Re: Brand New to Mandolin--Advice?
First off, welcome!
Now for a little bit of advice that isn't about playing your own thing.
The mandolin is not -- alas -- a "little guitar" which means that it's an instrument with its own technique, its own tradition and its own strengths and weaknesses. It's not just that it's tuned in fifths and has double strings -- you can always play a 12-string and play odd tunings on your guitar (you know the drill: DADGAD, drop D, etc. etc.). But holding the mandolin and the placement of your thumb and the angle of your fingers is NOT that of the guitar. The callouses you have on your fingers will not be in the right place for the mandolin, generally. You are beginning to learn a new instrument, not a smaller variation of one you already play. I know how to play various voices of recorder and I was at one time fairly proficient on the flute. That did not help me play the mandolin. It just helped me understand the theory behind what I was doing and gave me a good idea how much time it would take to absorb stuff.
So I'll suggest you hit up a friend who plays mandolin and let him/her show you how to hold the beast, where to place your fingers and what to do with your thumb. If you don't have a mandolin-playing friend, ask a fiddle-playing friend. Their technique is closer to mandolin than guitar technique is. Barring that, watch the teaching videos mentioned above (chris thile, mike marshall) to see how to hold the mandolin standing and sitting.
The music part is up to you. But it's always better to start from the beginning doing it right. It's less fuss in the long run than re-learning from bad habits.
--------------------------------
1920 Lyon & Healy bowlback
1923 Gibson A-1 snakehead
1952 Strad-o-lin
1983 Giannini ABSM1 bandolim
2009 Giannini GBSM3 bandolim
2011 Eastman MD305
Bookmarks