Complete Beginer

[gham]

Hello I recently started to teach myself the Mandolin
does anyone have any advice, bearing in mind I have never played an instrument before my main music of choice would
be Irish trad so can anyone recommend simple tunes etc to get practising with?
thanks

[Christine W]

Welcome to the mandolin obbsession.
Are you able to find a teacher thats always a good start. I highly recommend istruction because they can steer you in the right direction so you don't make mistakes in the beggining that you will have to un-learn later.
On the front page of this site go to co- mando and browse around there to get music. THey have all kinds of music for all skill levels, it's great resource.
Most of all have fun

[Moose]

Yer' fingers are gonna' be sore - for a while - but the pain will be worth the gain. Don't set high goals at first. Learn to play/"pick" a few - (if only ONE!) - tune to your satisfaction(or close thereof) - THEN you'll start to feel good about your playing AND have the inspiration AND motivation to go on. All the best to you. Oh! I almost forgot... ; ask questions!! - We all had to start somewhere... There are folks on this CAFE who will help you... no matter how silly YOU think the question may sound. Moose. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[Bluegrasstjej]

How nice with a new mandolin player. If you don't have a teacher, get a good mandolin instruction book. On the mandolin there isn't much you can learn wrong or bad habits you can develop. I learned all by myself for a year and the only thing I needed to re-learn was how to hold the thumb on the back of the neck of the mandolin, to get more flexibility in the fingers. This kind of thing is different for everyone though, what works for me may not work for you.
A teacher is the best if you're a complete beginner, I'd say, to get started.
As a beginner-beginner you should actually start with playing ballads instead of tunes, to get used to picking, downstrokes, down-ups etc. Just pick "Star of the County Down" or any song you like. Then, when you're used to down-up strokes, go ahead and play tunes. I started with "Farewell to Ireland" and "Killarney boys of pleasure". Everyone suggests "St Anne's reel" but I actually thought it was fairly complicated when I started. "Maid behind the bar" and "Star of Munster" are other good tunes to start with.

[Ajvessey]

WORK ON YOUR PICKING! I messed around with a book and learned the basics for a few months before starting lessons, and when I got in the first thing she did was make me work on my picking. Having never played a string instrument before, I'd been working on fretting everything right so much that I was neglecting to work on my picking. It seemed easy, but I actually had to slow down and focus on hitting both strings until it became second nature. I mention this because I didn't really pick it up until I got to my lessons, so I think you can learn pretty much everything else you need if you look around online and get a book, but picking is very important so you should make sure you hit both string every time. Like everyone else though, a teacher will do wonders for you, so if you get the chance, find an instructor.

[fatt-dad]

I would get an instructional book that includes a CD. You will find that there are those who learn from Tabulature and those who learn from notes. I am the former.

I picked up this book http://www.elderly.com/books/items/49-695357.htm (cut and past this into your browser and it will take you to the Elderly web page and show you the book "fretboard roadmap for mandolin". For $12 bucks (including CD, you will get something to work with for awhile.

I also learned from Touttle's book, but I cannot remember how to spell his name or the title of the book. It included a recording and had some real good music for learning.

Whether you get a book or not, the other item to remember is, "to play fast you have to slow down". Don't kid yourself, the bigest problems you will make for yourself will be learning to play sloppy. Don't do it. Play slow and clean. Speed will come.

Have fun.

f-d

[jiffyfeet]

Getting personal instruction is definitely a good idea. If you can't afford that or don't have access though, I would go one step further than Fatt-Dad and buy an instructional DVD. I have purchased two DVDs from Homespun Tapes over the past month or so, and they are great.

It's almost like taking a private lesson except you can watch it over and over. You can watch both hands to see how they're doing everything, and they explain stuff to you as you go. For a little over the price of a 30 minute lesson you are getting over an hour of instruction.

I bought the Chris Thile and Sam Bush DVDs, but I am fairly certain I remember seeing an Irish one as well. I have learned several complete songs very quickly from these. So quickly in fact that I am already considering purchasing another one.

I don't work for Homespun by the way, I just think they're good videos.

[gham]

Thanks very much for the advice folks
Mandolin players must be "sound" as we say in Ireland
i`m looking out for some of the learning guides recomended
and a fella is starting to teach me once a week and wont accept a penny he`s steering me into a bit of bluegrass
and Steve Earle as well as the trad Irish
Go raibh mile maith agat
(thanks a million)

[Tom C]

When you decide on learning material, concentrate on a nice tone. Do not worry about speed. Also, do not neglect
practicing chords and changing from one to another. When you play with others you do this 80% of the time -Unless there's only 2 of you http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif. My first 3 years I played alone -mainly because of moved to a new area. When time came to play with others, I had catching up to do with the chords.

[craig]

Gham,

Welcome to the group!

Hey, I live in Dublin. Where are you learning bluegrass here?!

If you can read music, I got a good book from Waltons called 110 Ireland's Best Session Tunes and it comes with a CD playing all 110 tunes!

Other advice: learn some music theory. I didn't get anywhere until I did. However, being Irish, you probably have a good ear for music and could get a good start by just playing by ear.

If you ever want to get together and pick, let me know. I'm here til mid-May.

Good luck!

Happy-out,

Craig

[Lee]

Micky Cochrans Beginning Mandolin VCR tape is very assessible for a beginner. Folk of the Wood should sell it.
And do yourself a favor and learn to read music. Violin scale and arpegio books are very helpfull.