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For the people who, when seeing a mandolin for the first time say, "Is that some kind of ukelele ?" here is a brief introduction to the mandolin. It is a small, wooden, stringed instrument, with 4 pairs of steel strings, tuned exactly the same as the violin. Unlike the violin, however, the mandolin has a flat bridge. like the guitar, and thus it cannot be played with a bow, but is instead played with a small plastic plectrum (pick).
This photo is of the Bonne Amie Musical Circle (now the Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra), the oldest fretted-instrument music organization in the United States, in 1908. This was the popular time for mandolins, when mandolin orchestras were common. These instruments are all round back with oval sound holes.
This next picture is from 16 years later, (1924) when mandolins evolved to have flat backs and either oval holes or F-holes (similar to the violin). Some also hav a small scroll added to the top.
Today mandolins are much less common, as are mandolin orchestras, but they still do exist, as shown in this recent photo.
Mandolins are also still common in country music, especially bluegrass, and are still common in Italian music, from which they originated in Cremona, Italy, as did the violin.
Here's me playing Minuet # 3 in G Major, by Christian Petzold & JS Bach (published 1725) >>>
This photo is of the Bonne Amie Musical Circle (now the Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra), the oldest fretted-instrument music organization in the United States, in 1908. This was the popular time for mandolins, when mandolin orchestras were common. These instruments are all round back with oval sound holes.
This next picture is from 16 years later, (1924) when mandolins evolved to have flat backs and either oval holes or F-holes (similar to the violin). Some also hav a small scroll added to the top.
Today mandolins are much less common, as are mandolin orchestras, but they still do exist, as shown in this recent photo.
Mandolins are also still common in country music, especially bluegrass, and are still common in Italian music, from which they originated in Cremona, Italy, as did the violin.
Here's me playing Minuet # 3 in G Major, by Christian Petzold & JS Bach (published 1725) >>>
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