A couple potentially good ideas there Tater but I think I may save the  
accessories for my person as I was recently told by a nice elderly  
lady that I looked to skinny to hold a banjo for an entire show. I  
think I need all the help I can get.


There's no easy spot to even keep a capo on a mandolin. They fit so  
nicely in one of the holes of the banjo.

Mike Hedding


On Nov 18, 2009, at 5:51 PM, mistertaterbug <[email protected]>  
wrote:

> Heddster,
> You might as well get a tone guard shaped like your initials or
> favorite body part, armrest, mute, string grommets and terry cloth
> armband too. I'm just about ready to get myself a brace of some kind
> for my index finger. Maybe popsicle sticks...?
>
> Whiner Bug
>
> On Nov 18, 8:56 am, Mike Hedding <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Alright at the advice of everyone I am going to just be myself then.
>>
>>   I am keeping my tuner on my headstock and no one is going to stop  
>> me!
>>
>> Mike Hedding
>>
>> On Nov 18, 2009, at 7:53 AM, mistertaterbug <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> If anyone cares to, go to "Remember the Cross" and "That Home Above"
>>> by the Monroe/Flatt/Scruggs/Wise/Rainwater band. One is clearly B,  
>>> the
>>> other B flat. But, they are both clearly played out of A. There  
>>> are a
>>> number of other noteworthy cuts, "The First Whippoorwill" for one,
>>> that are played out of one key but are clearly not pitched in that
>>> key. So, did fucking Bill Monroe (to quote fucking Gaudreau) tune up
>>> or capo up? It's not tape drag. As Terry Bullin once said,"Well,  
>>> maybe
>>> he did it in the studio but surely he wouldn't have done it out in
>>> public." It's just silly. If the situation requires a different  
>>> voice
>>> and the capo provides it, use it. When did it become against the  
>>> rules
>>> to use the tools?
>>
>>> I started using a capo now and then due to saving time and  
>>> aggravation
>>> in the studio. Also, open tunings. I'd really love to use more open
>>> tunings. Listen to the cut on Dr. Ralph's recording of "Lift Him  
>>> Up".
>>> That's tuned open, but there were a few songs where we tuned open  
>>> only
>>> to have TBone say that he'd like to go up a half step. Now,  
>>> retuning 8
>>> strings on a mandolin every which way and expecting it to settle  
>>> down
>>> in a few minutes is just unreasonable. Slapping on a capo is not,
>>> especially when time is money.
>>
>>> As for working up solos and improvising...
>>> I think that maybe we can go back to "the Father" one more time and
>>> consider this approach. Over the years, if I listen to songs that
>>> Monroe did over a number of decades, such as "Uncle Pen", "On and  
>>> On",
>>> "Bluegrass Breakdown", etc, what I hear is a script, a framework  
>>> over
>>> which variations are applied. I'm not talking about the construction
>>> of the song so much as I am the construction of his solos in the  
>>> song.
>>> It seems that he worked out a solo that served as the basic  
>>> pattern to
>>> follow, but changed small aspects of it occasionally as his whim
>>> dictated. But the basic "script" was predominantly the same. This  
>>> may
>>> be helpful, maybe not. Just thought I'd throw it out there.
>>
>>> I had a short conversation with Russ Barenburg the other day and the
>>> subject of improvisation came up. He said that he occasionally has
>>> people ask him about improvising, as do I. It's really an individual
>>> learning experience and there doesn't seem to be any one way to
>>> approach it or teach it. He said that to him it is ridiculous to
>>> assume that it is possible to whip out an improvised solo that  
>>> rivals
>>> something that requires one sitting down and working it out and
>>> learning it over the course of say, several months. But that seems  
>>> to
>>> be what some people assume they will be able to do with a few
>>> "rules".  I think that it is easy to overlook the fact that the  
>>> sound
>>> our heros have/had did not just appear overnight but took  
>>> sometimes a
>>> lifetime of blood, sweat, and tears to acquire. There is too much
>>> impatience in us all.
>>
>>> I think that Eric has a valid point, that being each song deserves a
>>> look to see what the best approach is. I agree with Eric too (Who is
>>> this Eric guy? He seems to know a lot of stuff...) regarding using
>>> tunings and capos, if a person wants a specific sound, go where it  
>>> is
>>> regardless of how you need to get there. As John Hartford used to  
>>> say
>>> (and I know I've quoted him saying this before...), "This is art and
>>> there ain't no damned rules."
>>
>>> Be bold, be yourself, be honest. The audience can spot a phony from
>>> the back row.
>>
>>> Puhtater
>>
>>> On Nov 17, 6:46 pm, [email protected] wrote:
>>>> Ron Spears tells a very good Jimmy Gaudreau capo story. At a gig
>>>> somewhere, Jimmy put a capo on his mandolin and Ron
>>>> gave him the "hairy eyeball" as only Ron can do and Jimmy got right
>>>> in Ron's face and says "I ain't fucking Bill Monroe."
>>>> Might even be true.
>>
>>>> Clyde Clevenger
>>>> Just My Opinion, But It's Right
>>>> Salem, Oregon
>>>> Old Circle
>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Don Grieser" <[email protected]>
>>>> To: [email protected]
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 4:36:23 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada
>>>> Pacific
>>>> Subject: Re: Thinking more outside of a Jam
>>
>>>> I saw Jimmy Gaudreau use a capo on his mandolin at a bluegrass
>>>> festival. It sounded great. It's a tool. Use it for a certain sound
>>>> or
>>>> effect but not because you're too lazy to learn to play in Bb or B.
>>>> Monroe style players play out of closed positions anyway even when
>>>> they don't have to, right?
>>
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