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Mandolin forms
Mandolin family The mandolin is the soprano member of the mandolin family, as the violin is the soprano member of the violin family. Like the violin, its scale length is typically about 13 inches (330 mm). Modern American mandolins modeled after Gibsons have a longer scale, about 13-7/8" (352mm). Other members of the mandolin family are: Mandolin history Mandolins evolved from the lute family in Italy during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and the deep bowled mandolin produced particularly in Naples became a common type in the nineteenth century. The original instrument was the mandola (mandorla is "almond" in Italian, describing the instrument's body shape) and evolved in the fifteenth century from the lute. A later, smaller mandola was developed and became known as a mandolina. Further back, dating to around 15,000 BC to 8,000 BC, single stringed instruments have been seen in cave paintings. They were bowed, struck and plucked. From these, the families of stringed instruments developed. Single strings were long and gave a single melody line. To shorten the scale length, other strings were added with a different tension so one string took over where another left off. In turn, this led to being able to play diads and chords. The bowed family became the rabob, rebec and then the fiddle becoming the violin and modern family by 1520 (incidentally also in Naples). The plucked family led to lute-like instruments in 2000 BC Mesopotamia, and developed into the oud or ud before appearing in Spain in 711 courtesy of the Moors. Over the next centuries, frets were added and the strings doubled to courses, leading to the first lute appearing in the thirteenth century. The history of the lute and the mandolin are intertwined from this point. The lute gained a fifth course by the fifteenth century, a sixth a century later, and up to thirteen courses in its heyday. As early as the fourteenth century a miniature lute or mandora appeared. Similar to the mandola, it had counterparts in Assyria (pandura), the Arab countries (dambura), and Ukraine (kobza-bandura). From this, the mandolino (a small gut-strung mandola with six strings tuned g b e' a' d g sometimes called the Baroque mandolin and played with a quill, wooden plectrum or finger-style) was developed in several places in Italy. The mandolino was sometimes called a mandolin in the early eighteenth century (around 1735) Naples. The first evidence of mandolins is from literature regarding popular Italian players who travelled through Europe teaching and giving concerts. Notable is Signor Leone and G. B. Gervasio who travelled widely between 1750 and 1810. This, with the records gleaned from the Italian Vinaccia family of luthiers in Naples, Italy, some musicologists believe that the modern steel-strung mandolin was developed in Naples by the Vinaccia family. Gennaro Vinaccia was active circa 1710 to circa 1788, and Antonio Vinaccia was active circa 1734 to circa 1796.Embergher History An early extant example of a mandolin is one built by Antonio Vinaccia in 1772 which resides at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England. Another is by Giuseppe Vinnacia built in 1763, residing at the Kenneth G. Fiske Museum of Musical Instruments in Claremont, California.CIMCIM International Directory of Musical Instrument Collections The earliest extant mandolin was built in 1744 by Gaetano Vinaccia. It resides in the Conservatoire Royal de Musique in Brussels, Belgium. The Early Mandolin by James Tyler and Paul Sparks (1989) These early mandolins are termed Neopolitan mandolins, because of their orgin from Naples. They are distinguished by a teardrop-shaped body with a bowled back that is constructed from curved strips of wood along its length. The soundtable is bent just behind the bridge, the bending achieved with a straight hot poker. This "canted" table aids the body to support a greater string tension. A hardwood fingerboard is flush with the soundtable. Ten metal or ivory frets are spaced along the neck in semitones, with additional frets glued upon the soundtable. The strings are brass except for the lowest string course which are gut or metal wound onto gut. The bridge is a moveable length of ivory placed in front of ivory pins that hold the strings. Wooden tuning pegs are inserted through the back of a flat pegboard. The mandolins have a tortoise shell pick guard below the soundhole under the strings. A quill or tortoise shell is used as a plectrum. The Classical Mandolin by Paul Sparks (1995) Other luthiers that built mandolins included Calace (1863 onwards) in Naples, Luigi Embergher (1856–1943), Ferrari family (1716 onwards, also originally mandolino makers) and De Santi (1834–1916) in Rome. The Neopolitan style of mandolin construction was adopted and developed by others, notably in Rome, giving two distinct but similar types of mandolin — Neapolitan and Roman. The twentieth century saw the rise in popularity of the mandolin for celtic, bluegrass, jazz and classical styles. Much of the development of the mandolin from Neapolitan bowl-back to the flat-back style (actually, gently rounded and carved like a violin) is attributable to Orville Gibson (1856–1918). Mandolin music Mandolins have a long history and much early music was written for them. In the first half of the 20th century, they