Quantum Leap

[Bluebird]

Other than practice and listening to music what is the single most important thing that helped you as a mandolin picker?

[duuuude]

Pickin' with other folks does it for me, get lotsa new ideas along with tryin' out whatcha know already.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[davestem]

Having a great bluegrass guitar picker join the band. I have to practice hard to hang with him.

[RobP]

Join a small band and start performing -- then you *have* to come up with breaks for the songs you are doing. This kind of subtle pressure really has helped me a lot. It's something like having a deadline -- you know you have to perform the song, you know you have to take a break, so you have to find a break that both works with the song and also something that you can play at your own level.

Good Luck,

Rob

[Hondo]

My wife telling me to stop whining, pick up the phone, and call that instructor!

[mad dawg]

Relearning how to hold the pick helped me a lot. I used to hold the pick between the tips of my thumb and forefinger, but since switching to higher up (approximately between the first knuckles of my thumb and forefinger), my speed and accuracy increased, and forearm fatigue decreased (I guess these also sound like symptoms of practicing more http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif ).

[Bluebird]

These are geat! Thanks !

[John Flynn]

About a year and a half ago, I had been on a multi-year plateau, but I got off it by getting into old-time music, which I had little previous knowledge of, or interest in. I just decided, out of the blue, to "jump into it with both feet." I got an OT instructor, started going to jams, started an OT CD collection, started going to OT performances, helped start a performing string band, etc. Not only has my playing improved dramatically, but my enjoyment in playing has also.

[ira]

i agree with robp. playing live with others and needing to figure out solos and rythm, how to play with others....etc,
has been the best thing ever for my playing.

[chirorehab]

Taking a week off of coming to the Mandolin Cafe! I kid you not!

Also, playing with other people!

Eric

[mad dawg]

Taking a week off of coming to the Mandolin Cafe! I kid you not!
I only let MC interfere with my day job. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[jim simpson]

This shouldn't be an excuse to go out and get a new mandolin but that has done it for me a couple of times. I picked up a Gibson F5-G a couple of years ago and some regular picking buddies told me they noticed an improved change right away. I didn't think I improved but I did notice myself being inspired to try new things. It was as though I could really hear myself for the 1st time. Recently I supplemented my Gibson with a Sim Daley. I am re-inspired and the same thing is happening again. I wasn't really out seeking inspiration, it just sorta happened. I did change picks recently from a Clayton 1mm to a ProPlec guitar shaped 1.5mm and it really brings out the tone.

[Michael H Geimer]

a) Playing with other people. Best done within a band.

b) Playing in front of people. Best done on stage. i.e. Other than at campfires, jams, socials, etc.

c) Learning to sing. This taught me more than I can ever explain about how to play instrumental leads. I don't even think one needs a 'good' voice in order to benefit from the vocalist's perspective.

[pickinpox]

I don't even think one needs a 'good' voice

.....but YOU do have a very good voice, Benig, I've heard it.

From this poll, it looks like picking with others is the best advice. I agree. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Michael H Geimer]

Thanks, but it really took a loooong time for that frog to turn into a prince.

But I learned a whole lot about timing, phrasing, also my 'ear' got significantly better ... all long before I was able carry a tune in public.

My Grandma still calls those sorts of things, "Lucky Strike Extras".

- Benig

[Brian T]

Taking Matt Flinner's advice and learning to relax my hand. It did wonders for my tone and speed.

[mandoJeremy]

It's simple dude....when I started playing I played 8 to 10 hours a day. I still play 4 hours or more a day but occasionally I will stop playing for 1 to 2 weeks just to refresh my creative mind.

[mandoJeremy]

Also, I listened to the people that I wanted to emulate and I very much just brainwashed myself. #When I wanted to learn something from my heroes I would listen to it constantly and that is all I would hear. #Later, when my skills and hearing became much better I would just listen and I knew exactly what any mando player was hitting. #My actual thought is this.....I dare anyone to hit a note or scale that I can't find. #I know all of Bush's tunes, most of Thile's tunes, all of Wayne Benson's tunes, and many others because you develop your hearing and it begins to hear all. #I just studied the people that kicked my ###!

[jasona]

Getting pick direction theory down. What is helping my tone and speed immesurably right now is learning to relax, which I am doing by playing the same 5 songs over and over and over and over...and now that I am finally back to adding new tunes I find that playing is much more natural. And picking with people has been a huge help.

