Re: How to jam
Its taken me about two years to really figure out how to "improvise" a solid break. I had known through similar cafe questions that in bluegrass I needed to stay firmly rooted in the melody, but that didn't translate well to me in terms of building a break that didn't sound plinky, like some childs version of the song I was taking a break on. In the meantime, I learned some licks and double stops, and now I've come back to the melody.
To begin the break I go into a kickoff, (Basically a lick with my index on the root and middle on the 5th. In the key of G, this would translate to 7-5-x-x, OR X-X-3-2.) From this shape you have the scale in front of you to firmly go back to melody. There are also a lot of chop shape licks you can add in if there is a bar with dead air or a note that lingers for a long time... You can also supplement the melody by learning double stops in all the keys. It's all about the melody though, from there you embellish.
NFI, but I'd highly recommend the Flinner BG mandolin 101/102 courses. He's a great teacher and I couldn't be happier with the progress I've seen in a year. I was lucky enough to even begin playing in a band here locally, with the foundations I've learned through those courses I can build some tasty breaks to the songs I'm doing with the band, even if I haven't heard them before.
Good luck!
I suppose my best advice would be to learn scales in the FFCP major shapes...like 0,2,4,5 0,2,4,5, and then learn double stops, G,C,D, and A,D,E, and you can play double stop while taking your breaks. This is a great place to start.
*2002 Collings MT2
*2016 Gibson F5 Custom
*Martin D18
*Deering Sierra
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