Back and forth between mando and guitar

[holden]

I've been on a pretty rigorous-planned practice schedule lately. (Thanks to the artist works lessons) Metronome, learning new songs, cross picking, etcetera I go all guitar for several weeks, then all mandolin for several weeks. It appears I'm getting better at both. Is it possible that improving on one helps with the other? Or am I just learning each half as fast as I would if I stuck with one instrument...any experience? A lot of good guitar players play mandolin well also..

[LongBlackVeil]

I can't tell you for sure. I play mandolin, guitar, fiddle, and dobro. (I'm not great with the dobro or fiddle but I do play them regularly) I'd like to think that each helps develope each other. And I believe it does when it comes to ear training and musicality. I think the main thing I lose is the physical part. If I stop playing my mandolin for too long, I lose a lot of speed and accuracy with both of my hands. I feel sort of clumsy until I get back into playing regularly.

Idk though, I'll be watching this thread to see what others say. It's definitely hard to manage practicing multiple instruments. I have decided that mandolin is my primary focus though, and I just try and get practice on the other instruments when I can.

[Mandobart]

In my case, it definitely helps for me to practice multiple instruments; mandolin, OM, mandola, mandocello, guitar, fiddle. I'll usually play 2 or 3 of these each day. I don't have a rigorous practice regime; usually warm up with scales and chord patterns, then I work through the current tunes I'm working on for each instrument. I find my mandolin picking seems much more precise and fingering is a lot quicker and easier after a few hours on the 26" mandocello.

[Teak]

I've been on a pretty rigorous-planned practice schedule lately. (Thanks to the artist works lessons) Metronome, learning new songs, cross picking, etcetera I go all guitar for several weeks, then all mandolin for several weeks. It appears I'm getting better at both. Is it possible that improving on one helps with the other? Or am I just learning each half as fast as I would if I stuck with one instrument...any experience? A lot of good guitar players play mandolin well also..

I started on mandolin first, and then learned guitar along the way. I think that it helps "cross-training". When I go to jams, it helps me keep up on new songs by being able to see the chords the guitarists are using. Also, sometimes I pick up the guitar in order to show them a chord or two which they might not know.

[Nevin]

I remember once coming in to a bass lesson and my teacher telling me he could tell I had been practicing hard. I had, just not on bass.

[bart mcneil]

This is an interesting thread because I also play several instruments, Mandolin (several) and banjos (several different types). I am struggling to learn "claw-hammer" banjo but in order to do so I stopped playing my mando and my four string banjos to concentrate on my five string and claw hammer technique. I don't know whether this will work but I felt I had to fixate on claw hammer for a while as it is so counter-intuitive and I was having difficulty concentrating on claw-hammer without slipping back into my standard banjo technique. Hopefully this will work, but who knows?

[Ivan Kelsall]

I've found on several ocassions,that taking a break from one instrument or another helps when i come back to it. I think that sticking to one instrument alone for long periods,could become 'subconciously' a bit wearing & we need to take a mental break. I know that on the ocassions where me & my wife have been on holiday for 2 weeks,i've come back to mandolin or banjo thinking i'd be as rusty as heck,& my playing has been as good as ever & that i've enjoyed it more,
Ivan

[John Kelly]

I too play guitar and mandolin family instruments, and switch around all the time, though I tend to pick up the octave first if I just want to have "a play". In the band I play guitar most but do use mandolin/octave/bouzouki as the tune and arrangement requires. A lot of my guitar is either backing for ceilidh tunes and backing for singing, with some melody at times, while mandolins are mainly lead/melody lines.
The switch is not something I think about too much, other than when I go to play some pipe tune or fiddle tune on guitar and try to use mandolin fingering! it's the tuning in 5ths that throws me till I remember what I am doing, then I think muscle memory takes over and the fingers play the tune!

[UsuallyPickin]

Musical ideas germinate, travel as it were, from one instrument or style of music to another. And happening unintentionally as often as not due to the way our individual brains function. The dexterity used on one stringed instrument certainly keeps those fingers up and running for all. I play guitar mandolin and fiddle and I flirt with a banjo but I find that playing one just invites me to pickup another one and play it. " Hey ... that might sound cool on this one ..... ". Strangely when I started mandolin after years of guitar it was really difficult to make my brain play / think upside down and backwards. After a few years it didn't seem to matter what instrument I picked up my brain changed over more rapidly in recognizing the different order of string tones. Old cat new tricks ...... R/

[Nashville]

What he (UsuallyPickin) says...

