“Bach was the first jazz musician.”  “Mozart was a great improviser.” “Paganini thrilled his audiences with improvised cadenzas.”

These anecdotes are often heard around the classical music scene, and they hint at some of the improvisational languages within classical music traditions. It’s well-documented that improvisation was an essential part of a classical musician’s toolkit, through the 18th century. Yet somehow, today, the word “classicist” is sometimes used to describe someone who doesn’t improvise.

The state of classical mandolin education today would probably reinforce that misperception. Both the German and Italian educational systems have highly-developed curricula for classical mandolin, but to my knowledge neither has yet devised a systematic approach to teaching improvisation through the classical idiom. The same is true in America: although a uniquely American strain of classical mandolin flourished briefly at the turn of the 20th century, no formalized educational approach has yet been devised to explore this music or its improvisational component. Perhaps as more of this music is recovered, we’ll get a better view of the improvisational language of those early American mandolinists.

The role of improvisation in classical mandolin history is somewhat speculative, but it’s fair to say that mandolinists were part of the same improvisational traditions as other instrumentalists of the day. We can find some strong evidence of improvisation in classical mandolin by reading between the lines of Paganini’s “Allegro Moderato.”

Paganini’s father was a mandolinist, and so mandolin became Paganini’s first instrument. “Allegro Moderato” is among his first compositions, and one of his few surviving mandolin works. It consists of four 8-measure sections. The first two look like this:

 Notice the lack of ornamentation: the melody is relatively simple and unadorned. This follows the practice of the time, where ornamentations were implied rather than being written in. Notice also the repeat signs – it is unlikely that a simple, unadorned melody would have been played exactly as written once, let alone twice. Players might have worked out the ornamentation, or they might have improvised it – but since we know that Paganini became a great improviser, this short piece serves as a snapshot of his development.

Ornamentation, however, was not the only improvisational language of the day: in an upcoming blog post we’ll look at a theme-and-variations approach to improvisation and composition. Later on we’ll look at mandolin’s potential to join the baroque continuo – the improvised accompaniment of baroque music, performed by what today we might call a “rhythm section.” It’s not as far-fetched as it sounds: we do have evidence that early fretted instruments participated in the continuo, and read figured bass, the “chord symbols” of the day. Learning to improvise accompaniments in baroque style on mandolin, mandola and mandocello is only a matter of mastering that language.

So how about it, improvising mandolinists? Let's get down to it! As we dig deeper into our instrumental traditions and extend them into the future, we'll find plenty of room for creative improvisation within classical mandolin.

 In thinking about the best ways to notate mandolin music today, it can be helpful to consider some mandolin music that is very specific about where notes are to be played, and by which finger - a century before the rise of mandolin tablature. The following exerpt is from Calace's first prelude (op. 45), included in his Metodo per Mandolino volume 6a:

Perhaps the most interesting part about the notation is how seldom Calace indicates fingerings and position shifts - suggesting how much was implied by the composer, and understood by the player. This elegant language involves writing in a few fingerings (usually to indicate exceptions to the rule), and is still in widespread use today among mandolin composers.

Mandolin notation is built on a few underlying guidelines:

1) music is in first position unless otherwise indicated (or, as in this case, is otherwise clear);

2) first finger covers fret 1-2; second covers 3-4; third covers 5-6; fourth covers fret 7 (unless otherwise indicated);

3) notes available on open strings are normally played open, unless obvious or otherwise indicated. (Ascending scale runs are a common exception.)

The excerpt above implies several positions shifts and specific fingerings, but evidently Calace felt a need to specify fingerings only in measure 6, beat 3, where the chord (from bottom up) C#-G-A-E is to be played with fingers 4-3-0-0. The fourth finger on sixth fret is written in, perhaps because it contradicts guideline number 2 above.

Let’s add a few more indications to clarify some of the details that Calace’s audience evidently understood:

Surveying the contemporary music being written today for mandolin, fingerings and position shifts are often written sparsely - more like the first example than the second. The level of detail in the second example is  redundant, but good for teaching purposes.

In comparing the advantages and disadvantages of standard notation and tablature, what is sometimes overlooked is this elegant language of mandolin notation - a language which has all of the advantages of standard notation and yet makes clear where fingerings and position shifts occur.  It's a tradition that lives on, particularly in the classical mandolin world, and has much to offer all contemporary mandolinists.

Seems like great range of meaning, in how people are using the words "classical mandolin" -- and yet parts of classical mandolin traditions often go overlooked. Often people are referring to classical music that's been adapted to mandolin -- for example the violin music of JS Bach. It's wonderful to play, and a great learning exercise to explore fingering possibilities. Arranging other music to mandolin is a proud tradition -- check out the concert programs of Munier, Calace, or any of the great romantic mandolinists, who regularly performed arrangements of popular tunes of their day. Making new mandolin arrangements is one of my great creative joys!

On the other hand, there's also music composed for mandolin -- beginning with the 18th-century mandolin composers (Denis, Barbella, Fouchetti, etc.), continuing through the Romantic and Golden Era composers, and into today. Many classical mandolinists specialize in this music, since it's designed around the techniques of our instrument. No doubt there's a great wealth of possibilities, and there's more music being composed for mandolin today than ever before. For an overwhelming experience, check out the Trekel catalogue!

A century after the great Virtuoso Era, we're in a time of recovering lost technical traditions. And so there are components of our tradition that a seldom associated with classical mandolin: chord-melody, improvisation, split-string technique. Reconnecting mandolin to these approaches is a growth industry!

And then there are misconceptions around the idea that "classical" music is supposed to be old -- museum pieces written by dead white guys, centuries ago. While there's plenty of that, classical mandolin is a living tradition, and it's your choice whether to join in. It's no longer only in the hands of specialists -- today it's easy for practicing mandolinists to access materials from the broader mandolin traditions, and see what they have to offer. Enjoy the view!

I saw almost those exact words today, posted by a very accomplished and respected luthier re: his own mandolins. It seemed like an interesting illustration of how different musicians think about tone: Is tone something built into the instrument? Something we pay a lot of money for, in a high-end axe? Or something we bring to an instrument?

Classical mandolinists spend a lot of time learning to control their tone. A good instrument usually gives you a wider range of tone color, but learning to explore that range -- and the shadings of mood -- is very much a matter of learning to vary the sound over an interval of time: as a piece develops, we explore a change in moods via tone, dynamics, etc. The process is nothing unique to classical mandolin, but you might say that classical mandolin, with its subtle shadings of tone color and dynamics, is an excellent platform for developing your tone. Most of that tone is in your fingers!