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Noodling in tongues. I'm going to use that phrase.

One of my favorite things is to do when I'm playing is a sort of musical stream of consciousness. Basically, I start playing something and see what comes around next on the mandolin.

Last night I...

I probably shouldn't be allowed in Dusty Strings without adult supervision. It is a place of great evil. All of my fixations are addressed there, including the most amazing selection of picks I've...

My octave fingering style is slowly evolving. It's still heavily based on how I finger things on my regular mandolin, but there are a few minor variations.

I don't want to sound like I'm a better...

Just have to be quick with the left hand. I'm not claiming to be Mike Marshall or anything though.

I've read about loose-feeling strings, but I don't have any point of reference. I'm playing the ones that were on it when I bought it. I'm also finding that ball end strings for mandolins are a bit...

Wow, I share a birthday with Dave Grisman. Cool.

My left hand was burned when I was a child. My thumb and first three fingers function pretty normally (uncommon for someone with burns on their hands) but the pinkie is of questionable utility. I can...

I've been playing mandolin for a few years now, and after hearing an Octave played at an Irish session a while ago, decided it might be cool to learn how to play one.

I mentioned it to my wife,...

I think for her it was a combination of factors.

First, I don't have a lot of things I really want so I'm a bit tough to buy for. Second, she seems to enjoy looking for instruments to buy.

We...

I do, in fact, own four mandolins. My Breedlove (general everyday instrument), my Octave, a Michael Kelly that I bought for taking places I'd rather not take the Breedlove and an old Ibanez bowl back...

I would choose deafness.

I have a Dawg and a GG pick. The Dawg pick is a little larger and thicker. I prefer the Dawg to the GG because it gives a warmer, more mellow sound.

I can't imagine 550 cord would hurt the finish. I might be interested in one for my Breedlove.

Thanks to all of you for your advice and kind words. It's all pretty much in-line with what my instructor was saying. Hearing it put different ways has helped.

Check out stories about Django Reinhart and Tony Iommi. Long story short, both had serious injuries that could have kept them from playing but instead they basically invented new techniques.

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'm going to try working tone into my daily Finger Buster workouts.

My mandolin instructor has been pushing me to be more mindful of how my notes actually sound. At our last session, he played a recording of John Coltrane to show me what it's like when each note is...

That is an awesome picture.

I have three mandolins, a Breedlove KO, a Michael Kelly F-style Legacy and an old Ibanez bowl back. Each one has a distinctive sound to me. The KO sounds very clear and bright, whereas the MK sounds...

I work 13 hour days three or four days a week (it rotates). I usually take one to work with me so I can play in my cubicle. However, I've also been known to play in the car.

My wife plays ukelele...

I could kind of read standard notation when I first started playing a couple of years ago. Using tabs speed up the process for getting sounds in a pleasing sequence out of my instrument. However, I...

The Blue Chip TAD40 is the same size and approximate weight as a heavy Fender 346. The main reason I prefer the BC over the physically similar Fender is the material. The BC is very smooth so it...

I'm finding my taste is picks evolve over time. My current favorites are an Extra Heavy Fender 351 and a Blue Chip TAD40. But, I'm experimenting with a couple of others to see what they are good for....

Wow. This is one of the coolest threads I have seen anywhere.
My mandolin instructor talks a lot about the zen of music and how being aware of the basics such as rhythm and how a song ebbs and...