Chicago Blues Mandolin Instruction, Part 1

A short instructional video on the style of Johnny Young - to see if anyone's interested!

My Blue Bella Records CD "Since Way Back" is available at http://www.cdbaby.com/gerryhundt

"A superb album, one of the best debut albums we've heard in a long, long time." - Blues 'n' Rhythm (UK)

I've been nominated for a 2008 Blues Music Award in the category of Instrumentalist of the Year - Mandolin. Become a member of The Blues Foundation and vote for the Blue Bella Records gang (Nick Moss, Kilborn Alley) at http://blues.org/bluesmusicawards/vote.php4

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Chicago
• blues
• mandolin
• lessons
• lesson
• johnny
• young
• yank
• rachell
• carl
• martin
• guitar
• harmonica
• gerry
• hundt
• nick
• moss

[jayscott49]

how is the mandolin tuned? what notes are the strings?

[GerryHundt]

standard mandolin tuning - bass to treble (left to right as you look at the vid) G, D, A, E. Thanks for watching!

[jayscott49]

thanks, Gerry. what's the advantage to this over, say, the low four or high four guitar tuning, like E,A,D,G-or D,G,B,E? also,

does anyone ever tune down a whole step or that sort of thing? thanks for any info, and i dig your playing allot.

[GerryHundt]

thanks, Jay! with a guitar-type tuning, you lose the wider intervals between notes that are possible with standard mando tuning. you also lose some of the drone or open string possibilities that are essential, IMHO, to blues mandolin. chords are less resonant as a result, and sound cluttered - too close together. my next vid will address the idea that there are only two chords really necessary for blues mando - and this video showed you one already!

[GerryHundt]

Yank Rachell often tuned to F or E to suit his voice, i.e. FCGD or EBF#C#. My CD has two tunes in E tuning.

[RonnieShellist]

G, i like that you kept this short and sweet..

you planning on a follow up lesson?

[GerryHundt]

yes, and soon!

[pcamerono1]

Thanks!  Much appreciated. It is impossible to get a blues mando teacher where I live so all tips are very helpful~!

[Aplustradomus]

Thats my brother and good friend..It was a pleasure touring with you and the group..

[OgoTomO]

....looks like your at the Abbey

[JumpStreetHobo]

nice little trick! keep em coming man!

[TeddySea]

Thanks man! Appreciated.

[jamesdaltonjr]

cool man, anything else you'd like to throw at us? i am listening

[Mandolinplayer15]

cool das man sowas mit nur wenigen akkorden machen kann.

[RedReels]

Just visualize the guitar neck upside-down, like Albert King or Hendrix had to, and use the same chord forms for the mandolin as you use on the guitar. Hope that helps some of you who are considering doubling, and it's a good way to sharpen your knowledge and visualization of the guitars low strings too. Tenor banjo can be thought of the same way but as if you had a capo on the guitar at the 5th fret C G D A.

[RedReels]

An easy way to think of mandolin tuning and adapt what you already know on guitar is: Use the chord formations of the guitars lowest four strings E A D G but on the mandolin by thinking of the guitar strings upside-down. It's like what the low string guitar fingering would look like if you looked in a mirror that was under the guitar's G string reflecting up so you would see the G string as the lowest etc.

[tenorbanjoguy]

Very cool and there seems to be rising interest in this style and I think more commercial video lessons would be worth your time! Thanks!