advice for guitarist moving to melody instrument

[bradster]

Greetings people.
I am a guitarist ( don’t hate me , I'm willing to change ) who is considering a move to a melody instrument to play Irish trad ( in sessions ).
I'm more interested in playing the melody than backing.
Way I see it , I can play the melody on the guitar , this is possible but hard to do as fast as I hear the pipes or fiddles playing!
Also , very very quiet compared to other session instruments
Next choice is another stringed instrument , to me , banjo , mandolin or bouzouki spring to mind.
Banjo strikes me as near guitar scale length so my fingers should be ok.
Mandolin , I love the sound but those frets are so small!
And can it be heard in a loud session?
Bouzouki , is this more for backing ?
Or indeed I can switch to a non fretted instrument but I'm a bit lazy!

Has anyone made any of the above transitions or can make any recommendations?

Any advice much appreciated.

[Congratulations]

I've only ever seen a bouzouki backing. I like mandolin myself, but I've never played in anything other than a very small session, so I don't know about how well it'd hold up, volume-wise. It's a wonderful instrument, though.

Please don't play banjo.

Also, feel free to consider whistle. Call me silly, but you'll probably end up picking one up, anyway.

(Oh, and good on you for moving to melody!)

[bradster]

thanks for advice ,
are banjo's really disliked !?
I like the sound myself.

[Miwokhill]

The whistle is a thought! I think banjos get the bad rep because they are kind of loud, very loud if they have a brass tone ring. Most Irish music is played on a 4 string banjo, as compared to the standard 5 string that's used for bluegrass. There is a great book with a cd on playing Irish music on a 5 string though, single string melody even. It's by Tom Hanway. Anyway, like I was saying most Irish music is played on a 4 string banjo, more specifically a tenor banjo which has a shorter neck length than it's other 4 string cousin, the plectrum. The tenor for playing Irish is usually tuned GDAE which is the same tuning as a mandolin (and fiddle) so you would be learning the fingering if you wanted in the future to try either of those instruments. ---same tuning but an octave lower, like an octave mandolin.

If you want further info on banjos, tenor or otherwise, check out Banjo Hangout which has a discussion forum, alot like this one. Another helpful place is the online store Folk of the Wood --check out their video instrument samples---one word of caution although i haven't dealt with them myself there has been a bit of grumbling about order status from them so even though it's an amazing site... The one starter banjo I hear most often recommended is the Goldtone, for about 400 I think, including their tenor models. I think Deering has a tenor model of their popular Goodtime banjo as well...I just checked and musicians friend has a goldtone cripple creek tenor for 336 with free shipping.

Even on the banjo hangout though you'll hear jokes like 'most bullet holes in banjos are the result of bad aim'

mike

[Cynth]

I'm more interested in playing the melody than backing.

May all blessings flow upon you my son.

[Screeeech!!!]

If you can't play guitar fast enough i don't see how you could play a banjo fast enough. Or am i missing something?

[Celtic983]

Tenor banjo has a way shorter scale, strings are easier on fingers ect

[PJ]

Why not compromise and get a dobro. That'll give you the extra volume to play melody and be heard above the accompaniment.

Regarding the speed of playing, practice will get you there. I play about 10 tunes (jigs/reels/hornpipes) on guitar. I started slow but now can play along at a reasonable speed. Also I find it easier to play in DADGAD.

[Loren]

It's funny, when people are just starting out in IrTrad they are often initially concerned that their instrument won't be loud enough, however once you've been to a few sessions, and have tried to keep pace and play with proper feel, you usually end up wishing for a very quiet instrument, so that no one will hear all your mistakes!

Loren

[seisflutes]

If you can't play guitar fast enough i don't see how you could play a banjo fast enough. Or am i missing something?

There's the scale thing, and also the tuning(it's just 5ths like a fiddle) of a tenor banjo makes it a lot easier to play most Irish tunes on than a guitar. They just fit better.

[Screeeech!!!]

It's not the left fingers i have a problem with on the guitar, it's the right fingers. I suppose some people may have the problem the other way though.

When i play whistle it's my left fingers that are slower.

[fearfaoin]

Mandolin , I love the sound but those frets are so small!

When you're playing at session speed, small frets = Good!

[Miwokhill]

screeeech!!! just mentioned the right fingers being slower on guitar which makes sense if you're playing with a pick because that one pick has to do all the work that four fingers are covering on the frets. If you are talking about playing with a pick you might try just working on the picking hand alone...one exercise is to just pick back and forth on one string either with a metronome and gradually increase speed or also pick back and forth as fast as you can, sort of a flurry. There's also a whole school of thought that says to use circle picking where you don't actually go back and forth in a staight line but make a little circle as you pick back and forth.

[Screeeech!!!]

I use my thumb and first three finger tips, with my nails.

[Miwokhill]

oh, I see...then there's no hope for you!

actually, my mistake; I got mixed up with your post and bradster's original
post about playing backup guitar, figuring back-up is most likely strumming and picking.