back online & more

I was out of the MMO blogging loop since October. It seems if you're inactive for 30 days, you can't log back in. Well, I'm back, and I posted some comments, mostly for the NLMQ posts in November.
Also, Jackie Webb wants to join the blog. I'll e-mail her and walk her thru it.
I have a vinyl record of mandolin music. Does anyone want to borrow it? If you don't have a record player (we have and use two regularly), I can make a cassette tape of it for you very easily.
I also have a Mando Boys CD if anyone wants to borrow it. They truly play the widest spectrum of music I've heard from any group, and their sense of humor is . . .
Blog out!

James at Cafe Maude

Here's the link to EarWorm, the band pictured in Thursday's Pioneer Press photo, and featuring our own james Holdman:



http://iacmusic.com/artist.aspx?ID=89772



There's a low-resolution version of the photo, and there's streaming audio you can listen to.

Mando Boys on YouTube

There are several videos of performances by Peter O and the Mando Boys on YouTube. Peter Ostroushko, Dick Nunnely, Joe Trimbach, and John Niemann were the best fez-wearing mandolin quartet I've ever heard. Try these links:



Hills of Manchuria http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D-85nT8emg
Solace http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92TOnbFGQ1o
Russian Rag http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg7JrmmBLZk
Little Fugue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2PykHaYyBw
Air Mail Special http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRGb1hH12d0
Pineapple Rag http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qAer6Z8lr0
Slipped Disk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra8_vI5gI88

Joropo de Lara recording

I just updated the MMO "current tunes" page to include a link to the Mandograpplers' recording of Joropo de Lara. I know the recording has been mentioned before, but I think it's worth mentioning again. You can listen to it for inspiration, or you can play along for practice.

Here's the link:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=133674157

Using the little finger

Thanks, everyone, for playing along with my "why use your little finger" brainstorming game on February 5. I started with a list of eight reasons, and it grew into the following list. It could come in handy for anyone who is asked to to a mandolin workshop.

Twelve reasons for using your little finger when playing the mandolin:

• You can play octaves like Sam Bush.
• You can sometimes avoid string crossings by staying on the same string.
• The little finger is necessary for some chord shapes, like the bluegrass chop.
• People who see you play with your little finger will be impressed by your technique.
• In position playing, it's hard to reach the notes you need without your little finger.
• You can play Bill Monroe's famous lick, alternating between G/D and Bb/D double stops.
• If you injure one of your other fingers, you'll need your little finger to take up the slack.
• You can play a high C without leaving first position.
• It's good training for playing an octave mandolin or mandocello.
• It makes it easy to play some double stops that would be difficult otherwise.
• In some music, the mellower tone of a fretted note sounds better than an open string.
• It's easier to play staccato on a fretted note than on an open string.

MBOTMA WW preliminary tune list

These are the likely tunes for the MBOTMA program on March 1.

• Children with Bad Dreams
• The First Minnesota Regiment Suite
• Goldfinger
• Joropo de Lara
• La Tipica
• Siberian Snow Flakes
• Vus Vet Zayn
• Waltz for Bill Monroe

There's lots of information about the event at http://www.minnesotabluegrass.org/calendar/wbw/index.html