|Mandolin Lessons SingingWood Home Page| |The mandolin is an
extraordinary instrument. It's capable of playing a wide range
of repertoire. Tuned the same as the violin (GDAE), it's first
cousin to the violin "the queen of the orchestra" and the folk
fiddle. Where ever you hear the violin or the fiddle, mandolin
can easily go, with certain exceptions. Some pieces are simply
"unmandolinable." But many styles of music are easily played on
mandolin, including baroque music, duets, trios, and quartets,
bluegrass, celtic music, and all sorts of folk and international
music. No instrument surpasses the mandolin's ability to
contribute a percussive yet sweet-toned chordal accompaniment.
Mandolin frequently serves as the snare drum of bluegrass music
and "new accoustic" music. Pitched roughly an octave higher than
guitar, the mandolin can't match the deep, rich, long ringing
chords of a guitar accompaniment, leaving the guitar as the
favored instrument for voal accompanyment. Still mandolin
accompaniment provides a pe