Learning octave from scratch

[MJewkes]

Hello Everyone,
I recently bought a beautiful Octave Mandolin from Brent at Olde Woods, and am now learning how to play. I am interested in learning Celtic, Irish, and folk stlye music, mostly to play and sing to on my own.

I have some basic music theory from piano when I was young, and I know a few basic guitar chord shapes, but aside from that this is my first string instrument.

Any advice on how to get started learning the instrument? Should I take private lessons, learn chord shapes and scales, try to figure out songs by ear, or something else? Doesn't seem to be much for books out there, and I'm skeptical about learning from DVD (does it work?)

Thanks everyone!
Matthew Jewkes

[Bob Wiegers]

welcome!

I'm no expert, but I did teach myself to play, for better or for worse. right now I wouldnt focus on the "octave" aspect of your instrument as much as the "mandolin" part. so I'd start with general mandolin basics, perhaps by getting a beginner's DVD (yes, it "works") in your favorite genre, and then perhaps from there Tim O'Brian's zouk/OM DVD is a good one too. netflix/blockbuster-online are good potential resources for DVDs, by the way. John McGann's zouk/OM book is really good but definitely not for a begginer.

and there's lots of resources here on the cafe (besides the message board). I got a lot out of the 2-finger chords, and just playing some basic songs by ear. I'm always looking for chord charts of songs I like, and there's a TON of stuff out there for Celtic/Irish songs. and by all means if you can pull it off get a lesson or 2 to at the very least get a good start.

enjoy!

[Eddie Sheehy]

I found the Zan Mcleod Irish Bouzouki DVD to be of immense value.

[man dough nollij]

If you do use any mandolin learning material, be forewarned that it is not physically possible to play a lot of mandolin chords on the OM. Didn't want you to get the impression that you need nine-inch fingers to play it!

Two finger chords go a long way. I think the OM is my favorite instrument to plink around on-- once you know a few scales and chords, you won't even need to know a tune to make nice noises. To me, that's a big plus with an instrument. Violins: not so much. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[catmandu2]

Congratulations and welcome. I too recently acquired an OWL OM built by Brent. They're a very good value instrument.

Whatever you do in learning music, learning to play melodies by ear should always be a component.

[JeffD]

once you know a few scales and chords, you won't even need to know a tune to make nice noises. To me, that's a big plus with an instrument.
Get thee behind me satan. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[bgjunkie]

I just borrowed my friends Labeda OM and that thing has the most wonderfully rich tone. I rented the Tim O'Brien DVD from Blockbuster Online and have been playing More Love and One Girl Cried over and over. I especially love the instrumental part of One Girl Cried.

I am trying to sell my guitar amp to finance an OM/Zouk.

[devilstone_the_bard]

I just started playing my TC OM, man I love the sound. I apologized in advance to my "small" mandolins, telling them they may be seeing a lot of the insides if their cases.

Thanks for the materials listings above, I want to try to approach mine as something other than a "big mandolin". Looking forward to McGann's stuff.

[bgjunkie]

I like the way Tim O'Brien's, on his DVD, shows how he plays the tunes on mandolin and then shows how he does it on his bouzouki. It will definately give you the perspective that the octave/bouzouki is not just a big mandolin.