10 Reasons Every Violinist Should Play Mandolin
It is the Most Accessible Instrument Day One.
Violinists have a giant head start on mandolin and will be able to play familiar phrases and licks the moment they put one in their hands. The left hand will feel at home but effort will be required to learn the right hand pick technique.
Rock Out With Chords
The Mandolin is like turning your violin in to a mini guitar. While a violin can sing and a fiddle can dance, only a mandolin can truly drive a performance rhythmically, harmonically and melodically. The percussive strumming techniques available from bluegrass to Brazilian choro, rock, pop, jazz and beyond will provide limitless joy unavailable to the violin.
Sam Bush
A bluegrass veteran equally at home with pop, rock and beyond. Click image to hear his rendition “Sailin’ Shoes by Little Feat.
Increase Your Hire-ability
Learning mandolin can increase your gigs and earnings. The steady drone of a bowed instrument can be limiting in some environments where tonal space and separation from the vocal melody better suits the tune. What if you switch instruments at a gig to add variety, and a more well rounded sonic experience for both you and the audience.
Deepen Your Sense of Harmony
A deeper sense of harmony enables performers to target and lean on notes in ways that enhances musicality and help hold an ensemble together. Learning chords and melodies together strengthens your understanding of form and structure. Mandolin will improve your ability to harmonize and solo on both instruments by enhancing your ability to voice lead within the chord movement.
Improve Your Musicianship
Have you ever felt stuck with a desire to play music but just not inspired to pick up your violin? Try the same music on mandolin and it’s suddenly brand new. Just grab a pick and go. Strum along with your favorite pop song, learn a fiddle tune, jazz standard or a Brazilian choro. It all becomes new again.
David Benedict
Professional Mandolinist with excellent online courses and materials via Youtube and Patreon. Click image to get started.
Be Your Own Accompanist
Playing music can be lonely and finding others to play on a frequent basis can be cumbersome. You can be your own band by learning mandolin alongside violin. One very simple trick is to record yourself on your voice memo app and play it through a bluetooth speaker and voilá - you’re now a duo! Various apps, pedals or tools on your computer are great places to start.
Jason Annick
Jazz violin-mandolin player and Berklee College of Music Professor - click image to hear him play “Minor Swing” by Django Reinhardt on both instruments.
Bach is more Approachable on Mandolin
Bach will help you be better in any and every genre due to his rich tapestry of harmony, polyphony, counterpoint and beyond. While Bach carefully considered the violin’s limits and capabilities as an instrument, he was not sympathetic to the obstacles of the player. It was music first, player second. However, many difficult sections for violin land with relative ease on a mandolin making it more effortless.
Magnus Zetterlund
Runs the Youtube channel Mandolin Secrets - an excellent resource for aspiring players - click image for an example of Bach
Play Singalongs
Odds are your friends and familly want to hear familiar tunes they can relate. The mandolin solves this instantly. Learn 1 pop song a week for 3 months and you suddenly have a 12 song set to launch you into campfire legend status. The Mandolin frees up your ability to sing and play at the same time.
Mike De Jong
Pop and rock lessons on Youtube. Click image for a lesson on Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heavens Door”
It Training Wheels for Guitar
Going from violin to guitar is like going from a broomstick to a baseball bat. The mandolin is a cheat code that develops your right hand picking and left hand strength in a way that translates directly to guitar. The neck and body size are significantly more approachable than a big guitar. However, you’ll find playing guitar to be much more agreeable after a few months of mandolin.
Improves Finger Surety.
You build so much left hand strength playing mandolin that the violin suddenly feels like a toy after a few solid weeks of steady playing. This enables you to relax and play more expressively as a result of having more finger surety. There is a strong likelihood your violin playing will noticeably improve as a result.