In the bluegrass groups I sit in with occasionally give mandolin players who use a capo stink eye. They are purists and also look down on me if I play electric bass. I personally think you need to use whatever tools at your disposal to make the music sound good.
thank you for balancing me - as a guitar rhythm player i use the capo to get the best chord voicing, but i put off getting a mandolin capo on account of all the pundits telling me not to use one. am now going to buy a capo, because i like being able to put the open strings where i want them, in the key, and i think i can "chop" fairly well with the edge of my right hand, instead.
Thanks, I agree. And tone is quite important. One thing is that if you put the capo up one or two frets then the guitarist will need to do the same, especially if they often play fiddle tunes. Another is that you can often play a tune in two octaves, the upper and lower. If you learn a tune as the upper octave you can play the exact same fingering two strings down ie. an octave below if you put capo at 2nd fret. Or you can shift a string to play in the fourth or shift two strings to play two semitones lower (to help the singer). Lots of other tricks, experiment - have fun!
When I play with others in folk music jams I use the capo on my mandolin and put it on the same fret the guitar players put their capos on. I like the sound of open string chords and if I have a melody line I learned without capo it makes it easier to change key. I am not a purist but still have lots of fun.
As someone who picked up the mandolin because I like bluegrass gospel songs, this was useful information. Even when I played guitar the capo never really appealed to me but now I know that there is quite a bit of tonal range it provides and it might be useful to get one. I'm gonna focus on getting good first though.
mandolin is high up the register as it is without increasing it , the way it is layed out makes it pretty easy to play diffrent keys thats my take on it im by no means an advanced player❤keep up the great work baron
No. I don't like losing half of my range. It will help a beginner to play in different keys. However, it can also keep a beginner from learning how to play in different keys. If you only have a short bit to play, and you just like the sound, okay.
Our worship leader plays in a lot of different keys, so I have to use the cable a lot in that context. especially when I need to play a fill or a break in a fingering that I'm comfortable with in a key that I'm not
I feel lost if I don’t have a capo when I play guitar, So many songs use them. I haven’t really used it on the mandolin. I love capos as much as different tunings on the guitar. CAPOS RULE!
Although you mentioned that fiddle players don’t capo, I dabble in fiddle and years ago I mede a fiddle capo using an elastic banjo capo that I bent to match the curve of a fiddle fingerboard.
Yeah it's not really great for mando. It removes usable range from the instrument and forces super high voicings of all chords. Whereas capo on guitar you still have enough midrange when capoed.
The nastiest people I've ever had the misfortune to play with were always purist's. I play the mandolin in a church band and we play all the latest contemporary christian music which is quite rocky and I not only use a capo, I also use a distortion pedal on certain songs or at certain places in songs. Being too stubborn to improvise with the mandolin is just being closed minded and makes you less versatile. Cheers.
The reason why that puts me off as a purist is, rather than taking an interest in the long tradition of fiddle and string band music played on mandolin, people just go "ooh, tiny guitar," learn 4 chord shapes, and run it through a pedal board
I also play mandolin in my church group and the only thing holding me back from using the capo was not being able to find a capo that could hold the strings down sufficiently enough to prevent buzzing. I did find one recently though and started using it.
@@randyo573 I use a Paige Clik PC-B4-ETI. They're kinda pricey but well worth it because each individual pad moves so your always centered over the pair of strings. I started originally with a Gibson F5 then went to a Collings because of the radiused neck so the Paige capo was the only one that worked right. I recently traded the Collings for an Eastman 815 series that has a K and K pickup that is much louder than the Fishman saddle that I had on the Collings so I no longer need my Fishman preamp either. Using a capo sure helps with those chords and keys that are difficult to play and I've found that contemporary christian music just sounds better with as many open and ringing strings as possible. The mandolin has natural compression and less sustain too so I'm thinking of adding a reverb pedal to my pedal board. Best regards.
@@DSteinman Whatever floats your boat🙂. You're probably a lot better player than I am too. I know that I use it as a crutch because it does make it easy to stay away from the more difficult keys and I also use some jazz style chord shapes because open and ringing strings just go better with contemporary music. Don't get me wrong, I love traditional bluegrass, especially in the style of Jim and Jesse. The crosspicking syle of Jesse McReynolds was actually taught to me by my uncle Willie way back in the 70's. I learned the style on my Martin 00018 back in the good ole days. LOL. I didn't take up the mandolin until about 12 years ago and have never had the opportunity to play the mandolin in a bluegrass band. Best regards.
In the bluegrass groups I sit in with occasionally give mandolin players who use a capo stink eye. They are purists and also look down on me if I play electric bass. I personally think you need to use whatever tools at your disposal to make the music sound good.
I use capo on my mandolin, although I could do it without. But I like the open strings sounds for certain tunes.
thank you for balancing me - as a guitar rhythm player i use the capo to get the best chord voicing, but i put off getting a mandolin capo on account of all the pundits telling me not to use one. am now going to buy a capo, because i like being able to put the open strings where i want them, in the key, and i think i can "chop" fairly well with the edge of my right hand, instead.
