Learning curve,banjo -vs-mandolin

[Ramdolph]

Im a banjo player(not a very good one) I practice at least 1 to 2 hours a day and I have made good progress(Mostly Murpy Method) I love bluegrass and have a space and wight issue of the banjo when i travel, which is a good part of the month so I want to transition. tnx for any thoughts..Randy

[Ken Berner]

Randy, If you have not already, join us at BanjoHangout. You will find all the help you need there, and then some. There are "travel" banjos on the market, probably with a 19" scale or so and there are A-scale banjos (~24"). Some of us here own mandolin banjos which are good travelers too. Of course that is flat-picking mandolin with a banjo sound, but definitely not picking a banjo!

[BoneDigger]

I find the mandolin to be a little easier to figure out than the banjo. I have been playing the banjo for quite some time and I'm still leanring. The mandoline, for some reason, seems a little more intuitive.

Todd

[JGWoods]

The transition from banjo to mandolin is a 12 step program- you have completed step 1:
Admitting you are a banjo player.

(me too)
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[picksnbits]

There's a big difference between three-finger picking and flat-picking, so I think the right hand will be the toughest transition. I think flat-picking is easier.

On the other hand (literally), you can get a lot further with fewer fingers on the left hand with the banjo's open tuning. Four-finger mando chords may drive you nuts if you haven't been playing your banjo up the neck much.



Your back will sure appreciate it, though.

[allenhopkins]

I love bluegrass and have a space and wight issue of the banjo when i travel, which is a good part of the month
Not to discourage you from getting a mandolin, but now there's this:


Gold Tone "Tranjo" travel banjo (http://www.goldtone.com/products/details/w/instrument/71/Tranjo)

[Ramdolph]

any more thoughts on this, Im a little timid to jump with both feet into the mandolin, all I have ever played is a banjo by ear, and tab, but I started learning standard notation for the mandolin, and I have about 2 hr.per day to practice study or both I feel pretty intimidated by it at this point .. tnx for any thoughts,

[Sean RB]

I play both banjo and mandolin. I wouldn't say that one is tougher to learn than the other, just that they each have their own unique challenges. Some physical and some mental. If you love the sound of a mandolin and like the feel of it in your hands, then you'll eventually learn to play it just like you have with the banjo. I say go for it.

[mandroid]

Began with Whistling a tune, the pucker up and blow, sort.

then tried to shift the melody to the little
stringed instrument that sits in my lap so nicely,

when keeping my mouth shut met with universal
approval.

my inner critic is usually the loudest voice in the room,
But only I can hear it.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[weymann1]

banjo is harder to keep time with three fingers going back and forth. you can get a rythem going on the mando. Dan

[JGWoods]

I think the learning curves are different-
Banjo is very hard at first and gets easier.
Mando is easy at first and gets harder.
There's lots of qualifying statements that could be added, but that's the core of the matter.

[gnelson651]

I did the banjo-to mandolin thing four years ago. I found the mandolin was more intuitive in that it is tuned in 5ths. Making the transition from three finger picks to a flat pick was hard in that I wanted to anchor my pinky and ring finger to the pickguard like you would playing 3-finger style. I would recommend you not plant your fingers and learn to use the flat part of the back edge of you right hand to brush against the bridge lightly. Watch this video (http://www.tothestage.com/MediaDetail.Page?MediaId=352).

Also I thought that trying to cleanly fret double course strings required some practice. Chording was the same in that you still have basically four set of strings to chord. The closed chords did seem harder in that you really have to stretch that pinky on the closed G chord.

I think I picked up the mandolin faster because I had already learned to play by ear. When I got my first mandolin, I learned to play "Old Joe Clark" wihin a few minutes. I was never able to do that when I first started the banjo 30-odd years ago.

[300win]

For me banjo was the easiest, as it is already tuned in "G", but I begin mandolin shortly after, and mostly picked it. I still fool around with the banjo, and have a fairly good one, but to me the mandolin is what I love to play more than any other instrument.

[gnelson651]

any more thoughts on this, Im a little timid to jump with both feet into the mandolin, all I have ever played is a banjo by ear, and tab, but I started learning standard notation for the mandolin, and I have about 2 hr.per day to practice study or both #I feel pretty intimidated by it at this point .. tnx for any thoughts,
I too played banjo by ear and tab. When I started to play the mandolin, I decided it was time to learn standard notation. I always thought that tab was a hold back for me on the banjo.

It took me about 2-3 weeks to learn standard notation practicing 2 hours daily. It took another few months to get really comfortable with it. I used my daughter's beginning violin book to learn standard notation. I also learned fiddle tunes out of the The American Fiddle Method (http://www.brianwicklund.com/non_amfid4.htm), Volume 1 which is written in standard notation and also uses violin fingerings which translate well to the mandolin.

I found it more fun to play fiddle tunes to learn to read standard notation. I think that is the key, have fun with it as you learn.

[Ivan Kelsall]

After reading Glenn's post above,all i can do is to echo what he's already said,although in my case,i began Mandolin 40 years after i began playing Banjo. I've worked hard at both. It took me a good 18 months to really get to grips with teaching myself Banjo,but
after that period,i had a band together & my playing really took off.
I also agree with Glenn re.the Mandolin being more 'intuative' because of it's 'even' tuning. This is all relative of course,some folk learn more quickly than others,
regardless of their age. Also like Glenn,i found that i was definitely NOT a natural flat pick holder,but after 12 months of flirting the pick in every direction,it suddenly became as natural as anything else - it just takes patience & practice,
Saska

[Mr. Loar]

Being a banjo player and a mando player, I find that playing the banjo is easier for me. More forgiving.

[gnelson651]

Being a banjo player and a mando player, I find that playing the banjo is easier for me. #More forgiving.
Except for all the banjo player jokes http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Ken Berner]

There have been some very good comments here; 300win mentioned the banjo already being tuned in G. I don't want to discourage you at all, but there are well over 65 different tunings for banjo. Back in the old days, folks devised a tuning for almost every song they played and many of these tunings are in use today. Those banjoists who play in the clawhammer style are using several tunings in order to get their sound across; G, Double C, Sawmill, etc.. The banjo is a fascinating instrument and I think you would enjoy learning more about it.