This is what I've been doing while I've been away: My teacher said afterwards that he probably suggested this tune a bit too early for me. But I liked it when he initially played it for me, and I persisted. It's coming along ... not at session speed yet, but that will come in its own good time.
Sounds good to me Dennis! You're coming right along on that. Have you had an instructor for long? I'm thinking of going that route but not sure if the one or two teachers in my vicinity would be what I need. Don't know how attuned they are to mandolin. I think mandolin is down on the list of their preferred or well 'involved' instruments. Anyhow...good for you on getting this tune this far along! And I'm glad to see you back with us posting videos. Karon
Hey, I like it, nice playing. Like Karon, I'd be interested to hear how you find instruction, I've also been toying with the idea. If you don't mind me asking, how much does it cost, and how often do you go?
It was luck for me. There are some mandolin instructors around Kent, but mostly in places that aren't accessible if you don't have a car. Then the local music shop got taken over by Hobgoblin, and one of the new members of staff turned out to be a mando teacher! He's a great guy and the lessons are helping me a lot. As with all adult learning, most of it still happens outside the lessons (in the woodshed). But the lessons are useful for feedback on technique, ideas for practice and ornamentation, adding structure and goals, and spending time with someone else who likes the mandolin. How often you go will depend on your learning needs and other commitments. I have a fairly chaotic (not punishing, just chaotic) work timetable, so with weekly lessons there would be a danger that I've made next to no progress in practice between one lesson and the next. So I end up meeting my teacher about once every two weeks. It helps that I'm quite good at internalising feedback and happy to go away, keep practising, and discover new tunes on my own. If you are near London, the Hobgoblin there may be a good starting point in your search for an instructor. If the staff don't offer lessons themselves, they will surely know people who do. But if you can regularly visit the self-help group, I would imagine that that fulfils most of the functions that a teacher would anyway.
Nice tune. Sounds good. In discussions with my teacher this week, we spoke about playing a variety of tunes, some easy to get technique dialed in and some not so, to push a little and have fun. I am going to have to find the notation for that one.
Great work Dennis. sounds great. love that ending!
great example of making every note count- welcome back!
can you guys help me understand the timing of this song? It is 6/8 and all my songs have been 3/4 or 4/4. This I'm good with. I'm just not quite clear on 6/8 timing. ?
Six beats per measure, eighth notes get one beat each. Two quick 1 2 3's per measure when dealing with all eighths. 123 123 / 123 123/ . Otherwise you have to work it out, again one beat per eighth note. A quarter note would get two beats, a dotted quarter three beats, half note four beats.
