Paul McCartney's 2007 release, Memory Almost Full, opens with the strumming of a mandolin. The video for this song has Paul receiving a package that contains a mandolin. Paul takes it out of the box and strums out a catchy tune.
The mandolin is a strummed or plucked instrument from the lute family. It has a hollow-body, is round or teardrop shaped, and sometimes has a curly scroll near the neck. The scroll is decorative, but also provides a place to attach a shoulderstrap. Early mandolins used gut strings, but most modern instruments use metal strings. The instrument is tuned to four pitches, with two strings (or courses) per pitch. The intonation is like that of the violin. G, D, A, and E.
Players usually use a plectrum (a pick) to strum the strings or will pluck with their fingers, like a banjo player. The fingerboard is fretted and modern instruments have guide-dots, like guitars, inlaid into the fingerboard.
Incidentally, my favourite song from McCartney's album is "Mr Bellamy." It's a dialogue between Mr. Bellamy and what could be an authority figure or figures. Two voices are used: the normal voice of Mr. Bellomy, apparently in a tree or on a ledge or something, and the low, well-meaning but menacing voice of whoever it is who is trying to get him down. "We'll have you down soon."
The song is also wonderfully scored (Paul is a genius!) with a perky piano coming out of a thickly scored horn-ists' nest (French horns, hehe). A clarinet snakes in and out of the verses.
"I like it up here. Without you!"
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