User talk:Billmcfarlane

Why are you removing the entire History section for Mandolin? I reverted it once but will wait for your explanation this time. AFAIK there is no other article for it and it seems relevant.

because one of my students claims the work as his, and has the research and information to back it up. So until things have been straightened out, he has asked me to remove this work from wikipedia, as it is against his permission to display it. This student has never given me any reason to mistrust his character, and is very hard working. So until things are sorted out i must ask you to keep this information private.Bill.

Well, he is mistaken on at least part of it. I wrote the following section and it has not been edited by anyone else. If he claims this as his, he is plagiarzing me:

"Single mandolins were first used in southern string band music in the 1930's, most notably by brother duets such as the sedate Blue Sky Boys (Bill Bolick and Earl Bolick) and the more hard-driving Monroe Brothers (Bill Monroe and Charlie Monroe). However, the mandolin's modern popularity in country music can be directly traced to one man: Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music. After the Monroe Brothers broke up in 1939, Bill Monroe formed his own group, after a brief time called the Blue Grass Boys, and completed the transition of mandolin styles from a "parlor" sound typical of brother duets to the modern "bluegrass" style. He joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1939 and its powerful clear-channel broadcast signal on WSM-AM spread his style throughout the South, directly inspiring many musicians to take up the mandolin. Monroe famously played Gibson F5 mandolin, signed and dated July 9, 1923, by Lloyd Loar, chief acoustic engineer at Gibson. The F5 has since become the most imitated tonally and aesthetically by modern builders. Monroe's style involved playing lead melodies in the style of a fiddler, and also a percussive chording sound referred to as "the chop" for the sound that is made by the quickly struck and muted strings. He also perfected a sparse, percussive blues style, especially up the neck in keys that had not been used much in country music, notably B and E. He emphasized a powerful, syncopated right hand at the expense of left-hand virtuosity. Monroe's most influential follower of the second generation is Frank Wakefield and nowadays Mike Compton of the Nashville Bluegrass Band and David Long, who often tour as a duet. "The other major original bluegrass stylists, both emerging in the early 1950's and active still in 2005, are generally acknowledged to be Jesse McReynolds (of Jim and Jesse) who invented a syncopated banjo-roll style of crosspicking and Bobby Osborne of the Osborne Brothers, who is a master of clarity and sparkling single-note runs. Highly-respected and influential modern bluegrass players include Herschel Sizemore and Doyle Lawson and the multi-genre Sam Bush who is equally at home with old-time fiddle tunes, rock, reggae and jazz. Ronnie McCoury of the Del McCoury Band has won numerous awards for his Monroe-influenced playing. The late John Duffey of the original Country Gentlemen and later the Seldom Scene did much to popularize the bluegrass mandolin among folk and urban audiences, especially on the east coast and in the Washington, DC area."

So this should be plenty of reason to distrust his character. Trust but verify.... Can he show you an original draft in his handwriting or dated file on his computer (not back-dated) to contradict me?

-- Blauwkoe