Getting out of 1st position

[Zoe]

any tips or good books for getting out of only playing in first position...the process for me seems to be so slow..
thanks

zoe

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[Daniel Nestlerode]

Yes. Ted Eschliman has a great site. Specifically, go here (http://jazzmando.com/ffcp.shtml). Learn the positions and transpose up the neck for different keys.

One of the reasons that the mandolin is the best instrument in the world is that any pattern is easily repeated up the neck or across the strings.

Enjoy!
Daniel

[Walter Newton]

Niles Hokkanen's Bluegrass Up the Neck

[JeffD]

Take some simple tune that you know well, and work it out up one fret. Once you have it down, move it all over the neck.

Then pick another tune and do it, and another , and another...

[GTison]

I agree Jeff. Take an tune in "A" and move it to "B". "Anchor" your index finger on the A string (2nd fret) for what would have been open notes in A, and use the rest of your fingers to make the same pattern you played when using the open A. You'll figure it out!

[Martin Jonas]

All of the above are good tips. If you want a book to guide you along, I recommend Simon Mayor's "Mastering The Mandolin", which is mostly about getting into higher position playing, and about using doublestops to add harmony to melody playing.

Martin

[twaaang]

One approach: build from what you're already comfortable with. #If you take a tune you like to play whose highest note (as you play it) doesn't go above your open E-string, then you can explore up the neck with a same-key-octave-higher version of the same arrangement, knowing that you won't go above the 12th-fret E on this version. #

Once you think you've got it figured, playing alternate low/high versions at an appropriately low speed will both help reveal any mistakes, then pay huge bonuses for your learning in both versions since you'll be reinforcing your ear and finger training both ways. #I've had it happen that working on the up-the-neck version actually "revealed" to me things I'd missed on the "original" down-the-neck version, especially timing and emphasis.

This approach isn't as globally applicable as the Eschliman methods that other respondents have mentioned above, but I find it works for me. #Practically speaking, I'm engrossed in the tunes I'm likely to play with friends, in the key that is likely to be relevant in sessions, which makes some of the payoff more immediate -- and feels much less like I'm doing homework! #-- #Paul

[Laura Leder]

Daniel,
Thanks for the link to Ted Eschliman's discussion.
Laura

[gschmidt]

"Niles Hokkanen's Bluegrass Up the Neck"

I'll second this suggestion. Just the first few pages will open up a whole new world.

[AW Meyer]

I got a lot from Brad Laird's "Mandolin Master Cless." It's available from his website and from Elderly.
http://elderly.com/books/items/642-1.htm

[mandocrucian]

http://www.elderly.com/images/books/255/46-14.jpg
Bluegrass Up The Neck (http://elderly.com/books/items/46-14.htm) (Elderly)

Also available direct (link below)

Niles H

[dj coffey]

I wasn't getting much action up the neck until I joined the local mandolin orchestra. #Whoo boy, the first mandolin part has some phrases that are supersonic! #And being a part of all that gives you a good incentive to get up there.

Other than that, I've taken to playing D-major tunes starting from the G string instead of the D, and A major/minor tunes starting from the A on the D string.

I started with the FFCP stuff on Jazzmando - it helped me get a good technical understanding of what was going on with the various scales and intervals as I worked my way up the neck. #Playing the tunes and in the mando orchestra helps put that technical understanding into real world action!