enjoyed a period of great popularity in Europe and the Americas as an easier approach to playing string music. Many professional and amateur mandolin groups and orchestras were formed to play traditional string repertory. Just as this practice was falling into disuse, the mandolin found a new niche in American country, old-time music, bluegrass and folk music. More recently, the Baroque and Classical mandolin repertory and styles have benefited from the raised awareness of and interest in Early music. Tremolo and fingerpicking methods are used while playing a mandolin. India Adoption of the mandolin in Carnatic music is recent and, being essentially a very small electric guitar, the instrument itself bears rather small resemblance to European and American mandolins. The young prodigy U. Srinivas has, over the last couple of decades, made mandolin very popular in India. Many adaptations have been done to cater to the special needs of Indian Carnatic music. The mandolin is used quite frequently in Bhangra. The United States of America The mandolin's popularity in the United States was spurred by the success of a group of touring young European musicians known as the Spanish Students, or in Spanish, the Estudiantes Españoles. The group debuted in the U.S. on January 2, 1880 in New York City. Ironically, this ensemble did not play mandolins but rather bandurrias, which are also small, double-strung instruments superficially resembling the mandolin. The success of the Figaro Spanish Students spawned several groups who imitated their musical style and colorful costumes. In many cases, the players in these new musical ensembles were Italian-born Americans who had brought mandolins from their native land. Thus, the Spanish Student imitators did primarily play mandolins and helped to generate enormous public interest in an instrument that previously was relatively unknown in the United States. Mandolins were a fad instrument from the turn of the century to the mid-twenties. Instruments were marketed by teacher-dealers, much as the title character in the popular musical The Music Man. Often these teacher-dealers would conduct mandolin orchestras: groups of 4-50 musicians who would play various mandolin family instruments together. The instrument was primarily used in an ensemble setting well into the 1930s, although the fad died out at the beginning of the 1920's; the famous Lloyd Loar Master Model from Gibson (1923) was designed to boost the flagging interest in mandolin ensembles, with little success. The true destiny of the "Loar" as the defining instrument of bluegrass music didn't appear until Bill Monroe purchased F5 S/N 73987 in a Florida barbershop in 1943 and popularized it as his main instrument. Single mandolins were first used in southern string band music in the 1930's, most notably by brother duets such as the sedate Blue Sky Boys (Bill Bolick and Earl Bolick) and the more hard-driving Monroe Brothers (Bill Monroe and Charlie Monroe). However, the mandolin's modern popularity in country music can be directly traced to one man: Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music. After the Monroe Brothers broke up in 1939, Bill Monroe formed his own group, after a brief time called the Blue Grass Boys, and completed the transition of mandolin styles from a "parlor" sound typical of brother duets to the modern "bluegrass" style. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1939 and its powerful clear-channel broadcast signal on WSM-AM spread his style throughout the South, directly inspiring many musicians to take up the mandolin. Monroe famously played Gibson F5 mandolin, signed and dated July 9, 1923, by Lloyd Loar, chief acoustic engineer at Gibson. The F5 has since become the most imitated tonally and aesthetically by modern builders. Monroe's style involved playing lead melodies in the style of a fiddler, and also a percussive chording sound referred to as "the chop" for the sound that is made by the quickly struck and muted strings. He also perfected a sparse, percussive blues style, especially up the neck in keys that had not been used much in country music, notably B and E. He emphasized a powerful, syncopated right hand at the expense of left-hand virtuosity. Monroe's most influential follower of the second generation is Frank Wakefield and nowadays Mike Compton of the Nashville Bluegrass Band and David Long, who often tour as a duet. The other major original bluegrass stylists, both emerging in the early 1950's and active still in 2005, are generally acknowledged to be Jesse McReynolds (of Jim and Jesse) who invented a syncopated banjo-roll style of crosspicking and Bobby Osborne of the Osborne Brothers, who is a master of clarity and sparkling single-note runs. Highly-respected and influential modern bluegrass players include Herschel Sizemore and Doyle Lawson and the multi-genre Sam Bush who is equally at home with old-time fiddle tunes, rock, reggae and jazz. Ronnie McCoury of the Del McCoury Band has won numerous awards for his Monroe-influenced playing. The late John Duffey of the original Country Gentlemen and later the Seldom Scene did much to popularize the bluegrass mandolin among folk and urban audiences, especially on the east coast and in the Washington, DC area. Jethro Burns, best known as half of the comedy duo Homer and Jethro, was also the first important jazz mandolinist. Tiny Moore