.c...cordings.htm