Re: Monroe Style Mandolin Question
No matter what flavor of strap you use (or no strap, for that matter) you should be aware of any tightening of muscles anywhere while you play. Shoulder, neck, back, arms, hands, fingers, jaw, eyes (yep, frowning or squinting) … then address it immediately! Even in the middle of a song! Stay alert to that! I’m a mandolin rookie, i.e. less than a year but I’ve played several other instruments through the years and the relaxing awareness mantra is common to all.
I’d read awhile back that Monroe wanted his band to use the one-shoulder strap method so they could don and doff their instruments without taking their hats off; it could be true, it could be myth. I most often use a standard style strap but I got a Dawg Leash (one-sided) strap as an experiment. We’ll see in a year or two how it goes.
A couple years in, now, and still learning!
Ratliff F-style Country Boy
Eastman MDO-305 Octave Mandolin
Kentucky KM-272
I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.
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