Good Evenin!
MANDOLIN BACKUP:
For any of you rookie mandolin pickers (like me) that play backup, this might be helpful…
The deal: when guitars capo & play out of different positions to play in keys other than what you were expecting.
The scenario: Last Sunday eve we were asked to play at a church about an hour away. They needed us to play 2 sets of about 40ish mins each. Group I was playing with is a band my son is in & they invited me along (
). So - there were 2 guitars, one bass, one banjo and 2 mandolins. We were using one big microphone in the middle that you have to step up to for breaks, singing ect. I was familiar with this song but hadn’t actually played it before (seems to happen to me quite often…) and here we are playing for people. So I decided to play safe. The ONLY thing I played, was a chop style 3/4 backup in the key of E. The other mando doesnt chop, he strums, like a guitar player would do. He also did some melodyish picking.
So heres my actual reason for post: the guitars all capoed at fret 2 (which usually = playing out of key of A) however, they played the chord shapes as if they were playing in key of D. So watching closely, & listening, the D shape = E, the G shape = A, and the A shape = B. By realizing that, I was able to follow (watch) the guitars while I played the actual E,A,B chops at the correct time… I’m getting better at it… (last time this happened it was capo 2 on guitar & guitar playing as if in key of C to = key of D.) EDIT ADDED: Use the Nashville Numbers once you figure out the sequence! Cant believe I forgot that- it was part of the point…
!
I just knew there must be more sneaky guitar capo tricks lurking out there. & probably yet still more out there that will get me (or you!)
So this is a cell phone audio recording uploaded to YouTube with a pretty sunset over Destin, FL beach pic. I started my chopping off a lil shaky determining what the guitars were doing, but got better as it played out. Hope you enjoy, & best luck deciphering “guitar capo tricks” when it happens in your neck of the woods ! (Link should be below, I hope!)