This ain't fair!

This kid has some great talent and he got the opportunity to play alongside Sierra Hull! I'll admit it... I'm a little jealous.

Check this out!

Earlier I did a post on a mandolin quartet... Well, how about a whole mandolin Orchestra! You'll recognize the tune played if you've seen the movie "Bridge On The River Kwai".



Oh, did I mention these guys are from Oregon?... GO DUCKS!

My Top 5 Favorite Mandolinists

These guys are the best of the best...

1 - Chris Thile


2 - Andy Leftwich


3 - Adam Steffey


4 - Marty Stuart


5 - John Moore

Caribou Reel

Caribou Reel from Chris Travers on Vimeo.

Chris

This is pretty neat...

This guy and his friends do several videos like this one, using old machinery for rhythm. This one is my favorite. It's a Resonator Mandolin and a Harmonica jamming to the beat of an old Steamboat engine! Really neat and innovative!



Cool Huh?

Happy B'day Beth Anne!

My sister's 14th birthday is today! Beth Anne's favorite music is by Keith and Kristyn Getty, so I recorded this for her. Happy birthday Beth Anne!

In Christ Alone by Keith and Kristyn Getty from Chris Travers on Vimeo.

Tunes To Learn

I've added a new link to the link buttons above.

"Tunes To Learn"

This link will take you to a list of tunes that I think everyone who plays the mandolin should learn. If you think of any songs that I should add, please leave me a comment telling me the song you want. If I don't know the song, I will be glad to learn it and post it on the list!

Thanks,
Chris

Reason # 117 that I want an Epiphone Mandobird

Very neat!

TefView Tab Viewer

TefView has been one of the most helpful things I have found on the web for learning mandolin.

TefView is a free program that lets you view tabledit files. With the TefView program you can...

          -Read the tabs or music (standard notation) or both.

          -Follow along to a midi version of the music.

          -See the chords as they're played.

          -Use the metronome to slow down or speed up playback.

          -Use the multitrack option to play just the lead or the whole band!

...And much more.

There are many, many sites that list tabledit files. Here are a couple of my favotites:

Mandozine Tablature Archive (My all time favorite! This site is almost exclusively mando-tabs.)

All Tabs ( This site has tabs for mandolin and many other bluegrass instruments: Banjo, Guitar, Fiddle, even Dulcimer)

Of course, none of this information would be of any use if you didn't have the program! You can download it Here. Just click the little floppy disk icon labeled "tefv.exe", download, install and start playing!

Screenshot of TefView being used to view "Blackberry Blossom" tabs.

I hope this is of some help to you on your epic journey to mandolin mastery!

This is cool...

Look at that mandocello! I wanna get me one of those!

Instruments played: (from left to right) - Mandolin, Mandocello, Mandola, Mandolin

Very neat!

Road To Spencer

I first heard this song on one of the first bluegrass CD's I ever got. It became an instant favorite. I thought it would be a good first post!

Road To Spencer from Chris Travers on Vimeo.

Here's the tablature for the version I'm playing: