Easy ITM Mandolin Tune Suggestions?

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 2:21 pm

Okay, I've got my mandolin sounding and playing well now, and I'm scraping the rust off the (very few) Bluegrass/Old time tunes I know, so it's time to start learning some IrTrad tunes on the mando. I see there's a ton of good Jig and Reel Tab over at the Cafe, and now I just need some suggestions on where to start, since I assume a tune that's easy on the flute or whistle, might not be the easiest on a stringed instrument.

So, anyone care to share their favorite "EASY IrTrad tunes for mando" lists?

Loren

BrassBlower · Post by **BrassBlower** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 3:10 pm

Harvest Home looks like it might be fairly easy on a mando.

Loren, I haven't got to bug you in ages! How's it going?

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 3:36 pm

BrassBlower wrote:Loren, I haven't got to bug you in ages! How's it going?

I'm hanging in there. Got laid off from work at the end of the year, so now taking a little time to consider my options for the future.

How 'bout you, all's well I hope?

Loren

livethe question · Post by **livethe question** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 3:46 pm

I like the hornpipes..... "Off to California", "Boys of Bluehill", "Liverpool Hornpipe" come to mind. Others: Spancil Hill, The Leaving of Liverpool, Star of the County Down, South Wind, Si Beag Si Mor........temolos in the right places does wonders. Don't know if these fit the bill as far as ITM but they're what I have fun with.

take care

jim d

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 3:54 pm

Heya Jim, how are ya?

Man, it's like old home week around here,

Loren

livethe question · Post by **livethe question** » Wed Feb 15, 2006 4:35 pm

Life is good. I'm staying busy, trying to do music when and where I can. A friend from Omaha and I are getting together semi regularly to play music and that's helping my playing by leaps and bounds.

Getting ready for a trip to Havasu Falls in the Grand Canyon for May. Thank goodness for whistles that are light and portable.

If you make it through the midwest anytime, let me know. I'm somewhere between Omaha, Des Moines, and Kansas City.

take care of yourself.

jim d

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 7:25 am

Glad to hear you've got a playing buddy, that certainly helps.

Ahh, the Grand Canyon, cool! I've still never been, I hope you'll share some pictures after your trip.

I'd like to say I might by in your neck of the woods some time soon, but it seems unlikely for now. Never the less, we're bound to catch up in person one of these days!

Cheers,

Loren

rh · Post by rh » Thu Feb 16, 2006 2:40 pm

Figure out D major pentatonic

String.....Fret #
D............0-2-4
A....................0-2-5
E............................0-2-5-7

and you can get a lot of tunes under your fingers pretty quickly.

Miwokhill · Post by **Miwokhill** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 3:08 pm

Actually alot of whistle tunes can be played quite easily on mandolin (and fiddle) The trick I guess would be teaching yourself to read music for the mandolin but if you could do it for the whistle the mando shouldn't be too hard. A good book that is intended for multi-instrumentalists is '121 Favorite Irish session Tunes' by L.E. McCullough--it's thru Homespun Tapes but you can probably get it cheaper thru amazon or try froogling it for a lower price. It comes with 4 cds that have all the tunes.

Any of the Irish session books I think are meant to be used this way--there's another published by Walton's called 'Ireland's best Session Tunes' This one has 2 cds with all 110 tunes. If you can't find it try Harp and Dragon online store.

Unseen122 · Post by **Unseen122** » Thu Feb 16, 2006 4:28 pm

BrassBlower wrote:Harvest Home looks like it might be fairly easy on a mando.

Yes Yes Yes Yes. First tune I really learned on a string thing.

Rick C. · Post by **Rick C.** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 10:27 am

I'm coming to the party late on this one, but I try to start students off on jigs. One big reason is to help them overcome any ingrained Bluegrass habits and elminate "square" playing-- the kind of playing that makes experienced players cringe at just the sight of a new mandolin player at a session.

Scatter the Mud, Connachtman's Rambles, Mug of Brown Ale, Fraher's-- these are the kinds of tunes I like to start folks on. They're not hard to play, suit the mandolin well, and "sound Irish". By the time a new player has these down he'll be accustomed to the down-up-down picking pattern and if he's a student of mine, will understand a jig's not "duh-duh-duh, duh-duh-duh". Morrison's is another good one if a player's not brand new to the instrument and can handle the double stop E-B.

Lots of folks gravitate toward polkas at first because they appear to be simpler tunes. I try to steer them away from that for a couple of reasons-- for one thing polkas are definitely fiddle/box turf and mando's sort of an also-ran there (though many would say mando is an also-ran in ITM anyway), but also because most folks in my neck of the woods really don't understand what' supposed to be going on rhythmically with polkas. They're not dumb, they've just never been around set dancers. So they'll have the notes right, but their polkas sound either like some kind of hoe-down or something off a cartoon!

Rick

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 10:37 am

Dance of the Bumblebees!

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:11 am

Loren wrote:So, anyone care to share their favorite "EASY IrTrad tunes for mando" lists?

Hey mon, I thought you were already playing triplets on the Silver Spear!

Polkas are easy on mando...and there's a ton of them.

Here's some fun ones on mando (I didn't say they were all easy!) - Julia Delaney's (Dm), Silver Spire (D), Abbey Reel (Em), The Whistler D), Farewell to Erin (A), Mick Finn's (D), The Congress Reel (Am), Far From Home (D), Martin Wynn's (Bm), The Earl's Chair (Bm), Maid Behind the Bar (D), Ships are Sailing (Bm), Star of Munster (Am), Rakish Paddy (D), Lark in the Morning (D), The Bucks of Oranmore (D), Flogging Reel (G), Big John McNeill's (A), Navvy on the Line (D), The Musical Priest (Bm), Denny Delany's (D), Bull at the Wagon (A), Sweeny's Polka (A), Jackie Coleman's Reel (D), Connor Dunn's (F), Old Hag You Have Killed Me (D), Pigeon on the Gate (Em), Cooly's Reel (Em), Mason's Apron (A), High Reel (A), Wash's HP (A), Old Torn Petticoat HP(Am), 42$ Check (D).

For a couple great old timey tunes, try the Woodchoppers Reel or Miller's Reel. They fit the mando quite well. Music for a Found Harmonium fits pretty well too.

LimuHead · Post by **LimuHead** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 12:18 pm

Try Britches Full of Stitches in the key of A. It's fairly simple. It's a little harder in the key of G.

Egan's (polka?) is also a good one that's not too hard.

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 8:15 am

Lorenzo wrote:
Loren wrote:So, anyone care to share their favorite "EASY IrTrad tunes for mando" lists?
Hey mon, I thought you were already playing triplets on the Silver Spear!

Lorenzo, check out the date when this thread was started, back when I first got my mando about 6 weeks ago. I'm a MASTER of the instrument now,

Actually, I'm surprised no one gave the obvious answer "Start with the tunes you already know on another instrument", which does, I'm finding make things easier - having the tune well in my head makes learning it much easier, even if the "fingerings" are more difficult than for tunes I don't yet know. At least that's my experience so far, as one who has mastered the instrument

Thanks again all, much appreciated

Loren

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Easy ITM Mandolin Tune Suggestions?

Easy ITM Mandolin Tune Suggestions?

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