Legato

  1. Shane Gibbons
    Shane Gibbons
    I noticed on my Crested Hens video that my notes were very separated when I was fretting different notes on the same string--almost as if there was a tiny rest between notes.

    I guess the key to "legato" is better synchronization between the left and right hands. Any tips or tricks to get a nicer flow between notes?
  2. Manfred Hacker
    Manfred Hacker
    Shane, I am not in a position to teach you, but here is what I have learned from some of my materials.
    Yes, legato is of course a matter coordination, which comes with practice.
    But it is also a matter of what your left hand fingers do:
    When you ascend a scale, 'you want to leave your fingers down (on the string) as the new finger falls' (quote from John McGann's DVD Sound Fundamentals).
    And when you descend, he says, your fingers don't have to be on the string necessarily, but should hover close by. Keeping your fingers close to the fingerboard will eventually make your playing smoother.
    In my practice sessions I put a lot of emphasis on this, and in my Crested Hens I have made a conscious effort to bind the notes nicely (legato).
    And then there is this often-quoted advice: practice with a metronome!
    Hope this makes sense.
  3. Shane Gibbons
    Shane Gibbons
    Thanks Manfred! I'm working on it, and I asked Mrs. Claus for a metronome for Christmas, but in the meantime I started using an online one last night. There is so much to coordinate while playing music--sometimes I forget how to breathe while I'm playing.
  4. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    I guess the key to "legato" is better synchronization between the left and right hands. Any tips or tricks to get a nicer flow between notes?

    You hit the nail with that. A note must be fretted before it can be picked.
    Back when I had problems with that, it helped a lot to imagine the real playing was done with the left hand, with the pick just being an additional helper/enhancer. This makes you perceive the left hand as the leading element and lets it go first in time, too. Try playing the piece with the left hand alone - this sounds good only on an electric guitar, but it gives you the feeling you need.

    BTW your Crested Hens video showed hardly any audible evidence of those problems to my ear - you're a hard critic on your own results and I get the impression you won't let the odds win against you. That'll get you very far but don't forget to have fun every now and then. Way to go!
  5. Shane Gibbons
    Shane Gibbons
    Thanks for the advice Bertram. I'm not too terribly hard on myself. I definitely have fun, but the first step in fixing problems is recognizing them I guess. I'm about to go have some fun right now. Hopefully I can get a video out tonight. I'm having a ball with the polkas.
  6. Michael Pastucha
    Michael Pastucha
    I agree with Bertram, your video was very cleanly played and the flow between the notes was very mandolin-like. Since you are new to the mandolin you may be running into the very problem all mandolin players face. It's not very loud and the notes decay and go silent very quickly. This makes it hard to do anything legato or in a smooth flowing manner without breaks in between the notes. Especially on a slow song. Mandolin players have developed techniques to help them in this effort. Bertram and Manfred have mentioned some good ones. I'll just add a few more. Try to use a rapid tremolo or feathering picking technique to make slow songs seem more legato. Try playing as many open strings as you can and use alternative fretting techniques to keep them ringing longer if that is desired. Hammers and pulls can become quite smooth with practice. Use double stops and drone notes to give the illusion that the notes are lasting longer than they do. Picking further up the neck gives a more mellow sound and can help make the notes last a little longer. And as Manfred said, coordination comes with practice, practice, etc.
  7. Marcelyn
    Marcelyn
    It's interesting that you mentioned the feathery picking technique, Micheal, because I've noticed it often in your playing and wanted to ask you to describe it but didn't know what to call it. Feathery is exactly how I'd describe it though. Do you have any tips to getting that sound?
  8. Shane Gibbons
    Shane Gibbons
    Thanks Michael. Lots of great information in that one post. Tremelo is on my list of things to start working on--though the few times I've attempted it were a disaster.

    I watch your videos closely and have enjoyed and learned from them all.
  9. Michael Pastucha
    Michael Pastucha
    Marcelyn, what a great question! And you've named something with "feathery picking technique" which describes a way of picking that a lot of mandolin players use when they want to play softer and take the edge off of the single notes or smooth up the tremolo or play tremolo across many strings at the same time. Look at the video and you'll see the first time through the intro to Kentucky Mandolin I play what I've called the "Straight Picking & Tremolo Technique". The pick is perpendicular to the strings and produces the loudest note. The second time I play what Marcelyn has named the "Feathery Picking & Tremolo Technique." The pick is tilted way off the perpendicular. When you see the video you'll see why the single notes are all downstrokes. The tremolo technique is much softer and I've found you can stroke the strings with the edge of the pick thus making that feathery sound. This would do wonders for playing in a legato manner. In real life you would mix the two techniques as you need them. (I made the pick I use and it's really thick and rounded on the sides so I can stroke the strings in a feathery way or damn near break them if I pick really hard.) Thanks Shane for starting this thread...

  10. Bertram Henze
    Bertram Henze
    Very good demonstration Michael - did you record that lying on your back?
  11. Marcelyn
    Marcelyn
    That's exactly what I was talking about. Thanks, Michael. This will be fun to practice.
  12. Michael Pastucha
    Michael Pastucha
    Bertram, I used a little table top tripod that swivels to tilt my digital camera to the correct angle. It must look like I was laying down but I wasn't. Just a special effect -- kind of like the explosions on the bridge of the Enterprise on Star Trek. Industrial Light and Magic eat your heart out!
  13. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
    Michael, I was very impressed with your camera angle and just how much we can 'see' because of it. Where WAS the tripod and camera... were you playing in your normal playing position?
  14. Michael Pastucha
    Michael Pastucha
    Barbara, I was sitting normally in my chair in front of the computer. The tripod was on my desk in front of me. (It's a table top model.) The camera was tilted 90 degrees. If you look at the video and turn you head to the right that is the "correct" angle. This camera has a view finder that swivels around so I can see myself in it as I'm making the movie. I adjusted the mandolin so that the camera concentrated on the right hand only. Lighting was with my two reading lamps. Cool huh?
  15. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
    Michael, yes, it was awesome!
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