Three questions

[Jonathan Peck]

How long have you been playing?

Are you happy with your progress?

If you could improve one thing, what would it be?

[miked500]

I've been playing for about 5 years.
I am happy with my progress - until I hear Ricky Skaggs, Adam Steffy, etc...!
If I could improve 1 thing, it would be tremolo

[swampy]

4 yrs (10 yrs previous experience on guitar)

Very satisified

My ear.

[sgarrity]

1) Off and on for 10 years. More dedicated the last 4-5 years.
2) Considering that I never practice, I just play tunes, I can't be unhappy with my progress. And I work 50+ hours a week. So I'm not doing too bad...
3) I'd love my left hand to catch up to my right hand in terms of speed and coordination. Some days I think my little finger has a mind of its own!

[Fliss]

1. about three and a half years since I re-started; I used to play a little many years ago
2. not very. Every time I think I'm getting somewhere, I listen to someone who can really play, or I try to sit in on a session, and I am reminded of how far I haven't come
3. playing by ear

Fliss

[Leigh Coates]

1. One year of actually playing regularly.
2. Pretty happy with my progress given that I haven't got a teacher.
3. My speed.

[bienkow1]

1.) Year and a half

2.) Just like the others said...sometimes I am, until I hear someone that can actually play.

3.) Pinky, tremolo, speed, clarity

[Gerard Dick]

1: four years

2: mostly yes

3:my tremolo, I'm a lefty playing righty. Fingering works good but the right hand is a little klutzy. No, I'm not about to switch over.

[Keith Erickson]

How long have you been playing?

5 years on the Mandolin


Are you happy with your progress?

It depends...
...well I would like to think that I learn something new on the mandolin ever week (i.e. new techniques or a new song)

...but for the most part, I'm never happy with my progress but that's ok because it keeps me wanting to learn more.


If you could improve one thing, what would it be?

I would like to learn be able to learn a technique to be more proficient on breaks and solo's.

[man dough nollij]

1) I first picked one up about five years ago, but I'd say I've only been playing about a year. Earning two degrees online and working full time wiped out about four years of pickin'.

2) I feel like I'm pretty stalled at a beginner/intermediate level, but I have continued to make slow progress and learn more tunes. Learned to read sheet music this season, which is cool.

3) Right hand accuracy and timing. (That's two, but I'm a special case.)

[foldedpath]

1) A little over a year.

2) Yes.

3) Tremolo over two or more string courses. Single string tremolo is coming along nicely, but going wider sounds pretty ragged.

[HarveyB]

1. 5 months
2. Yes
3. Learn notation

[Dragonflyeye]

8 months.
Yes! (Considering I played nothing 9 months ago and couldn't read music at all.)
At 55 yrs old - my memory!

[Austin Koerner]

1. A year and a half
2. Yes, sort of
3. Learn to improvise better, stop thinking in scales.

[Rick Schmidlin]

How long have you been playing?

Are you happy with your progress?

If you could improve one thing, what would it be?
1-I have been playing just over four years.

2-Yes, I can't believe where I heading.

3-Playing with others.

[John Flynn]

15 years (20 years before that on guitar)
Happy, yes, completely satisfied, no
Sight reading

[Uncle Choppy]

1. Quite a few years (but with many fallow periods, often #of several years each!)

2. Some days I think "that didn't sound too bad". Other days I think "I can't believe that you can make such an expensive instrument sound so unimaginable bad". I have a lot more of the latter so I suppose "No" is my answer.

3. To actually develop the courage to play with other musicans (although this would involve actually finding, or starting, some sort of local jam/session, not easy round here!)

[Mandojulie]

Two years (first stringed instrument)
pretty much
Faster chord changes!

[tango_grass]

Coming up on 3 years.

Yes, I've noticed some progress in my ability to play set tune melodys. Which I am pleased with.

My composition skills, and cleanliness at high speeds.

[Brandon Flynn]

3 years. I am reasonably pleased with my progress, especially in the last year and a half. I would like to improve my speed and clarity below the 7th fret.