[RobP]

8-10 hours a day! *sigh* Now why didn't I do something like that before I had a wife and kids? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

I am constantly amazed at the things I *could* have done back when I had what must have been ooodles of free time http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Not complaining of course -- I love my family. Just advice to those of you out there to use that free time wisely http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Cheers,

Rob

[Daniel Nestlerode]

The siongle most important thing I have done (and am doing) to improve is play anything I can hear in my head.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game
The Daily Show Theme
When I Grow Too Old to Dream (Nat Cole's version with Stuff Smith on violin)
The Saint (TV show theme)
Amazing Grace

Literally ANYthing. I think some has called this the "Happy Birthday Exercise."

Best,
Daniel

[Keith Wallen]

Getting a new higher end or way better quality mandolin. Some things that were not coming across the way they should started to and I attribute that to having a good mandolin. Plus I was at a stage when it realy breathed new life into my picking.

[busstopeddy]

Having an accomplished mandolin teacher spend a few minutes watching you play.

Just got back from the Swannanoa Gathering where I took Robin Bullock's mandolin class. It was a great class but the real capper was a short one on one where he adjusted my left hand technique and the way I held the instrument.

Took a total of 15 minutes but the results were amazing.
Much more relaxed now and the pain and tension in my hand I was experiencing is gone.

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

[Windflite]

My best 'jump' came about a year ago when I sat down and made a list of about 40 or so 'tunes that I should know' based upon what I have heard over the years at jam sessions, etc. #With the list as the outline, I began obtaining tab, books, recordings and whatever else I could to learn the melodies, chords and at least 1 passable break to each tune on the list. #(I still haven't learned all the tunes on the original list...and the list grows everytime I hear a new tune that seems appropriate to add!) #Having the majority of that list under my belt really boosted my confidence while jamming at festivals, etc. # Lately my newest 'practice aid to get to the next level' is an inexpensive digital recorder so that I can really hear how I sound... #Now thats sobering! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[duuuude]

Getting a new higher end or way better quality mandolin. Some things that were not coming across the way they should started to and I attribute that to having a good mandolin. Plus I was at a stage when it realy breathed new life into my picking.
Yep, gotta agree here. Try it and you'll see for yourself, things just seem to come easier and sound better, and if you really aren't any better at least you'll sound like you are.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[Michael H Geimer]

This thread is chock full of great ideas!

Newbies ... take notes!

[Ted Eschliman]

Focusing on that magical intersection between the notes--where the release of the first note connects to the beginning of the next...
Right hand to left hand coordination between pick and sustaining finger on the fretboard takes a lot of concentration, and can only be developed at slow speeds. When I tried to comprehend the string vibration (and top of the mandolin) like the breath of a clarinet, the overall tone quality improved exponentially.
A good clear, bell-like attack of the pick is a good start, but you have to keep the "line" going from there, "bleeding" in to each successive note.

uh......Ted.......I've read that post ten times now........whut'd you say?........can you translate that to Tex speak please.

[ira]

it is quite lyrical ted, but after you translate to tex, can you please translate into new england as well.

thanks

[jim_n_virginia]

The BEST thing i did this year to help my mando playin (guitar too) is that I bought SlowBlast which is a computer program that you install on your computer and you can slow down leads but the pitch stays the same. It is amazing!

I slow the breaks down i want and I set them to loop so they play over and over and I sit there and play along with it real slow until my fingers learn the notes. I have learned some pretty complicated leads this way that I KNOW I would have not been able to except I can slow it down so I can figure it out.

good luck!

[JiminRussia]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against anyone buying a high dollar mandolin, but the best thing that happened to ME was finally realizing that I'll never be able to play better than the F-5 that I have (a Newson) is capable of being played and that what I really needed to invest in was practice and lessons. Since then, I have acquired a pre-Gibson Flation 1N that fits me qute well and I'm happy trying to get up to it's potential which ought to come in about another two or three hundred years. Yup, when I quit trying to buy my musical progress with a bigger scroll, more radiused fretbpoard, gold-plated, pearl inlaid, engraved, tree-of-life, multi-gazillion dollar instrument and started WORKING at it, I started to make some real progress. Why didn't I think of this sooner? Unortunately, I'm still looking or a teacher, but heck, I'm still young (only 58) and I'll find someone eventually.

