Decades before the guitar became undisputed king of do-it-yourself music, amateur musicians all over the globe formed clubs, bands and whole orchestras based on a smaller, sweeter, even handier stringed instrument: the mandolin.

“It’s small. It’s portable. It’s cute,” said Felida resident Michael Tognetti. And, it’s not as complicated to learn as it looks, since the eight strings are actually four paired sets — so it’s really a four-stringed instrument as far as your fingers are concerned. As far as your ears are concerned, though, it’s eight chiming strings that can fly as fast and pretty as a birdsong.