[CES]

3 and 1/2 years.

No, but it's mostly my fault (and sometimes work's fault, but mostly my own practice habits).

Four finger closed positions. And I'd like to improve the quality of my mandolin! (Sorry I guess that's two, though it seems that MAS is a constant rather than variable state...)

[matt s.]

1. Been playing for three and a half weeks.

2. Very happy with my progress- This is my first musical instrument (not counting piano lessons as a 7 year old)- so everything amazes me right now. I was ecstatic when I learned how to hold a pick correctly!

3. I would love to have more time for practice- spend most days on the road for work and I really don't want to travel with my new-ish mandolin quite yet. But pretty much everything needs improvement right now.

Cheers (and thanks for the great site),

Matt

[sunburst]

1. off and on for...probably 10 years.

2. absolutely not! I've learned various other instruments but nothing has been as challenging to me as a flat pick, be it guitar or mandolin! No other technical hurdle has held me back as much as the flat pick.

3. my right hand picking ability. If I could just get that to cooperate I think I could make progress on the other stuff I'd like to learn.

[HddnKat]

Been playing three years

Satisfied with my progress? - not really, I can see how far I've come, but still there's a long way to go

What would I improve - my ability to improvise a break on the fly.

[Kbone]

Seven yrs ( but quit for 1 1/2 yrs)
No, that's an affirmative *No*
My right/left hand - just terrible. *

* If I was rich i'd pay somebody a million $'s to improve my right hand.

[abuteague]

15 years?!?!
I really improved the last 7 years by playing with others. I'd say I'm happy.
My chord knowledge is not good. I mean really not good. In general, I could use some lessons I think.

[Randi Gormley]

10 years off and on (most recently. i learned about 25 years ago but put it away for a couple decades) but five years steadily with the band. Satisfied with my progress? No, but when I think how far i've come, i'm astounded. Needs work? speed. and its corolary, smoothness.

[Jim MacDaniel]

A) 7+ years (wow, I never thought about that one recently)

B) No (since I should be playing better now that I realize I've been playing for 7 years ;)

C) Theory/improv skills

[Ken Feil]

Benn playing about 40 years.
Reasonably happy with progress over the years.
Would still like a better understanding of chords.

Ken

[phiddlepicker]

1. 18 years (played guitar and fiddle many years before trying mando)

2. Kinda stagnant right now because time is at a premium

3. Need more work on improvisational skills

**so many tunes so little time**

[farmerjones]

About 5 years

Sure. Playing makes me happy.

I wish my friends and i would have enough time to play together as much as we want.

[JeffD]

1 - A whole lot of years. A trunk load of years.

2 - Yes, its been in surges of progress rather than steady.

3 - My goal is to require a refret job above the seventh fret.

[tree]

A little over 5 years.

Happy enough to motivate me to keep working to improve.

I'd like to improve my creative thinking (what I hear in my head) - if I could do that, the technical skills would likely work themselves out, given enough time.

[Alex Orr]

1. A little over a year and a half

2. Yeah, I'm very pleased. I was never this comfortable on guitar and I still manage to get a fair number of "wow, you've only played for 18 months?" comments from folks who haven't heard me.

3. I really want to get better at improv in a group setting, both in terms of my ability to come up with good improvised breaks and just to feel more comfortable/less nervous when stepping up to take a break on-the-fly. Right now, it's just not a skill that I'm even able to fake well - let alone be secure and confident about. Included in this would also be a desire to learn more cool licks and how to better incorporate them into lead and back-up playing (I'm mostly a strict melody player and rhythm chopper). Of course speed can always be worked on, but for tunes I know well, I'm fairly comfortable around 180 bpm, so it's not really a hindrance. I'd also like to find some way to truly have the chord changes to a ton of fiddle tunes firmly memorized.