[farmerjones]

After a few years it didn't seem to matter what instrument I picked up my brain changed over more rapidly in recognizing the different order of string tones.

Yup. I'm mostly a fiddler, but play Scruggs style banjer, guitar, mandolin, and recently piano. I used to think mandolin was easier than fiddle, but frets and double course strings are harder on my fingers. Plus, once you get onto it, a bow seems easier to me now. If you're not strumming, it's much harder to get clean on a mandolin. Yep, I'm lazy.

I get a tune or song in my head and I want to hear what it sounds like on everything. What I've learned, at 52, it's far less important what instrument is in your hands, than what's going on in your brain. It probably actually took about a year, but it seemed like I learned piano in a week.

[Grateful Dawg]

It definitely helps me on both. After I bought my mandolin my cubital tunnel in my left elbow started bothering me badly because of the holding position. I fiddled with guitar years ago so I bought a Yamaha guitar. Now I am learning both, spending time on each whenever I practice. A friend of mine and I jammed Sunday and I've discovered I'm able to play more on both instruments.

[Pete Martin]

We are all different, so finding what works best for YOU is important.

For me, I do better studying one instrument in one style for a few years. If I spread it out too much I don't get anywhere.

[chuck3]

I go back and forth between mandolin and bass (upright and electric) and I find playing both helps me. Mandolin is actually the most logical instrument to me, because I think tuning in fifths is most logical musically. But knowing the scales in fifths helps when you're playing on an instrument tuned in fourths as well, such as a bass.

The more I play mando and bass, the odder guitar seems to me (and I played guitar pretty well, for many years, before deciding to stick just to mando and bass). You have the one string interval being a third (G to B). I had to play a classical guitar with a wide neck recently for a Christmas party and it took me some practice to regain the feel of it, both the tuning and the wide neck of the classical guitar.

[Chip Stewart]

I alternate between bass and tenor guitar. I found I advanced more quickly by practicing bass (my primary instrument) every other day. I'm not sure why, but most likely my finger/arm muscles needed the day off to rebuild. So now on my days off from practicing bass I practice tenor guitar.

[mvlh]

I am just learning mandolin myself and feel that keeping the chops up on both as you go is probably best. A bit of both each day. The first week I had the mandolin (out of excitement)I played nearly four hours plus per day and when I went back to guitar, things really did seem "wider"! So I feel that the main difference being mandolin requires a 7-fret stretch and the guitar basically a 4-fret stretch for the fingers as well as transposition of the 4ths/5ths tuning schemes is one of the biggest nails for me to hammer. As well, using the pinky is a bit different but I find that by focusing on "pinky drills" on mando it does indeed help with general pinky use on guitar. Training the fingers goes along with training the ear. I am actually getting little biased more to the mandolin and tuning in 5th's it just seems could be a little more logical. But then I have forty more years of playing the guitar to "get over" so there's a tradeoff. Maybe trading off days on either is a good strategy too.

[jmp]

I go all guitar for several weeks, then all mandolin for several weeks. It appears I'm getting better at both. Is it possible that improving on one helps with the other? Or am I just learning each half as fast as I would if I stuck with one instrument...any experience?

I stopped playing guitar for a couple of years and mando instead. Now I switch back and forth like you. I find practicing one does indeed help me improve on the other. I think mando forces your picking technique to be at its best which helps with guitar, and I find melodic lines flow better on guitar which helps with mando soloing.

However, they clearly require some differences in technique not to mention fingerboard layout and I think it would be indeed be faster to just stick with one instrument.

At least playing one does not seem to harm the other, maybe that's all us ADD multi-instrumentalists can ask for?

[kjcole]

I'm learning that playing the mando, especially tremolo technique, which requires a really light grip on the pick so the wrist stays loose, really helps my guitar flatpicking by keeping forearm tension low. But I'm a raw beginner on mando, so take that with a grain of salt.

