MANDO
MANDOLIN SURVIVAL IN AN ELECTRIC GUITAR WORLD
BY TYSON BRYANT
The mandolin has become more and more prevalent in contemporary Christian music , but worship leaders and mandolin players often struggle to fit the mandolin into their arrangements in a full worship band . Can mandolin coexist on a modern stage with electric guitar , drums , and synths ? How can you fit a mandolin into the arrangement of a song whose original recording doesn ’ t include one ?
SWISS ARMY KNIFE The mandolin is the most diminutive-yetversatile instrument you can bring to the worship team . Its natural high frequencies easily help it stand out from other instruments in the mix , and the pairs of identical strings allow a mandolin player to leverage some techniques that just aren ’ t available to most other instruments . Let ’ s quickly review the most common mando picking techniques and then use them to peel back the layers of your arrangements .
RHYTHM : Whether using full , open strumming , or the more muted ‘ chunk ’ technique , the mandolin can do anything its full-size rhythminstrument cousins can . TREMELO : The tremelo technique is the classic mandolin sound . Since each ‘ string ’ comes in a pair , the rapid , alternating up-and-down picking lets the mandolin player indefinitely sustain a note or movement for as long as he likes . LEAD : The frequency and energy of a mandolin makes it an excellent instrument for lead solos , fills , and ‘ color ’ in a song . CROSS PICKING : The same idea as cross-picking techniques for a guitar , but the mandolin does it with an extra measure of brightness and energy .
MUSICAL CAMOUFLAGE Armed with these techniques a mandolin player can disguise themselves as any ‘ role ’ in any arrangement . Listen to your favorite new worship song and pick out what role the other instruments are filling . Then simply use one of the mandolin techniques above to fill that same role instead . Here are some examples :
MANDOLIN AS .... ... A KEYBOARD . Is the keyboard or organ playing a pad over a particular section of the song ? The mandolin can use single or multiplestring tremelo to substitute for that pad in the arrangement . ... PERCUSSION . If the rhythm needs emphasis , the mandolin can find the snare or kick drum and help drive the beat home . Alternatively , I like to use the ‘ chunk ’ rhythm technique and treat the mandolin like a “ shaker with pitch control .” ... A LEAD INSTRUMENT . Listen to all of those solos and fills that the electric guitar is playing .
Guitar players don ’ t have to have all of the fun . Play those exact same parts on your mandolin and impress your friends with your long-lasting , pedal-free sustain . ... A PIANO . The piano often plays parts that provide a counter-rhythm to the primary rhythm instruments ( acoustic guitars , snare drums ). Use your mandolin cross-picking technique to fill that role with a flurry of notes based on repeating chord patterns up and down the neck .
COMMUNICATION IS KEY The mandolin can ring out , be muted and percussive , sustain forever , or serve as a lead instrument . It can therefore ‘ replace ’ the role of almost any instrument in the worship band . So listen to the studio track of your favorite song . There will likely be multiple elements in it that you can replace with the equivalent mandolin technique . The important thing is to communicate and coordinate with the musicians playing those other instruments . Negotiate some trading-off of fills , pads , solos , or counter-rhythms so that the song doesn ’ t have two instruments stepping over the top of one another .
In my experience , with a little smooth-talking and good-will even the most cantankerous lead guitar player can be convinced to share some of his spotlight with a mandolin .
Nov � Dec 2016 WorshipMusician . com
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