[Jim Broyles]

3-1/2 years.
Never satisfied, but fairly happy with the progress coming from nothing - not even a regular BG listener until I decided to play mando.
I would improve my commitment to practice, specifically in learning more fiddle tunes and improvisational skills.

[John of Patcham]

1. #One year come Saturday, though I'm a fiddler of 20 years and more and that gave me a bit of a head start.
2. #Yes. #I actually quite like the sound of me playing the mandolin and that's a state of affairs I never quite attained on the fiddle.
3. #Making it all sound a bit more musical and a bit less mechanical.

[Pete Braccio]

1. 7 or 8 years

2. Yes & no. For the practice time that I've put in, I'm satisfied. For my level of playing based on calendar years, not so much so.

3. I suffer from CRT (can't remember tunes) and CPWWO (Can't play well with others). I think that both of these are concentration issues that I need to over come.

On a more positive note, after playing guitar for 35 years, music now makes sense to me. The mandolin is a great instrument to learn theory on because of its logical layout. This has helped me greatly with the guitar (where I was in a rut for about, of, 34 years). http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Pete

[pjlama]

1. 2 years
2. Very much
3. I need to learn melodies, I played bass for a long time so learning has been easy but I've never had to learn heads and I don't much like learning them.

[Bill Van Liere]

1) I have been playing mando full time about twenty five years now. I played guitar in Bluegrass bands about ten years prior to that and started playing mandolin when I was asked to join a family band.

2) Yes

3) This past year I worked on my kick offs (starts) to vocal tunes, can never get those too good.

[UnityGain]

1. After never playing an insturment in my life, one and half years.

2. I guess the best way to put it would be I often find meslef thinking, "darn, I messed up 3 notes in that solo I just took. Hey wait! I just took a solo and only messed up three notes!!"

3. Remembering lyrics and melodies. I'm horrible. I've played a song in a band for over a year now and I can't remember the lyrics. Actualy, several songs.

[Sean Greer]

1. As with others, the mandolin is the first instrument that I've been dedicated to. It's been about 8 months now and I'm going stronger than ever!

2. I'm pretty happy with where I'm at. I wish I could throw in double stop comfortably (or even uncomfortably), or do crosspicking, but those will come in time. Lately I've been amazed at how comfortable I am with playing in first position.

3. My ability to assimilate the huge world of music. Theory, technique, standard notation, tunes, songs, there is just SO much!

[Alex Fields]

Been playing fiddle 10 or 11 years, been playing mandolin seriously probably four or so years.

Never satisfied with where I am, but I think I've done okay.

Improvisation.

[Greg H.]

1: #About 10 years seriously. . .another 18 not seriously. . . .Guitar for 49.

2: No, but never dissatisfied enough to stop enjoying it.

3: Timing. . . .need more work with a metronome (I've always needed more work with a metronome).

[Tom Morse]

OK...I'll confess:

Started: Began with the tenor banjo 50 years ago, age five. "Discovered" that I could use tenor chord patterns on the mandolin 29 years ago (thank-you Mr. Grisman).

Progress: Well, success is a journey, not a destination. And we're walking...

Desire: Speed.

[matt1898]

1. About 4 years. (Fiddle for 13)
2. Yes for the most part.
3. Hammer-ons and pulloffs in B,Bb.

[mandozilla]

I've been playing mando for about 1 year now...but I'm a "Re-ginner".
I played BG mando from 1981 to 1990 then didn't pick it up again until just last August. Didn't pick or even listen to BG from 1990 til last August. But I played (guitar)and sang BG from 1968 until 1990.

I'm pretty satisfied with my progress so far...it comes back pretty fast like riding a bike. I was competent when I stopped but even then I wasn't quite where I wanted to be.

2 things that frustrate me;
1.) Jam freeze! I have no problem singing lead or tenor parts to the songs but my hands turn to stone when I take a break...But i thinks that situation is slowly improving.
2.) I'm having a hard time getting up to speed and playing cleanly but I continue to work on that as well

Why OH why did I ever stop playing? That 17 year hiatus really p****s me off...but I'm loving playing mandolin again. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[allenhopkins]

1] 38 years.
2] Never. Always stuff I can't do. But I am pleased to have achieved a certain level of fluency, and the ability to improvise.
3] I would improve the size of my mandolin-playing paychecks.

