page_title: Music of Naples
section_title: Mandolin
hierarchical_section_title: Music of Naples / Neapolitan folk music / Mandolin
caption_attribution_description: neapolitan mandolin, front view
context_page_description: Naples has played an important and vibrant role over the centuries not just in the music of Italy, but in the general history of western European musical traditions. This influence extends from the early music conservatories in the 16th century through the music of Alessandro Scarlatti during the Baroque period and the comic operas of Pergolesi, Piccinni and, eventually, Rossini and Mozart. The vitality of Neapolitan popular music from the late 19th century has made such songs as 'O Sole mio and Funiculì Funiculà a permanent part of our musical consciousness.
context_section_description: There are various kinds of mandolins in use in Italy; they bear the names of cities or regions such as the "Roman", the "Lombard", the "Genovese", and the "Neapolitan" mandolin. (see also: mandolin). They may differ in size, shape, number of strings and tuning. The traditional Neapolitan mandolin is tear-shaped with a bowl back and a uniquely cut and shaped front (sounding board); it has eight strings paired into the four violin tunings of g, d', a', and e'. The strings are played with a plectrum, producing the rapid and characteristic tremolo sound as the plectrum moves rapidly over unison strings. In that configuration, the Neapolitan mandolin started to be manufactured widely in Naples in the mid-18th century. 
  In spite of the modern vision of the mandolin as a quaint vehicle for older, traditional popular music such as the Canzone Napoletana, the instrument has a classical history. Students of the mandolin at the Naples Conservatory are required to perform selections from a large repertoire of music composed especially for the instrument by, among others, Vivaldi, Beethoven and Paganini. 
  Stereotypically, the instrument is commonly used in conjunction with a guitar; the mandolin-guitar duo is the traditional instrumentation for the posteggiatori, the street musicians who wander from restaurant to restaurant and serenade for tips. There is in Naples a mandolin academy that attempts to combat that stereotype by promoting other music, classical and modern, for the instrument
caption: Neapolitan mandolin.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "IM000148.JPG", "Image Make": "Hewlett-Packard", "Image Model": "Photosmart M407", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "1.03_O", "Image DateTime": "2006:03:07 11:00:11", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "Copyright 2003-2004", "Image ExifOffset": "266", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "2105638526/2105638271", "Thumbnail YResolution": "2122415744/2105441665", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "18418", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5590", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/76", "EXIF FNumber": "173/50", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:03:07 11:00:11", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:03:07 11:00:11", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "92341/30000", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1249/200", "EXIF ApertureValue": "3581/1000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "1541/500", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "93/100", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Average", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "937/100", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1520", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "800", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF GainControl": "389", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Soft", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "3", "EXIF Tag 0xA421": "5", "EXIF Tag 0xA422": "[514, 20, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]", "EXIF Tag 0xA423": "", "EXIF Tag 0xA424": "R", "EXIF Tag 0xA425": "[699, 968, 1000, 348, 928, 876, 95, 0, 0, 0, 37, 2]", "EXIF Tag 0xA426": "[95, 0, 0, 0, 37, 2, 51, 109, 6, 89, 10, 0, 0, 9999, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, ... ]", "EXIF Tag 0xA427": "[]", "EXIF Tag 0xA428": "[]", "EXIF Tag 0xA429": "[90, 82, 0, 0, 64896, 2537, 192, 105]", "EXIF Tag 0xA42A": "1", "EXIF Tag 0xA42B": "0", "EXIF Tag 0xA42C": "514", "EXIF Tag 0xA42D": "20", "EXIF Tag 0xA42E": "[]", "EXIF Tag 0xA42F": "2", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "4604"}