Beginner, intermediate or advanced ?

[macaccia]

Hi folks

I'm wandering about my level in playing mandolin taking in consideration my repertoire.
At the moment I can play, among the others, in a decent way, some errors time to time..., and at the original speed this tunes:

Ookpik waltz (thyle)
Junior heywood (bush)
The old north woods (bush)
Dawgmatism
Dawg breath
Dawg waltz
Kentucky waltz
Big sandy river
Bluegrass stomp
Beaumont rag
Remington ride

To go on studying choosing tunes for my repertoire, I ask you how I can consider myself

Thank for your opinion

Greetings from Italy

Manolo

[DavidKOS]

Hi folks

I'm wandering about my level in playing mandolin taking in consideration my repertoire.
At the moment I can play, among the others, in a decent way, some errors time to time..., and at the original speed this tunes:

Ookpik waltz (thyle)
Junior heywood (bush)
The old north woods (bush)
Dawgmatism
Dawg breath
Dawg waltz
Kentucky waltz
Big sandy river
Bluegrass stomp
Beaumont rag
Remington ride

To go on studying choosing tunes for my repertoire, I ask you how I can consider myself

Thank for your opinion

Greetings from Italy

Manolo

That's great, Manolo....

but do you play any ITALIAN music?

After all, that's the music that was first played on the mandolin.

If I lived in Tuscany, I'd be finding every old mandolin player and learning the local Italian music.

buona fortuna e felice anno nuovo

[onassis]

If you can play those at speed, you are at the very least intermediate. As for advanced, that's up to you to decide. I see no reason to not pursue advanced materials. If it's too much for now, you can always save it for down the road. If it's one-on-one lessons, a teacher should be able to work with you at whatever level you've reached.

Good luck!

[Mandobart]

This is always subjective. The fact you can play these songs at tempo means you are at least intermediate. To be advanced, IMHO, a player should be able to:

1. Hold their own in a jam with others, playing solid backup and taking lead breaks, then shifting back to backup seamlessly.
2. Be able to sight-read a standard tune at tempo. May make some errors but none bad enough to derail the tune OR
3. If you don't read music be able to play along on a new tune after knowing the key and hearing it once. Really anyone considered advanced should be able to do this even if they read music. But reading music is not required to be advanced.

As in every skill, the intermediate level covers the majority of the spectrum. Because of that the term "intermediate" is almost meaningless.

[UsuallyPickin]

Yup .... I agree with the first two respondents. You are a solid intermediate player and are in a position to challenge yourself with ever more difficult material and concepts for improvising. Love the pic of the baby in the case. My youngest fell asleep in my guitar case a time or two, but never where there was a camera around.......... play on.... R/

[JeffD]

Things to consider:

http://monroemandolincamp.com/2015/s...l-definitions/

http://www.flatpik.com/skill-level

and this from Swannanoa Gathering:

Beginner refers to those with no experience at all, or those who play some but are not yet comfortable with the basics. Intermediate students should have mastered basic skills, and be able to tune their instruments, keep time, play the principal chords and scales cleanly, and know how to play a few tunes with confidence (dancers should know basic steps and figures, and how to lead and/or follow). Advanced students should be very comfortable with their instruments and able to focus on style, arrangement and ornamentation.

[AlanN]

I would think an Int could do more than tune the instrument, play basic chords and know a few tunes.

[JeffD]

I am not an advocate any particular grading system. I think the lines are way too fuzzy, and most systems leave out what I think are important aspects - like musicality and expressive playing, audience engagement, ability to recover live in front of an audience, feeling for a particular genre, etc.

But there are more than a few systems out there that are definitely worth a look. Here is another.

http://www.hickeys.com/customer_serv...ing_system.php

[JeffD]

If we acknowledge how subjective this is, lets go all the way. Also acknowledging that we all listen a lot to music and other mandolinners and have or are developing a sense of what is good playing.

So I throw this out:

You are an intermediate player when you can get a kick out of how good you sound on a particular piece, and (non family) audience members occasionally make an effort to earnestly compliment you specifically.

You are an advanced player when you can get a kick out of how good you sound on most of what you play, and other musicians occasionally make an effort to earnestly compliment you specifically.

[AlanN]

and other musicians occasionally make an effort to earnestly compliment you specifically.

and the way this effort is manifested can vary, from outright direct praise to a quiet 'atta, boy!" to non-verbal looks/nods/body language.

[JeffD]

On playing with musicality and expression:

I realized I was getting somewhere when I saw one of my audience members crying, and after the concert she came up and got my address to send me her grandfathers old mandolin he brought over from Europe.

Though most of the credit goes to that great Civil War tear jerker "Lorena".

[foldedpath]

At the risk of getting hung up in semantics and putting things in boxes...

I've always liked the old guild terms of Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master rather than Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced for describing the main levels of growth and achievement as a musician.

"Journeyman" is where you reach a level of competent craftsmanship. Most of what has been described here as Intermediate would fit -- general competence on an instrument, a decent repertoire within one's chosen genre, ability to play up to tempo, and the ability to play well with others at this level. In my view, once you've reached this level you've arrived as a musician. You may want to take it further, but this is the point where probably the majority of amateur musicians level out, and there is no shame in that. All I've ever wanted to be was a Journeyman-level player in whatever genre and whatever instrument I've played in my life.

The next level in this category scheme -- the Masters -- are a much smaller group, just as they were back in the medieval Guild system. They're the ones you go to for lessons, workshops, and stage performance. Not everyone can reach Master level, but we can all reach Journeyman level with enough dedication and practice.

This differs quite a bit from the self-categorizing guidelines for a workshop listed earlier, in that even an Advanced player would still be learning from whatever "name" player was leading the workshop.

[Mandoplumb]

On playing with musicality and expression:

I realized I was getting somewhere when I saw one of my audience members crying, and after the concert she came up and got my address to send me her grandfathers old mandolin he brought over from Europe.
Though most of the credit goes to that great Civil War tear jerker "Lorena".

I've also made some people cry with my playing but ain't nobody give me no mandolin.

[JeffD]

I've also made some people cry with my playing but ain't nobody give me no mandolin.

Its when you make them run that it gets dicey.

[David L]

I don't quite understand the question. What does it matter what you consider yourself to be? Tunes aren't really classified by "beginner" or "advanced". Learn songs that you enjoy! Learning songs which are "difficult" is the way you get better technique. Learning songs which are "easy" is the way you get better musicianship.

[George R. Lane]

I consider myself as an Advanced Noodler.

[JeffD]

The only case where it is useful to know your category, IMO, is in signing up for a class or workshop. Too advanced or too elementary and you won't get anything out of it.

And even there I think its better to find out what specific skills are expected for the class, rather than a variously defined category.

In general though, I find the more I define myself, the less open I am to new and surprising experiences. I can always learn more and I can always do better than I expect, and there is always something delightful around the corner I never heard of.