popularized the mandolin in Western swing music. He initially played an 8-string Gibson but switched after 1952 to a 5-string solidbody electric instrument built by Paul Bigsby. Modern virtuosos David Grisman, Sam Bush and Mike Marshall, among others, have worked since the early 1970s to demonstrate the mandolin's versatility for all styles of music. Chris Thile of California is the best-known of the younger generation of players; the band Nickel Creek features his virtuoso playing in its blend of traditional and pop styles. Some rock musicians use mandolins, typically single-stringed electric models rather than double-stringed acoustic mandolins. One example is Tim Brennan of the Irish-American punk rock band Dropkick Murphys. In addition to electric guitar, bass, and drums, the band uses several instruments associated with traditional Celtic music, including mandolin, tin whistle, and Great Highland bagpipes. The band explains that these instruments accentuate the growling sound they favor. The 1991 R.E.M. hit "Losing My Religion" also featured a simple mandolin lick played by guitarist Peter Buck, who also played the mandolin in nearly a dozen other songs. Rod Stewart's still-played 1971 hit Maggie May features a significant mandolin riff in its motif. Every song on Mark Heard's final album, 1992's Satellite Sky, was written on a mandolin, Heard's antique National Silvo electric mandolin was prominently featured on every track of the recording. Jack White of The White Stripes played mandolin for the film Cold Mountain, and plays mandolin on the song Little Ghost on the White Stripes album Get Behind Me Satan. David Immerglück of the Counting Crows, Monks of Doom and Glider is also known to feature the mandolin in many of his recordings, especially those with the Counting Crows. The Country band Sugarland's own Kristian Bush has been known to play the mandolin from time to time. The mandolin orchestras never completely went away, either. In fact, along with all the other musical forms the mandolin is involved with, the mandolin ensemble (groups usually arranged like the string section of a modern symphony orchestra, with first mandolins, second mandolins, mandolas, mandocellos, mando-basses and guitars and sometimes supplemented by other instruments) continues to grow in popularity. Since the mid-nineties, several public-school mandolin-based guitar programs have blossomed around the country, including Fretworks Mandolin and Guitar Orchestra, the first of its kind. The national organization that represents these groups is the Classical Mandolin Society of America. The United Kingdom The mandolin has been used extensively in the traditional music of England and Scotland for generations and has recently featured in the playing of Matthew Bellamy in the modern band Muse, and was introduced very clearly by Vivian Stanshall on Mike Oldfield's album "Tubular Bells". It was used extensively by the British folk-rock band Lindisfarne, who featured two members on the instrument, Ray Jackson and Simon Cowe, and whose "Fog on the Tyne" was the biggest selling UK album of 1971-1972. "Maggie May" by Rod Stewart, which hit No. 1 on both the British charts and the Billboard Hot 100, also featured Jackson's playing. It has also been used by other British rock musicians, including Led Zeppelin, whose bassist John Paul Jones is an accomplished mandolin player and has recorded numerous songs on mandolin including "Going to California" and "That's the Way"; the mandolin part on "The Battle of Evermore" is played by Jimmy Page, who composed the song. Another Led Zeppelin song featuring mandolin is "Hey Hey What Can I Do." McGuinness Flint, for whom Benny Gallagher played the mandolin on their most successful single, "When I'm Dead And Gone", is another example. Gallagher was also briefly a member of Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance, and played mandolin on their hit "How Come". The popular song "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" by The Smiths featured a mandolin solo played by Johnny Marr. More recently, the Glasgow-based band Sons and Daughters (band) has featured the mandolin, as played by Ailidh Lennon, on tracks such as "Fight," "Start to End," and "Medicine". British folk-punk icons the Levellers also regularly use the mandolin in their songs. Ireland The mandolin is becoming a somewhat more common instrument amongst Irish traditional musicians. Fiddle tunes are readily accessible to the mandolin player because of the equivalent range of the two instruments and the practically identical (allowing for the lack of frets on the fiddle) left hand fingerings. Although almost any variety of acoustic mandolin might be adequate for Irish traditional music, virtually all Irish players prefer flat-backed instruments with oval sound holes to the Italian-style bowl-back mandolins or the carved-top mandolins with f-holes favoured by bluegrass mandolinists. The former are often too soft-toned to hold their own in a session (as well as having a tendency to not stay in place on the player's lap), whilst the latter tend to sound harsh and overbearing to the traditional ear. Greatly preferred are flat-topped "Irish-style" mandolins (remniscent of the WWI-era Martin Army-Navy mandolin) and carved (arch) top mandolins with oval soundholes, such as the Gibson A-style of the 1920s. The mandolins built by British