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Indiana Part 1 of 2

by Dix Bruce

I'm a firm believer in teaching mandolin students, even beginners, a variety of styles of music. There is a tendency with the mandolin to emphasize bluegrass and folk styles to the exclusion of pop, ethnic, jazz, rock, classical, and blues. I'll admit it, of the mandolin players working professionally, most are bluegrassers, but there are whole worlds of other music out there waiting to be discovered. It's important that you know at least a few tunes in many genres.

Let's look at an old pop standard that is still widely played by jazz and swing musicians. It's the old chestnut "Indiana,' written by James Hanley and Ballard Mac Donald in 1917. I included versions of it in "Great Mandolin Pickin' Tunes" and also "BackUP TRAX: Early Jazz & Hot Tunes, from Mel Bay and available on my website: musixnow.com.

"Indiana" is written in the key of F, the key most jazz players perform it in. "F" is one of the "flat keys," like Bb, Eb, Ab, etc. Mandolinists, fiddlers, guitarists, and string players in general, sometimes avoid the flat keys that horn players favor. It's probably because chords in the sharp keys (G, D, A, E, etc.) are the first ones learned on mandolin and guitar and chords like F, Bb, and Eb are perceived as more difficult and advanced. But I think you'll find that, with a little work, one key and it's accompanying set of chords, is about as easy as any other. Learning "Indiana"'s melody and chords will teach you a pop and jazz standard and give you experience playing in the key of F.

First, let's look at the melody to "Indiana." I suggest that you learn it along with the lyrics. Learning the lyrics to a song always helps me memorize and remember it. And, you never know when you might have to sing it! Whether you read the standard notation or the tablature, play through it slowly at first and learn it gradually. Practice it until you can play it top to bottom without the music.

You might want to seek out recordings of "Indiana" by a variety of musicians to see how they play it.

Next time we'll tackle the chords to "Indiana."