On a Octave Mandolin a capo is usefull. On mandolin I will use one the day Sierra Hull or Chris Thile uses one lol...
Thanks, I agree. And tone is quite important. One thing is that if you put the capo up one or two frets then the guitarist will need to do the same, especially if they often play fiddle tunes. Another is that you can often play a tune in two octaves, the upper and lower. If you learn a tune as the upper octave you can play the exact same fingering two strings down ie. an octave below if you put capo at 2nd fret. Or you can shift a string to play in the fourth or shift two strings to play two semitones lower (to help the singer).
Lots of other tricks, experiment - have fun!
When I play with others in folk music jams I use the capo on my mandolin and put it on the same fret the guitar players put their capos on. I like the sound of open string chords and if I have a melody line I learned without capo it makes it easier to change key. I am not a purist but still have lots of fun.
As someone who picked up the mandolin because I like bluegrass gospel songs, this was useful information. Even when I played guitar the capo never really appealed to me but now I know that there is quite a bit of tonal range it provides and it might be useful to get one. I'm gonna focus on getting good first though.
mandolin is high up the register as it is without increasing it , the way it is layed out makes it pretty easy to play diffrent keys thats my take on it im by no means an advanced player❤keep up the great work baron
hi. i just got a mandolin and your lessons are very helpful! :D
What got you playing mandolin
As long as people are making good music!!!
This was quite interesting to watch, Baron. Thank you!!
I own a capo, but I very rarely use it. I play almost everything in G or D. 😆
No. I don't like losing half of my range. It will help a beginner to play in different keys. However, it can also keep a beginner from learning how to play in different keys. If you only have a short bit to play, and you just like the sound, okay.
Interesting. Good un-biased take on their use. Thanks.
Great video, thanks, Baron.
Capos may be a crutch, but a lame player like me needs all the help he can get....
Our worship leader plays in a lot of different keys, so I have to use the cable a lot in that context. especially when I need to play a fill or a break in a fingering that I'm comfortable with in a key that I'm not
I feel lost if I don’t have a capo when I play guitar, So many songs use them. I haven’t really used it on the mandolin. I love capos as much as different tunings on the guitar. CAPOS RULE!
Great video, thanks! :)
For me I think so. My fingers are fat, and fleshy and don't wanna play barre
Although you mentioned that fiddle players don’t capo, I dabble in fiddle and years ago I mede a fiddle capo using an elastic banjo capo that I bent to match the curve of a fiddle fingerboard.
Only time I use a capo on the mando is while changing strings.
lol
Sure… if you want to make an instrument that’s hard to play….. even harder.
Leprecauns with their small hands should use a capo.
Capo? Mandolin? That's a joke...right?
No.
Yeah it's not really great for mando. It removes usable range from the instrument and forces super high voicings of all chords. Whereas capo on guitar you still have enough midrange when capoed.
The nastiest people I've ever had the misfortune to play with were always purist's. I play the mandolin in a church band and we play all the latest contemporary christian music which is quite rocky and I not only use a capo, I also use a distortion pedal on certain songs or at certain places in songs. Being too stubborn to improvise with the mandolin is just being closed minded and makes you less versatile. Cheers.
The reason why that puts me off as a purist is, rather than taking an interest in the long tradition of fiddle and string band music played on mandolin, people just go "ooh, tiny guitar," learn 4 chord shapes, and run it through a pedal board
I also play mandolin in my church group and the only thing holding me back from using the capo was not being able to find a capo that could hold the strings down sufficiently enough to prevent buzzing. I did find one recently though and started using it.
@@randyo573 I use a Paige Clik PC-B4-ETI. They're kinda pricey but well worth it because each individual pad moves so your always centered over the pair of strings. I started originally with a Gibson F5 then went to a Collings because of the radiused neck so the Paige capo was the only one that worked right. I recently traded the Collings for an Eastman 815 series that has a K and K pickup that is much louder than the Fishman saddle that I had on the Collings so I no longer need my Fishman preamp either. Using a capo sure helps with those chords and keys that are difficult to play and I've found that contemporary christian music just sounds better with as many open and ringing strings as possible. The mandolin has natural compression and less sustain too so I'm thinking of adding a reverb pedal to my pedal board. Best regards.
@@DSteinman Whatever floats your boat🙂. You're probably a lot better player than I am too. I know that I use it as a crutch because it does make it easy to stay away from the more difficult keys and I also use some jazz style chord shapes because open and ringing strings just go better with contemporary music. Don't get me wrong, I love traditional bluegrass, especially in the style of Jim and Jesse. The crosspicking syle of Jesse McReynolds was actually taught to me by my uncle Willie way back in the 70's. I learned the style on my Martin 00018 back in the good ole days. LOL. I didn't take up the mandolin until about 12 years ago and have never had the opportunity to play the mandolin in a bluegrass band. Best regards.
my mando teacherr says bcapos for mandolins are a joke, you would be laughed out of most bluegrass jams
You need to find a real teacher not a closed minded jerk.
Does your teacher know people play mandolins in other genres also? Or that grownups don’t care who laughs at what?
No.