ANOTHER Mandolin Workshop with MIKE COMPTON & DAVID LONG

Thursday , December 08, 2005
05:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Location: Elderly Instruments
workshop ($70.00)

We began promoting Mike Compton and David Long's first "dual-mandolin" workshop at Elderly in mid-January, and it sold out before February 1st. Mike and David have agreed to give their popular workshop another go and provide a learning opportunity for those Monroe-style mandolin players who were turned away earlier this year. The workshop is similar to that offered in February, but we note from the new "amended" workshop description that it's been tweaked a bit. Mike and David take their teaching seriously.

As before, Elderly is a bit "off the beaten path" of Compton & Long's "Mandolin Duets" tour travels, and thus Mike and David have again explained that ten participants by Thursday, December 1, guarantees that the workshop will be a "go." The holidays will by then be almost upon us, so some of you Monroe-style mando-monsters out there might consider asking your loved ones for a "ticket" to the popular event.

This Monroe-style Mandolin Workshop focuses primarily on the mandolin style of the late Bill Monroe. A brief history of Monroe's life, influences, and regional culture is covered in order to give students an overall view of who he was and what shaped his sound, with the objective of lending emotional perspective to students' pursuit of Monroe's unique sound.
A comparison with Van Gogh's art is introduced to give a visual reference to Monroe's art, as the two are strikingly similar in approach of subject matter.

The class will spend some period of time covering the suggested right-hand usage. This topic cannot be overstressed, as it is the most difficult aspect of Monroe's music, explain instructors Compton and Long. Without proper usage of the right hand grip/stroke, Monroe's work is virtually impossible to duplicate, in the studied opinion of these two knowledgeable and successful Monroe-style instructors.

A brief description of the preferred left-hand technique will be introduced and will be followed with a section on the more obvious techniques and devices used in the dialect. Some of these include tone variation, triplets, tremolos, downstrokes, slides, and melody insinuation. Recorded audio examples may be included as deemed necessary during the workshop in order to illustrate significant points.

Compton & Long's workshop is geared toward intermediate-level players who are interested in learning more specifically how to play the Monroe bluegrass mandolin style. All skill levels are welcome, however. Some knowledge of standard notation and tablature will prove very helpful. Efforts will be made to accommodate everyone and to answer every question. No question is considered "too simple," promise Mike and David.

Students should bring their instrument and come prepared to actively participate in the workshop. "The class is not intended as a lecture," say the presenters (who have underlines those last eight words in their written description).

Mike Compton and David Long are both exceptional Monroe-style bluegrass mandolin players. Praise for both their individual and joint musicianship abounds, and their credentials are impeccable.

John Hartford once said that Mike Compton knows more about Bill Monroe-style mandolin than the Father of Bluegrass himself. That's quite an accolade from Mike's friend and band-member. And here's what Mike himself says about young David, according to Mandolin Magazine: [Mike Compton] has been drawing rare reviews of his tours with young Monroe master David Long, who Mike says has 'probably the best understanding of Monroe's right hand of any of the new guys. He understands the tone and attack, and it turns out he and I love the same stuff'...."

"Mike Compton and David Long are two men possessed with their craft, cut from the same traditional bluegrass mold....They're the real stuff.....There was an unmistakable chemistry and the music was pure magic..." - www.mandolincafe.com

Check out recordings we carry featuring Mike Compton and David Long