mandolin tabs

[kenneth smith]

greetings from australia, my mates and I are starting a band playing songs from the era, can somebody put me onto a good source of tabs for the mando?

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[Amtmann]

Re: mandolin tabs

Probably not. The Mandolin was not really a part of the American Music "Scene" at the time. It didn't really reach too much of America until later. That is, if your intentions are to recreate Period Music as it were in America (since you are in Australia).

[markj]

Re: mandolin tabs

For what it's worth, Dr. Albert Brackett's reminiscences of his Mexican War experiences indicates he was certainly familiar with "mandolins" as they were used by Mexican musicians, whom he praised highly:

Brackett, Albert G. (Albert Gallatin). General Lane’s brigade in central Mexico. Cincinnati, 1854. 336pp.

Brackett mentions, on pages 22 and 142, the use of mandolins at social events in which he particpated and notes that his regiment even adopted two Mexicans as drummers!

I'm not particularly knowledgeable about the history of mandolins in this country, but I'd be very surprised if these instruments had not been imported into the U.S. in the form of souvenirs brought back by troops returning from Mexico. I also suspect that mandolins were imported into, or fabricated within, this country in significant quantities as a direct result of heavy German immigration from 1848 onward.

This mandolin history website seems to confirm my suspicions:

http://www.mandolincafe.com/archives/briefhistory.html

Draw (or pluck?) your own conclusions.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Amtmann]

Re: mandolin tabs

Yes, used by MEXICAN musicians in MEXICO at the time. They were also probably used by ITALIAN musicians at the time in ITALY.

I guess the old adage of "if they'd had them somewhere in the world, then they would have used them" applies here.

The "The Mandolin Comes To North America" section also seems a little vague for any real conclusions.

I'm not saying a few weren't in America, they were just VERY uncommon.


Also, do a search for a thread "Civil War Mandolin??" (It may even be listed at the bottom of this page under "Similar Threads".

[markj]

Re: mandolin tabs

Dear Rick,

Ummmmm, errrr,......I don't really have a dog in this fight, but, so far, you've been a bit long on assertions and a bit short on precise documentation. The individuals who did the writeup I quoted must have had some rationale for stating what they did.

As an aside, here's an advertisement from the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Gazette,

October 20, 1768
The Pennsylvania Gazette

To the LOVERS of MUSIC. FOUR favourite instruments taught with Expedition, and on very reasonable Terms, viz, the Violin, German Flute, Mandolin, and Guittar. For further Particulars, enquire of the Printers hereof.


The above ad certainly indicates that "Mandolins," or mandolin-like instruments were available, and played, in larger American cities as far back as the 1760's. A quick review of Godey's Lady's Book reveals literary and poetic references to "mandolins" going back as early as February 1832.

You might enjoy this early 1870's poem:

June, 1874
Godey's Lady's Book
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Vol LXXXVIII Page 515


COME LIST TO MY MANDOLINE.

BY THOMAS G. GENTRY.

COME list to my mandoline,
Come list to its hourie-like strains;
There's music enough in each note
To soothe thy heart of its pains.

Its heart thrilling numbers are richer,
As they float on each passing breeze,
Than calm, gentle zephyrs that whisper
Soft hymns to the green waving trees.

Then soul-weary we repose
From labor's dull tiresome routine;
Come list to the music that flows
From my deep-toned mandoline.

Whene'er the dread angel of sadness
Flits silently over thy breast,
Alights in thy soul's secret chamber
Her sin-laden pinions to rest;

Thence spreads through each nook of thy being
Her subtle, mysterious thread,
Till the cords of holy affection
Seem silent, nay, lifeless and dead.

Oh, drive from thy holy of holies
That monster of humble mien;
By bathing thy soul in the music
That flows from my sweet mandoline.

Ne'er suffer her grim apparition
To darken life's sunshiny scene;
Whenever thou feel'st her chill presence,
Oh, list to my mandoline!

"Periodicals Archive Online" also carries this article:

HAY, P. D., Cameos of Colonial Carolina, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 66:391 (1882, Dec.) p.67

On page 4 of the article, there's an illustration of a early mandolin stated as being on display at the Exeter House, the family seat of Sir Nathaniel Johnson, a 17th Century colonial governor of South Carolina.

If you believe I, or the article authors, are incorrect, then I hope you'll share your evidence with the rest of us.

Cordially,

Mark Jaeger

[Amtmann]

Re: mandolin tabs

You must have missed the part I posted above:

"I'm not saying a few weren't in America, they were just VERY uncommon."

Aren't the dates from the poem and other item POST war? 1874 & 1882 are a little after 1865.

So far, you are finding mostly POST WAR documentation to back up your assertion that Mandolins were very common in the U.S. during the period of 1861-1865. I (and also quite a few others that discuss, play, and collect period instruments) have yet to see that they were a very common instrument of the period.

To quote George Wunderlich from an older post on the AC board in regards to a mandolin being used at a reenactment:

It is not, however, corrent for ACW use. These were as rare as hen's teeth until after 1880. I would refrain for using it unless you are in the Garabaldi Guard.
__________________
George Wunderlich- Luthier and Museum Director

I have a suspicion that Mr. Wunderlich may know a little about period instruments.

[kenneth smith]

Re: mandolin tabs

my understanding was that mandolins were popular in the north in the 1850s, I have an american bow-back made in Pittsburg ; copied from the italian mando, it's not dated but it's old.