Good instructional material for rhythm?

[JoeD]

OK - I've had my mando for about three weeks now, and I'm loving it. Seems like I've made more progress learning breaks than rhythm. My chords are slow (particularly those monster bluegrass chords), and I'm not getting great tone with them. My chops sound OK (to my uneducated ear), but I don't sound good when I try to sustain a strum.

I'm generally happy with how things are coming along. Just wondering if anyone can point to some good solid instructional stuff focused on rhythm playing to help jumpstart the process and maybe avoid picking up a few bad habits.

Thanks in advance. I've really been enjoying reading the forum.

[arbarnhart]

John McGann's Rhythm Workshop (http://www.johnmcgann.com/books.html)

Are you using a metronome?

[JoeD]

Absolutely. But I'll admit I'm more diligent about using it when I practice lead. That may be part of the problem.

Thanks for the McGann recommendation.

[mangorockfish]

Three weeks and you're playing leads?

[JoeD]

Yup. I sound just like Sam Bush, assuming he learned Sally Gooden from a book earlier this month, played it at half of jam speed, and forgot the B section every third time he tried to play it. Having said that, I'm getting decent tone and so far the process of learning tunes on mando has been more intuitive than on guitar, probably because of the tuning.

Obviously it's a work in progress, but I think improving that aspect of it will be relatively straightforward. Getting good tone and playing interesting rhythm has been more of a challenge.

[reely989]

I recommend Chris Thile's dvd for rythm. He doesn't ever focus on it, but he plays some rythm for you to take leads and such and it helped me learn to play full rythm for when there is no rythm guitar. It has mostly scales and lead stuff, all of which is great. He actually concentrates a good bit on technique as well. Some of the stuff he shows is pretty tough to play though, especially for a beginner. And once again, he never explains his rythm, and he doesn't do it much during the lesson. Either way it is a great dvd to have. I still go back and refer to it and I got it after i had been playing a few weeks(I've been playing about three years now).

[John Flynn]

This is off the wall, but I learned a lot about rhythm by trying to learn the Irish bodhran drum. I still can't play it well, but it has taught me a lot about rhythm that applies directly to the mandolin, especially since the hand position and motion for playing the bodhran is very similar to strumming. It also really loosens up your wrist for mandolin playing. Plus, it's a lot of fun, even done badly!

I like a small bodhran book/CD that recently came out called "The Goat Whacker's Guide to Rhythm" by Lucy Randall. She even has exercises on how to better tap your foot while playing, which she considers a key to playing with good rhythm. You can do these exercises anywhere, even without an instrument. Any instrumentalist could learn from this book, even if they don't play the drum. All her stuff is notated "d u d" for down-up-down, which could just as easily apply to strumming.

www.lucyrandall.co.uk

Another simple thing that helps is play along with your favorite CDs. If you can't do the full rhythm on a fast tune, just do downstrokes on the down beats at first. When you are in sync on that, then try to add beats as you can.

[williebruce]

I got the Sam Bush Mandolin method 2 dvd set. He has a section on the first disc on rhythm but he really just briefly goes over it. He shows the bluegrass chop then shows like reggae style rhythm.

Let me ask you this, are more concerned with the actual technique behind the chop or is it timing that your looking for?

Ive seen people chop with several different methods. Ive noticed that old timers Ive played with like the chop to actually ring out the notes of the chord whereas I prefer to play a dead chop and try to make to make it pop like a snare drum. That's with a full band ofcourse. While playing with just one other instrument, such as a guitar, I dead chop then do a little strumming technique when they take a break,, just to fill the sound a little.

The best way Ive ever heard the mandolin chop explained is simply that your chop works with the bass in a band. Thump - Chop - Thump - Chop,,,and so on. Remember that timing is everything, and the actual technique involved with your chop can be variable.

Thats just my opinion ofcourse, Good Luck!