John Ryans Polka

Here is a lesson on playing the Irish tune John Ryan's Polka.

The Key of D Major

The tune is played in the key of D major which is given below. Practice going up and down the scale slowly to get a feel of the different spacings for your fingers on each string. The tune never uses any frets outside of this shape so it is worthwhile getting to know it fluently as it will aid playing the piece.

 

The Tune

The tab below shows which frets on which strings to place your fingers.  

In general:

Finger 1 will always play fret 2 of every string

Finger 2 will play fret 3 or 4

Finger 3 will play fret 5 or 6 

Try to keep each finger held down after it has been played where ever possible. The video below should show where this is possible and should also give the rhythm.

John Playford Set - Chords

Here are the chords to the Playford set posted earlier. The chords and the style played are in no way traditional or historically accurate, but I think they go well with the tune!



Chord shapes used:

Dm - 2 0 0 1
F - 5 3 3 5
Gm - 0 0 1 3
G - 0 0 2 3
A - 2 2 4 5
Am - 2 2 3 5
C - 5 2 3 0
Bb - 3 3 5 6

 

 

G Major Scale, D, & G Chords for the Mandolin

This is a very basic mandolin lesson designed to cover the G major scale and two chords.

The G Major Scale

It is very important to have a firm knowledge of the various scale shapes used to play the Mandolin as forms the foundation of almost all the pieces you will play. Try playing up and down the scale slowly and smoothly, insuring all the notes come out sounding nice. Avoid making any buzzing noises by pressing too lightly, or fretting the notes too heavily causing them to go out of tune and making your hand seize up!

The diagram below shows the scale shape in what is called tab. Each line represents a pair of strings from low G, through D, then A up and to the high E. The number on each line indicates the frets to be pressed to give the complete ascending scale. 

For every fret 2 note use finger one

For every fret 3 or 4 note use finger two

For every fret 5 note use finger three

Start by playing the open G with a down stroke with your pick. The second note should be played as an up stroke, and the rest played following this picking pattern of alternating your down and up strokes.

The Chords

The G major chord is played using finger one on the 2nd fret of the A string and finger two on the 3rd fret of the E string. This can be written as 0 0 2 3 (open string, open string, 2nd fret, 3rd fret). Hit all the strings together to produce the chord.

The D major chord is played using finger one on the 2nd fret of the low G and finger two on fret 2 of the high E string. This can be written as 2 0 0 2 (2nd fret, open, open, 2nd). Again, hit all the strings together to form the chord.

Practice strumming the chords by holding the shapes down and moving the pick alternately up and down across all the strings. Insure all the notes are being fretted properly by playing the chords one string at a time.

The Video

Hopefully the video will make the concepts described above clear!

John Playford Mandolin Set - Drive The Cold Winter Away/Kettledrum/Maiden Lane

This is a great set of tunes taken from John Playford's collection of English dance tunes. Most recently printed in Pete Coopers 'English Fiddle Tunes' adapted here for the mandolin.

Written for one of my students, the tutorial is aimed at players who have grasped the basics of the instrument and is intended to clarify the slightly technical parts, look at some basic double stopping ideas, and indicate a style and tempo which suits the tunes.

Drive The Cold Winter Away

Playing a tune like this in the key of D minor allows for some good double stopping (playing 2 or more strings at once). Because all of the open string notes appear in the key it is possible to play any open string along with the melody line, but using the open A or D string works best.

A good example of this is bar 1 of the B section where the open D string can be played against the descending melody line played on the A string. This can then be repeated at any point where notes are played on the A string.

This can be heard in the video where all three tunes are played back to back.

The original tune is written in 6/4 which explains the dotted rhythm which occurs when moved to the easier to read 6/8. The trick to playing this lumpy pattern is to keep the middle note of each group of three as short as possible.

Kettledrum

Again, playing in Dm allows for the same double stopping ideas. In Kettledrum, since the melody is often being played on the E string, it allows the open A to be played.

The best opportunity for this occurs in the first 4 bars of the B section. These bars create tension around the high A note (3rd finger, 5th fret, E string, shown as the note on the first ledger line).

The melody runs up and down from this high A. By playing the open A string (which is an octave lower than the melody A) along with the changing melody notes it provides a good accompaniment.

In the final bar of the B section, playing the open D string along with the high D note is a good way to add interest and help to resolve the piece back to the root note of D.

It is important to practice the fast runs between the E and A string using alternate picking (strictly down/up/down/up) to allow the flurry of note to sound.

Maiden Lane 

First, a nice snippet of background from the wonderful Fiddlers Companion
 

"The Maiden Lane section of London, near Covent Garden and the River Thames, has been alternately a diminished, dissolute area, and one of high fashion—sometimes at the same time!  In Playford’s day it was the site of “mean houses,” but by Georgian times, elegant properties were built whose garden walls outlined the lane, and forming the southern boundary of architect Inigo Jones’s proposed Italiante Piazza. Gradually, however, the area drew theatres (it was near Covent Garden), taverns and coffee houses, and disrepute began to again set in. Round Court, at the western end of the narrow alley, was described as “…one of the Rookeries, full of town-Pyrates and a hotbed of Robbers.”"

We have a key change here from Dm to G, giving the set a bright, major, lift at the end.

The double stopping here changes slightly. At the start of bar 2 it is possible to 'rake' the strings of an open G major chord (frets 0 0 2 3 played low to high). This emphasises both the key change to G major and the high G note. 

In a similar fashion to Kettledrum where an open low string was played with a fretted note one octave higher to end the tune, the same can be applied here. The A and C sections both end with a G note (5th fret D string). This can be played along with the open low G string to provide a good end to each section.

The Video

The video contains the three tunes played at a reasonable tempo. Each tune is played separately followed by the transition between the tune and the next. At the end all three tunes are played not necessarily dance speed, but one which fits the tune when played in isolation.

The transitions tend to be the areas where it is possible to loose the rhythm (or the melody entirely!) so it is important to pay attention to the changes in time signature, tempo and key. Practice these changes separately by playing the B section of one tune into the A of another, and then with the whole of both tunes played back to back.