[Tobin]

I stopped playing guitar for a couple of years and mando instead. Now I switch back and forth like you. I find practicing one does indeed help me improve on the other. I think mando forces your picking technique to be at its best which helps with guitar, and I find melodic lines flow better on guitar which helps with mando soloing.

However, they clearly require some differences in technique not to mention fingerboard layout and I think it would be indeed be faster to just stick with one instrument.

At least playing one does not seem to harm the other, maybe that's all us ADD multi-instrumentalists can ask for?

I'm kind of in the same boat. I played guitar for over 20 years before I picked up the mandolin about 5 years ago. And when I did, I pretty much put my guitars away (and sold some off). In the last few months, I decided to start playing the guitar again when needed. I'm still working on getting my chops back, but I have noticed that my mandolin playing definitely changed my technique for the better. Mostly in the right (picking) hand.

The hardest part is getting used to the tuning of the guitar in fourths (and that stupid third) again. And I do notice that if I spend too much time playing the guitar, without spending enough on the mandolin, I start to lose my mandolin proficiency. It's one of those things I have to do every day in order to keep my muscle memory or hand coordination up to snuff. I can really tell if I miss a day, or go several days without enough mandolin time. It takes me a while to get my hands back into the groove. For whatever reason, playing the guitar just doesn't seem to do the trick for me on keeping my mandolin chops polished. But overall, I do think it's better to be able to go back and forth.

[TribalJMD]

I think it definitely can benefit one another. I've only been playing mandolin for about a week and a half now, but have played guitar for 16 years. From this, I feel I've been picking up the mando pretty quickly. Granted, I haven't played guitar for a few months. I could see keeping a regime of practicing both being good at keeping your muscle memory and chops up(especially when dealing with the tuning difference and whatnot)

[Steverb]

It's swings and roundabouts I think. There are definite crossovers. I've played guitar for decades but never got into flatpicking tunes until I started seriously playing mandolin; the strict right hand D/U/D discipline translates and opened up a new way of playing guitar for me.
I've just started dabbling in 5-string banjo. My dobro and open G bottleneck guitar experience definitely helps - I'm used to right hand finger rolling and the tuning is the same for left hand fingering.
On the other handhaving musical ADD man's you have to split your finite practice time between several instruments rather than focusing on one in depth. I think I've accepted I'll always be a musical jack of all trades and master of none. Just need to learn the fiddle to be my own bluegrass band!

[Joel Glassman]

I learned guitar to be able to recognize what guitarists are doing. My groups always seem to have guitar as the main rhythm instrument. Learning guitar chord progressions is useful for laying down rhythm tracks. Mandolin rhythm alone on a track sounds thin.
Translating guitar rhythms to mandolin is a good exercise too.

[lflngpicker]

I was a guitarist for over 50 years when I got serious about the mandolin. I play the mandolin the most, but when I play out I still use the guitar half of the time since I am a singer songwriter. Due to Parkinson's and my age, it is helpful for my musicianship to play the two different instruments because the thinking process is exercised , as it is when I play slide or piano. The problem I have is with my arms and hands due to Parkinson's-- I get accustomed to the mandolin's size and I have a hard time moving to the bigger acoustic guitar. Electric guitar is not so bad because the body and neck are smaller and the action is lower, of course. Generally though, playing more than one instrument helps build skills and knowledge of each of the other applications.

[DavidKOS]

I've played both instruments since I was a teenager.

I have played a great deal more professionally on guitar and bass, but have always played mandolin too.

There's a great deal of similarity but the tuning and size of the instruments are the biggest differences. You have to practice both, although there is a lot of technical crossover for certain.

Other than lap steels, I pretty much like stuff in guitar or mandolin tuning. That's enough for my brain to keep straight.

[lflngpicker]

I've played both instruments since I was a teenager.

I have played a great deal more professionally on guitar and bass, but have always played mandolin too.

There's a great deal of similarity but the tuning and size of the instruments are the biggest differences. You have to practice both, although there is a lot of technical crossover for certain.

Other than lap steels, I pretty much like stuff in guitar or mandolin tuning. That's enough for my brain to keep straight.

Well said, Dave. I appreciated your insights.