luthier Stefan Sobell are perhaps the most highly-prized for Irish traditional music, although many other makers, such as Ireland's Joe Foley, also make well-regarded mandolins. Noteworthy Irish mandolinists include Andy Irvine (who almost always tunes the E down to D), Mick Moloney, Paul Kelly, and Claudine Langille. John Sheahan and Barney McKenna, fiddle player and tenor banjo player respectively, with The Dubliners are also accomplished Irish mandolin players. The Dubliners 'Live at the Gaiety' DVD features an extensive mandolin duet of a three-tune 'set', two hornpipes and a reel. The instruments used are flat-backed, oval hole examples as described above: in this case made by UK luthier Fylde. Continental Europe An increased interest in bluegrass music, especially in Central European countries such as the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, has inspired many new mandolin players and builders. These players often mix traditional folk elements with bluegrass; see the article on Czech bluegrass for example. Brazil The mandolin (called "bandolim") has a long and rich tradition in Brazilian folk music, especially in the style called choro. The composer and mandolin virtuoso Jacob do Bandolim did much to popularize the instrument, and his influence continues to the present day. Some contemporary mandolin players in Brazil include Jacob's disciple Deo Rian, and Armandinho (the former, a traditional choro-style player, the latter an eclectic innovator). The mandolin came into Brazil by way of Portugal. Portuguese music has a long tradition of mandolins and mandolin-like instruments (see, for example, the Portuguese guitar). The mandolin is used almost exclusively as a melody instrument in Brazilian folk music - the role of chordal accompanyment being taken over by the cavaquinho and nylon-strung guitar. Its popularity, therefore, has risen and fallen with instrumental folk music styles, especially choro. The later part of the 20th century saw a renaissance of choro in Brazil, and with it, a revival of the country's mandolinistic tradition. Greece The mandolin has a long tradition in the Ionian islands (the Eptanese) and Crete. It has long been played in the Aegean islands outside of the control of the Ottoman Empire. It is common to see choirs accompanied by mandolin players (mantolinates) in Ionian islands and especially in the cities of Corfu, Zakynthos (also known as Zante) and Kefalonia. The development of songs for mandolin (kantades) developed during the Venetian rule over Ionia. On the island of Crete, along with the lyre and the lute, the mandolin is one of the main instruments used in Cretian Music. Its appeared on Crete around the time of the Venetian rule of the island. Different variants of the mandolin, such as the mantola, were used to accompany the lyre, the violin, and the lute. Stelios Foustalierakis reported that the mandolin and the mpougari were used to accompany the lyre in the beginning of the 20th century in the city of Rethimno. There are also reports that the mandolin was mostly a woman's musical instrument. Nowadays it is played mainly as a solo instrument in personal and family events on the Ionian islands and Crete. Mandolin players Renowned modern mandolinists include Bill Monroe, Biff Dirkson, David 'Dawg' Grisman, Mike Marshall, Sam Bush, Chris Thile, Mike Compton, Simon Mayor, Willie McCraney, Jamie Masefield, Robin Bullock and Tim Ware - all of whom revolutionized the use of the instrument through the incorporation of various styles such as rap, techno, classical, rock and jazz. U. Srinivas (popularly known as mandolin Srinivas) was a child prodigy who plays Indian Classical Music on the mandolin. Famous electric mandolin players include Canadian Nash the Slash and Todd Macdonald of art folk group The Winks. David "Dawg" Grisman accords Dave Appollon as one of the most virtuostic mandolinists of all time. His complete recordings are sold through Dave Grisman's Acoustic Disc Web site, Classical mandolinists of the past include: Samuel Adelstein, Samuel Siegel, Valentine Abt, Giuseppe Pettine, Aubrey Stauffer, and Willian Place, Jr. of the United States; Raffaele Calace; Silvio Ranieri; Laurent Fantauzzi, Carlo Munier of Italy and Hugo D'Alton of the UK. Prominent modern mandolinists who play the classical repertoire include Carlo Aonzo of Savona, Italy; Caterina Lichtenberg born in Bulgaria but primarily based in Germany; Gertrud Weyhofen of Germany; Richard Walz of France; Avi Avital of Israel; Alon Sariel of Israel and Alison Stephens of the United Kingdom. Some Rock artists who play Mandolin John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin Peter Buck of R.E.M. Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, (-reference-) Tommy Shaw of Styx David Immerglück of the Counting Crows, Monks of Doom, and Glider Jack White of The White Stripes Gary "Chops" MacConnie of Barleywine,No Image and Boiling Man Boyd Tinsley violin player of Dave Matthews Band Daron Malakian of System of a Down Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull Simon Friend of the Levellers Jon Schneck of Relient K Nancy Wilson of Heart Bernie Leadon formerly of The Eagles Colin Meloy of The Decemberists David Gilmour of Pink Floyd used one on live versions of "Outside the Wall" with Pink Floyd in 1980 and 1981. Footnotes | |||||||||||
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