Woah. This ain't like a guitar?!?

[Blind_Cowboy]

Made the progression from guitar to mandolin in the vain attempt to better my musical abilities. I mean, hey. It's got to be easy, right? Tuning's the same as a guitar, just upside down. No sweat, i've got this thing licked before I even pick it up. Stand back and watch me work my magic.

If you were there at the moment that I picked my first pluck, you would have distinctly heard air raid sirens and the whistles of the bombs dropping.

So, I must resign myself to the fact that I will have to, gulp, apply myself to learning this instrument.

I've got G, C, D, and F comfortable on it, and i'm attempting to burgeon into my other majors. I'm having SEVERE problems, though with string muting, and false notes.

Any tricks or candy that you could give me for an easier ride?

Thanks,

Blind Cowboy...

[pklima]

No tricks, but maybe you should start very slowly and just pick single-note downstrokes resting the pick against the next string after each stroke. Then add upstrokes the next day, and move on to double-stops and chords later.

Get used to making a clear and loud tone until the motion becomes familiar and automatic. Then move on to playing real music. I know it sounds awful mechanical and pedantic, and the first few days of practice will be really boring.

[Flowerpot]

BC, welcome to the fray.

You already took the first step to becoming proficient on the mandolin -- recognizing that it ain't a guitar! Some guitar players don't get that far, and give up.

There ain't any shortcuts, but here's a couple of things to think about:

Forget the whole concept of barre chords. The closest you'll need to come is one finger, two adjacent string courses. You've got four fingers, four strings (let's act like each pair is one), and that's the way you think about chords. Learn the common "chop chord" forms; mastering as little as 2 chop chord forms will allow you to play in any key by moving them around, cause they are closed forms.

When playing single note solos, think about each left hand finger covering two frets, unlike the guitar where usually it's one finger per fret and occasionally two. Practice some things that make your pinky stretch to the 7th fret. To learn the fingerboard, learn a fiddle tune in every key (one tune in D , one in E, one in F, etc). Avoid the temptation of the capo! They are now evil!

The string muting problem could be either from your fingers hitting adjacent strings (this will go away with time) or not enough finger strength (this can be fixed right now by lowering the action at the bridge). Mandolin is great, cause is you're feeling wimpy, you can loosen the strings, lower the bridge, retune, and in 10 minutes your mandolin plays easier (albeit with more tendency to buzz). Can't do that with many other instruments.

The other advantage to the mandolin - every string has the same interval to its neighbors. Learn a lick on the bottom two strings, and it works on the next strings up, and the next strings up.

Those are my quick thoughts, coming from a guitar background many years ago. But most importantly, just keep practicing, practicing, practicing.

[Blind_Cowboy]

1. Learn the common "chop chord" forms.

2. Learn a fiddle tune in every key

3. Avoid the temptation of the capo! #They are now evil!
Would you have a reference to a chart of "Chop Chord" forms? What i'm currently learning off of is the attachment i've included.

Would you have a reference to some fiddle tunes?

What?!? No Capo?!? That's my best friend! I've named mine "Mr. Grippy".

Thank you guys so much for your help and encouragement. I'm currently tackling both the mandolin and slide guitar. So, i've got my hands full, so to speak. I got a Bestler mandolin off of E-Bay (which is quite surprisingly nice for a first mando) and it's in desperate need of a setup on the nut and bridge. Unfortuntatly, every tech i've talked to responds with, "Dude, I rock at guitar setups! Mandolin ain't that different."

Uh, no. Thanks. So, if anybody knows of a good mechanic in the Houston, Texas area, i'd be much appreciated. Actually, I'll probably make a new topic with this request..

Thanks again,

Blind Cowboy...

[250sc]

Check out the TABs on this site and on www.co-mando.com for fiddle tunes and more. On the mandocafe home page there is a link to mandolin chords as well.

We are all real lucky that there is so much info on mandolins on the web.

Don't forget to have fun and don't hurt yourself. I found that even though the mandolin is smaller than guitar I have to stretch my left hand fingers a lot farther. It will take time for your muscles to reshape themselves.

[Flowerpot]

"Would you have a reference to a chart of "Chop Chord" forms? What i'm currently learning off of is the attachment i'v included."

If you poke around the cafe enough, the chords are probably lurking somewhere.

"Would you have a reference to some fiddle tunes?"

Not for sure what the best reference would be, but here are some I would suggest, especially if you are interested in bluegrass/old time. If your primary interest is Western Swing or Irish or Celtic, you may want a different list. But the main idea is to use these tunes as exercises, and rather than playing a bunch of scales, you've actually learned a song.

Key of A:
Big Sandy River
Monroe's Hornpipe
Gold Rush

A minor:
Jerulalem Ridge

Bb:
Daley's Reel
Done Gone

B:
Rebecca

C:
Billy in the Lowground
East Tennessee Blues

D:
Whiskey Before Breakfast
Soldier's Joy
Forked Deer

E:
Brown County Breakdown

F:
Hmmm, hard to think of one right now.

G:
Leather Britches
Roanoke
Red Apple Rag
Blackbery Blossum


Have fun, and don't let Mr Grippy get near your mandolin. He's liable to be jealous.

[John Ely]

Blind Cowboy, I don't know if Fuller's Vintage Guitar has a mandolin tech, but they have the best selection of good mandolins in Houston, so they are likely to know where one is, if they don't have one. Fuller's is at 610 and Yale, near I45.

I started as a guitar player, and I think the mandolin is easier to get around on. The tuning is much more natural to my ears and fingers. Maybe I'm really a born fiddle player?

[Blind_Cowboy]

Fuller's Vintage Guitar
Thanks John!

Actually, I called them and they don't do Mandolin Setups. However, they referred me to a guy who's a mandolin luthier in Houston named Neil Sargent. Talked to him, NICE GUY, so we'll see if a good setup gets me a mile farther down the road.

Oh, and thanks for the list Flowerpot: I'm currently looking up those songs and will put those as my A list on learning.

[Bowzette]

Blind Cowboy, I'm 70 north of Houston in Huntsville.
we have an old time jam-fiddle tunes-the 4th
Saturday most-not all-months. We will not
get together in March 'cause of a great old
time festival in Palestine. But we will in
April. Come on up. I don't know a lot
but i show you what i know. We usually have
15-20 folks for the jam-a goodly number
from Houston.

[Blind_Cowboy]

Thanks for the invite Bowzette! I would be delighted to attend. I've never had an opportunity like that and very much look forward to it. Please drop me a line around your next meeting, and i'll be there. I used to go to school in Huntsville. Very familiar with the area.

Thanks again,

Blind Cowboy...

[madog99]

I've got G, C, D, and F comfortable on it, and i'm attempting to burgeon into my other majors. I'm having SEVERE problems, though with string muting, and false notes.
[QUOTE]

Welcome to the club , I've been at it for about a year and suck badly but I have low expectations as I suck on the guitar too . I went so far as to buy a DVD by Chris Theile (?) from Nickel Creek , depression ! But my big brain flash was finding a page of 2 finger chords on this site. Great !!!Just strum along , fake some picking . As long as there are no mandolin players around you are a player. The illusion is shattered though if anyone can really play but for sitting around with my beer buddies I am a mandolin guru !! Given about another 40 years or so I will ,I'm sure graduate to actual lead's .
cheers