The Mandolin, Americana and noisy pubs

Banjo, Mandolin & Guitar Club at Washington
& Jefferson College in the 1890s.

I haven't completely given up on English folk music and playing the concertina, but I'm currently hooked on the mandolin and Americana.

I was first attracted to the mandolin because of its logic - four courses (pairs of strings) for four fingers, each course ascending in fifths. It's also playable largely in first position, and you can begin with just two-finger chords.

I originally wanted it for English folk, but it got diverted to my growing interest in Americana. While many people my age and a little older started with Americana, I came into folk with English folk rock and then went for the very trad stuff, so Americana is a new experience for me, and I'm enjoying it.

A third element of my interest in the mandolin is the occasional need to sing in public bars as well as backroom folkclubs. Sometimes this has even been to a predominantly pub audience rather than a folkie one. Few people want to hear unaccompanied ballads even in the quite traditional folk circles in which I circulate, and while the concertina has curiosity value, I find it hard work to sing and play it in a noisy environment. The English public are much more open to American (or Irish) material than to their own heritage which is largely unknown and unappreciated. Sad but true.

Although my mandolin playing is very basic and glitchy, the rate of progress from zero to being able to perform after a fashion has been supersonic in comparison with the concertina. I have felt far more relaxed while performing, and quite a few people have told me that the mandolin and Americana suit my voice better.