[Ted Eschliman]

can you translate that to Tex speak please.
Sure Dale,
For tone as purty as a box full of puppies, fix yourself on holding them notes longer.
Least two hoots & a holler...

[mandoJeremy]

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

[davestem]

I'm with Ted on that one. After spending a little time trying to figure out what it was I didn't like about Doyle Lawson's picking on "Little Mountain Church House", I realized it was the lack of sustain on the quick notes. To sound really good, you have to hold the notes for their full value. Holds true for singing, too, and it's hard to do.

[pdlstl]

Sorry if these have been mentioned.

1. Absolute understanding of correct pick direction.

2. Absolute understanding of which fingers are responsible for which frets.

Not knowing these two will enusre that you will NEVER play fast.

Another thing that made me a better bluegrass mandolin player is learning classicals, Bach, Vivaldi etc.

And if you're not using TefView, you owe it yourself to install it right away.

[mandocrucian]

The big leaps usually result from mental breakthroughs/realizations. The higher the skill level, the more and more playing becomes about the mental rather than the physical. (Less and less about typing and more about writing the novel/poem/manifesto/etc.

1) How the notes are connected is as important as the notes (pitches) themselves.

2) Function of the musical line is far more important than the instrument it may have originally been played on.

3) Rules of technique (pick direction, fingering, etc) are really only guidelines - training mechanisms to take you to a level where the rules are ammended, altered, discarded...

4) The piece of wood in your hands is only a tool, the real instrument is the mind of the person controlling the tool.

5) If the mind of the player is the real instrument, anything else done to extend the overall sound - singing, playing a harmonica, foot percussion - is as valid as an instrument as the primary component part (mandolin).

6) There are only a handful of elemental ideas - everything else is a variation, mutation, alteration or combination of those atoms.

7) Tension, both physical and mental, is the #1 obstacle (especially for beginning players).

Unfortunately, a lot of the above may seem like gibberish until the time is right (when you are ready) for them to start making sense to you. However, thinking about, and trying to figure out, what they might mean could be a tool to help you stimulate some mental breaktrhoughs.

Niles H

[Michael H Geimer]

I get better just reading your posts. You are a guru of sorts. Please come out West!

[jlb]

Playing something besides bluegrass!

When I started playing mando, it was BG, BG, and nothing but BG. Branching out to some other genres really opened up my eyes, and gave me a bunch of ideas even for when I play BG.

[steve in tampa]

Just plain old getting thrown into the fire at open jams with folks I've never played with before. Sink or swim! Always a new challenge. Character is forged in the face of fire.

[Bluebird]

Keep it up guys/gals this is wonderful information!!!

[8ch(pl)]

I worked terrible hours as a security guard for an electronics firm for 5 years. Every Saturday, every Sunday from 11 am to 11 pm. Every Wednesday and Thursday night fromm 11 pm to 8am. I was alone in the building for hours on end, only having to make periodic (hourly or so) rounds that took 10 minutes.

I took a mandolin in and played for hours on end. the practice time went a long way to improve my playing.

i do not miss the job.

[mancmando]

Two things that have really helped me develop as a musician which are common to playing/singing anything, and therefore have helped my mandolin playing are:

1) record and listen to yourself play - this is likely to be very uncomfortable/painful to listen to the first time you do it as it invariably never sounds as good as you think it does, but it is extremely good for you as it develops your ability to recognize how you sound when you're playing, which to my mind is as essential skill for any musician.

2) buy a metronome and learn to play in time at different speeds - you may be able to do this perfectly anyway, but I found that if I'm noodling it tended to always be at the same speed. It was actually listening to myself play that made me get a metronome as my playing wasn't as solid as I first thought, but this has really helped.

Hope this helps...

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

[Joel Glassman]

1)Transferring memorized solos to the mandolin.
2)Singing broken arpeggio patterns while playing them over recorded chord progressions.
3)Learning the sound of guide tones (each chord's 3rd and 7th) and going to those notes when improvising solos.
4)Recognizing how the mandolin works when transposing.

[sailaway]

my playing improved when I started giving up worthless Tv shows and junk books and magazines and practicing mando in the morning 6 am to 8 am before going to WORK, then keeping my beater in the car to practice AT LUNCH or in traffic jams etc.... and playing mando at night instead of watching more worthless TV.. you g et the drfit-- music gets to be your entertainment and your life instead of the American diet of mindless TV... (now i I could just get the rest of the f amily to agree...):blues: