Originally Posted by (jbmando @ June 17 2008, 13:31)
Okay, since you asked - do not start by learning songs from tabs. Knowing where to put your fingers to play a song does not mean you: a) know the song, or b) can play the mandolin. Learn chords and scales and learn enough theory to know which chords go together and what they sound like so you can hear a chord and know if it is major, minor, diminished or augmented. Learn the chords which make up the "family" of chords in each key, then if you want help in learning a song look at some tabs.