Mandolin

A mandolin is a stringed musical instrument. The number and type of strings found on mandolins has varied over time and place. Today, the predominant configuration is that of the Neapolitan mandolin, with four courses of metal strings. Each pair of strings is tuned in unison, and are a fifth apart from adjacent pairs, giving an identical tuning to a violin (G-D-A-E low-to-high). Unlike a violin, the fingerboard of a mandolin is fretted and it is typically played with a flat pick (a plectrum).

Mandolin history

Mandolins evolved from the Lute family in Italy during the 17th -18th centuries,

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and the deep bowled mandolin produced particularly in Naples became

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a common type in the19th century.

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The original instrument was the mandola ( mandorla is almond in Italian and

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describes the instrument body shape) and evolved in the 15th century from the lute.

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A later, smaller mandola was developed and became known as a mandolina.

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The 20th century saw the rise in popularity of the mandolin for celtic, bluegrass,

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jazz and classical styles.

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Much of the development of the mandolin from neapolitan bowl back

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to the flat back style is thanks to Orville Gibson (1856 - 1918)

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and Lloyd Loar, his chief designer.

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Further back, around 15,000 - 8,000 BC, single stringed instruments have

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been seen in cave paintings. They were bowed, struck and plucked.

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From these, the families of instruments developed. Single strings were long

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and gave a single melody line. To shorten the scale length,

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other strings were added with a different tension so one string took over

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where another left off. In turn, this led to being able to play diads and chords.

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The bowed family became the rabob, rebec and then the fiddle becoming

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the violin and modern family by 1520 (incidentally also in Naples).

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The plucked family led to lute-like instruments in 2000 BC Mesopotamia,

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and developed into the Oud or Ud before appearing in Spain in 711 courtesy of the Moors.

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Over the next centuries, frets were added and the strings doubled to courses

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leading to the first Lute appearing in the 13th Century.

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The history of the Lute and the Mandolin are intertwined from this point.

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The Lute gained a 5th course by the 15th century, a 6th a century later and up to

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13 courses in its heyday. As early as the 14th century a miniature Lute or Mandora appeared.

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Similar to the mandola, it had counterparts in Arab countries (Dambura) and Assyria (Pandura).

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From this, the Mandolino (a small gut strung Mandola with 6 strings tuned g b e' a' d g

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sometimes called the Baroque Mandolin and played with a quill, wooden plectrum or finger-style) was developed in several places in Italy but seems to have became known as the Mandolin in early 18th century (around 1735) Naples.

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The 'modern' often termed Neapolitan mandolin (bowl-back, 4 course paired metal strings) appeared

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about 100 years later in around 1830.

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The style was adopted and developed by others, notably in Rome giving two distinct but similar types of mandolin - Neapolitan and Roman. many of the best players chose the Roman made mandolins. The development of the Mandolino in Rome seems to have followed a slightly different course from that in Naples with many innovations of the Mandolina and later the Mandolin.

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Classic 'modern' mandolins were made by the Vinaccia family (mid-1700s onwards) in direct continuance from their mandolinos, and Calace (1863 - onwards) in Naples and Luigi Embergher (1856 - 1943), Ferrari family (1716 - onwards also originally mandolino makers) and De Santi (1834 - 1916) in Rome.

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It is widely accepted that the evolution of the mandolin to the modern style is attributed to the Vinaccia family.

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The United States of America

The mandolin's popularity in the United States was spurred by the success of a group of touring European musicians known as the Figaro Spanish Students. 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.

Related Topics:
United States - Bandurrias - Musical ensemble - Italian-born Americans

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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.

Related Topics:
Fad - The Music Man

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The use of a single mandolin in a band was popularized by Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music. Bill Monroe famously played a Lloyd Loar signed 1924 Gibson F5 mandolin that 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.

Related Topics:
Bill Monroe - Bluegrass music - Tonally - Aesthetically

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Today, the Irish-American punk rock band Dropkick Murphys features the mandolin on several songs, played by Tim Brennan. The band uses several unorthodox instruments, including mandolin, tin whistle, and Great Highland Bagpipes. The explanation given by the band was that the mandolin and pipes accentuated the growling sound the band favors. For modern virtuoso performances one only need look to the Californian Chris Thile in Nickel Creek to see how it features in popular music. The 1991 R.E.M. hit "Losing My Religion" also used a mandolin as its main instrument.

Related Topics:
R.E.M. - Losing My Religion

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The United Kingdom

Mandolin is featured in the playing of Matt Bellamy in the modern band Muse, and of course was introduced very clearly by Vivian Stanshall on Mike Oldfield's album "Tubular Bells" and was a major feature of some the work done by the British band Lindisfarne who had the biggest selling UK album of 1971-1972.

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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).

Related Topics:
Brazilian - Choro - Jacob do Bandolim

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The mandolin came into Brazil by way of Portugal. Portuguese music has a long tradition of mandolin-like instruments (see, for example, the Portuguese guitar).

Related Topics:
Portugal - Portuguese music - Portuguese guitar

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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.

Related Topics:
Cavaquinho - Guitar - Choro

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