[jasona]

1) About 6 years.
2) NO, I need better focus and goals for my practice time. (I am going to start regular lessons to fix this.)
3) Play with others more and build repertoire that others play.

[Tim Pike]

1. One year (trying to practise at least 5 days a week). Was on and off for several years.
2. Happy so far with progress.
3. EVERYTHING! The Cafe and YouTube have been a big help-thanks all!

[chordbanger]

Playing mandolin for 5 years
Happy with my progess
Would like to be able to improvise, instead of being a melody player all the time

[D C Blood]

Been playing mando 45 years now...
By this time, the plateaus last a lot longer, and the improvements are fewer and further between...'bout the time I'm feelin' pretty good about my pickin', I hear Sierra or Josh or Chris or any number of young kids...
My speed has deteriorated as I age, and a touch of Parkinson's has hurt the clarity some, but just keep on trying...
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Chris Wofford]

1. About 6 months
2. Sort of. I stink like a beginner, but I think I am ok.
3. Technique. I think I am doing some bad things with my right hand, but that may be what you get learning from a book.

[Susan H.]

I've been playing almost a year.

I'm very happy with my progress.

The one thing I would improve on it is my patience with myself. I don't "hear" my progress as others do. But, the other thing I would improve on is my timing.

Susan

[Mike Snyder]

I've been playing for about 33 years. Some years alot, some less. I've struggled greatly with enjoyment vs frustration when it comes to the mandolin. I haven't got the words to tell you how angry I got when my hands could not produce what my ears were hearing. I'm much better, now. I stick pretty close to the melody when I'm with the bluegrassers, and have learned to cherish the old-timey players and the dulcimer crowd. Room for improvement is pretty much infinite. I should focus on melody and leads in closed positions. My chop is not always as clean as I would like.
There are many more double stops I could be using. Truth is, I'd much rather learn another fiddle tune in D. Maybe Paddy in the Pecan Grove.

[Lou Scuderi]

1. Been playing for 8 years now, only been serious about it for about 4.
2. Pleased, but always hoping for more
3. Stylistic definition--one of the problems of being an irish trad. mandolin player is that nobody (or very few people) know what that means. Working not only on a personal style, but a general irish trad. style that's authentic to both the mandolin and to irish trad. itself is very difficult.

[Mikey G]

around eight years of playing.
I feel confined in my playing currently
I would like to improve on my breaks...they sound a little thin to me at times.

[mandocaster]

1. twenty some-odd years
2. I am always trying to improve, but I try to keep inspired rather than frustrated.
3. I want to play cleaner, but it doesn't really tear me up. I saw Brian Roe win at the Texas mandolin competition. I ain't never gonna play that clean. It's just not in me. I really just want to hear good music in my head and have it come out of my mando. Is that asking too much?

[jimbob]

owned a mando for about 5 years, but tried to teach myself for thr first four. I have been taking lessons for almost a year.

I am mostly happy with progress since I started the lessons

I would like to be able to play breaks better and learn to play more musically....not so mechsanical and "clunky" http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[fishdawg40]

1) I started in 2000 probably played for 3 1/2 years (lot of off time...school)
2) Extremely happy w/the progress of course there is a universe to learn but I'm having a bunch of fun...made the most progress the past 6 months playing steadily with others...
3) Mostly improv and ear

[Denny Gies]

Been playing mandolin about25 years.
I waiver between happiness with my progress and frustration at not being better.
More fluidity in my playing; sometimes I seem too choppy.

[JEStanek]

1) Since 2001
2) Mostly satisfied when I recognize how little I practice. But, even strumming G, C, and Ds will help me relax and put me into a better space.
3) I would like to improve my quality of practice and frequency (I bet increasing the latter will help the former).