I’m in Love.

Well, you say, we all knew that. To which I answer, gosh… (insert embarrassed smiley here), I’m not talking about that… not today, at least. I’m in love with a musical instrument, the mandolin, or bandolim, in Portuguese.

The first instrument I ever learned to play was a violin, which caught my interest for about… two years. Yet, before that, I wanted to play the mandolin. Fate, however, has a way of twisting itself around, and so I didn’t get to play on a mandolin until about… two decades later.

Maybe things would have turned out different had I started to learn earlier. Maybe I’d be playing like Hamilton de Holanda, Dudu Maia, or Chris Thile. Or maybe I wouldn’t have had the patience to stick with it… I’m sure I wouldn’t have learned how to crochet in order to knit a mandolin strap inspired by the Bailey strap!

I could post hours and hours of mandolin music, but I have to start somewhere. I was practically born listening to the original of this song, so I thought it would be a good place to start. “Passarim” by Brazilian composer Tom Jobim, here played solo on a 10-string bandolim by Hamilton de Holanda. You can listen to the original on youtube.

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Passarinho, me conta então, me diz:
Por que que eu também não fui feliz?
Cadê meu amor, minha canção?
Que me alegrava o coração…

Thanks for your time.