Hi folks,
I'm a guitar player with limited mandolin experience. I recently upgraded to an Eastman MD515 and want to start learning how to play mandolin like a real mandolin player (not some guitar knucklehead ).
I bought and am working through the Horne/Fugate Mandolin Complete book and really like it (I'm just about done with the beginner section). One thing still has me a bit perplexed though, and maybe you folks can help.
With the guitar, my left (fretting) hand really has 2 main positions/postures, and I switch between them easily. I mean the "classical" position with the thumb on the back of the center of the neck, providing leverage for chords and other fingerings; and the thumb-on-the-side position I use for more lead lines and even fingering notes on the low E string with the left thumb ("lazy" position, as I think of it).
On the mandolin, however, the neck is obviously much slimmer. If I go back and forth between classical and thumb-on-the-side position, it really slows me down, though I feel like I need to do this sometimes for going between some chord shapes, or chords and lead lines. The shift seems to be much more difficult than on the guitar, like I'm losing my grip on the neck as I adjust.
I am thinking that I'm approaching the mandolin incorrectly from a left hand perspective. Do any of you all have tips on left hand position, in particular for shifting between chords and leads? Is that classical guitar position even useful on the Mandolin? It feels natural for some barre chord shapes, but maybe I'm looking at this wrong, i.e. like a guitar player
Thanks!
-Andrew
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