OK so in the interest of expanding my own knowledge, could someone explain and describe a mandolin and a bouzuki and the differences between them? 

Cheers

Carol

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Sing an unwritten song or repent for the deeds you left undone.- GBS
If curious means that you trade your routines for something free, the freedom you feel's the whole point of the deal so curious I'll be! - BNL
Priates over Ninjas!!

Okay, I'll give it a shot...

The mandolin started out I believe as an Italian instrument and the bouzouki is of Greek origin.

Mandolins are about the size of a regular violin or fiddle and tuned the same.  Low to high - GDAE, although sometimes in Celtic music tuned GDAD.  Bouzoukia are roughly the size of a guitar and tuned in Greek music CFAD but more commonly in Celtic music tuned the same as a mandolin but an octave lower.

Both instruments are strung with four courses (or pairs.)  Each course of the mandolins strings are the same while the two lower courses on a bouzouki are sometimes strung in octaves, similar to the lower strings on a twelve string guitar.

The bouzouki is closer to an octave mandolin but with a longer neck.

Mandolins have a whole family, similar to violins.  Mandolin=violin, mandola=viola, mandocello=violincello (commonly 'cello), bass mandolin=bass violin (or double bass.)  The octave mandolin is a more recent hybrid addition to the mandolin family, probably the mandolin answer to the bouzouki.  I don't know if the bouzouki has a similar family.

I won't get into body styles but I will say they all started off pretty much the same with the round backs and flat tops but have progressed over the years to all sorts of variations.

I hope that helps you, Carol.

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But I know I'm going to do it again!
Oh Yeah!
Robbie

Thanks Robbie, I knew you'd come through for me! Is it the Bouzuki the by's play more often?  I've taken to calling it/them the gourd.  I hate not knowing.

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Sing an unwritten song or repent for the deeds you left undone.- GBS
If curious means that you trade your routines for something free, the freedom you feel's the whole point of the deal so curious I'll be! - BNL
Priates over Ninjas!!

Wow such good info.... i was gonna say that i thought the Mandolin was smaller....now i feel dumb lol

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I am the fountain of affection
I'm the instrument of joy
And to keep the good times rolling
I'm the boy, I'm the boy,

Yes, Carol, they most certainly play the bouzouki more.  In fact, without checking the liner notes for this, I don't think they've recorded a mandolin since "Up."  (I'll fact check this later.)  They have certainly used octave mandolins since then and with Bob and Alan both playing bouzoukis, there is an abundance of songs with bouzouki.  I have never seen them use a regular mandolin live.

"The Gourd" is a reference to the original round backs of either instrument.  If you look at pics of old style mandolins or bouzoukia, the backs of the bodies kinda look like like gourds.  I recently read an article about a guy who actually makes banjo bodies out of gourds.  If I can find it again I'll post a link.

Bryck, don't feel dumb.  Just consider it an over-abundance of information on my part!  Basically, you're right.  A mandolin is smaller.  In Celtic based music, they're used in the same manner.  Just that the bouzouki is tonally lower.

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But I know I'm going to do it again!
Oh Yeah!
Robbie

Come to think of it, there's a mandolin orchestra that plays in the Rose Parade (in welland, not the rose bowl parade which is far more popular) and what they play doesn't look much like what the boys have played.  It's also very not celtic.

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Sing an unwritten song or repent for the deeds you left undone.- GBS
If curious means that you trade your routines for something free, the freedom you feel's the whole point of the deal so curious I'll be! - BNL
Priates over Ninjas!!

I think Bob plays the mandola, too, which like Robbie says is tuned like a viola - C G D A (low to high). With the bouzouki body style, rounded vs. flat, I think it was Donal Lunny who first introduced the flat back style. Johnny Moynihan of Sweeney's Men first brought the bouzouki into Irish music from Greece, but it was Lunny who had one specially made with a flat back, which has become the standard for Celtic music.

So which instrument is it that Bob plays at most of the concerts? Is that a bouzouki or a mandola?  

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"Alan is relentless, Sean is enigmatic and I'm a genius." - Bob Hallett

amylynn:

So which instrument is it that Bob plays at most of the concerts? Is that a bouzouki or a mandola?  

Bouzouki. Same goes for Alan.

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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Well there’ll be music all around you, You should see the way it feels

Can anyone help me with learning GBS tunes on the bouzouki?  I am a good guitar player, and I hope that playing this new instrument won't be a long, hard, slog of a steep learning curve for me. Basically, I would like to know what tuning Alan and Bob use.

 Any ideas would be appreciated, [like the tunings they use] and some basic chord structures; perhaps.  "Consequence Free" might be a good starting point.

 Mike

themoondogs.org

Just to ask you guitar playing folks:
how to you strengthen your fingers when playing and getting the adjusted to moving along the frets? I'm trying to teach myself Mandolin (which is difficult seeing as i have absolutely NO dexterity haha) and it's moving along at a firm stand still haha.

Any exercises you all could recommend?

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I'll fall asleep in this foreign land, but I'll wake up in my dreams to find myself back home in the arms of the land that raised me

The Story of 777: On March 7th, I saw my first Great Big Sea Concert. 7 months later on October 7th, I saw my second Great Big Sea Concert. I call it fate!

Your best "exercise" is keep practicing!  An hour at a time, minimum, 3 days a week minimum.

 

On the subject of this thread, Alan played a mandola last night, at least one time!   Bob had two bouz's so he always had one in tune, I assume.  His fiddle got knocked off its floor stand one time, but evidently no damage as the stage guy took it off and retuned it and put it back a minute later.

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http://mjbphotos.tripod.com
http://www.myspace.com/mikebirchmusic

Moondog:

Can anyone help me with learning GBS tunes on the bouzouki?  I am a good guitar player, and I hope that playing this new instrument won't be a long, hard, slog of a steep learning curve for me. Basically, I would like to know what tuning Alan and Bob use.

 Any ideas would be appreciated, [like the tunings they use] and some basic chord structures; perhaps.  "Consequence Free" might be a good starting point.

Alan uses a standard tuning of GDAE, an octave below the mandolin.  I'm not sure whether Bob uses the same tuning, but he usually picks individual notes while Alan more often plays rhythm.  If you learn the following basic chords and get a capo, you'll be able to play hundreds of folk songs!

G  0023

C  0230

D  2002

Em 0220

Am 2230

FYI, I don't own a bouzouki but I do own a mandolin. You can find a playable mandolin for under $100, but a decent Irish bouzouki starts at over $500.  Since the two instruments are generally tuned the same but an octave apart, you can start on mandolin before deciding whether to commit to the more expensive bouzouki.

Hope this helps!

After you've mastered the previous five chords, here are four more to learn:

G7 0021

D7 2032

C7 3230

F  2301

With these nine chords, you'll be able to play almost any song in C or G, and you can use your capo for the other keys.

When you are tuning your bouzouki (or mandolin or 12-string guitar) with an electric tuner, you should tune each string individually while muting all of the other strings, otherwise you will confuse the tuner with sympathetic vibrations from the other strings.  Tuning your instrument carefully will really make it sing when you play.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was to buy a stand for your instrument and leave it out where it'll be "in your way" - you'll be much more likely to pick it up and play around with it.  Yes, keeping it in a case will protect it, but out of sight and out of mind isn't conducive to learning any instrument!  Of course if you have small children or large dogs running around, this may not be practical for you. 

 Happy strumming!