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The Mandolin & Guitar OrchestraWe are currently looking for Classical Guitarists to join Da Capo Alba. Can you read music? Find out more here. A mandolin and guitar orchestra is set up in a similar way to a string orchestra: The first and second mandolins (taking the role of the violins, the mandolas (called octave mandolins in Europe, taking the role of the violas), the guitars (for the cellos) and a bass. Initially the instruments in mandolin orchestras had fixed roles: the mandolins played the melody lines, the octave mandolins filled in the harmonies and the guitars supplied the chords or bass lines. Over the years the use of the instruments and the possibilities of musical expression in a mandolin and guitar orchestra have developed greatly. The mandolin started as an instrument which was only used for its abilities to play the melody line, however, the range of possibilities of the mandolin are now incorporated into music. These include the playing of chords (strumming similar to a guitar) and the great range of sound colours. The guitar is moving away from its role of providing only the harmonic base for the music, by sometimes taking the lead in playing the melody. More recent compositions for mandolin orchestra have made much more use of the wide range of sound colours: starting from a very soft sound of sul tasto (or tastiera) to the tinny sounding sul ponitcello (or metalico). The ability to produce percussive sounds is also incorporated into the music. Seating arrangements The sketch shows how Da Capo Alba is seated. You will see that there are no Luitos. (The sketch shows "Octave Mandolins". In the UK, we refer to these as Mandolas. However, in Germany the instrument in Alto tuning: C,G,D,A is called a "Mandola").
Mandolin 3 (3rd Mandolins) Mandolin 1b Da Capo Alba |
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