Is mandolin technique harder than other instruments?

[lukmanohnz]

As far as clean playing goes, I got a LOT out of Mike Marshall's Fundamentals DVD. It's not as 'fun' as playing new songs or fiddle tunes, but some of your practice hours spent on this material should pay dividends in your technique. I do think the mandolin requires more technique to get good tone than guitar. To state it more precisely, I think poor technique on mandolin sounds worse than poor technique on guitar.

[Mandobart]

Much easier. The violin helps you not at all.

I wouldn't say that. I came to mando from a violin and guitar background. Violin gave me the left hand fingering for mando. Guitar gave me a head start on learning to pick. Between them I was playing fiddle tunes as soon as I first picked up a mandolin. But...I wouldn't learn violin first just to make learning mandolin easier.

[catmandu2]

IME, fiddle helps mandolin playing significantly. Tenor banjo also helps mandolin skills. Both fiddle and tenor banjo require more exacting technique from left and right hands respectively. When I pick up a mandolin, I find my technique enhanced in all respects--from playing fiddle and tenor banjo

[Elliot Luber]

Violin gave me the left hand fingering for mando. Guitar gave me a head start on learning to pick. Between them I was playing fiddle tunes as soon as I first picked up a mandolin. But...I wouldn't learn violin first just to make learning mandolin easier.

Exactly. I ordered an Eastman from The Mandolin Store, and I was amazed that I could play everything I knew on violin right out of the box -- particularly because I could no longer play it on violin!

[mandroid]

In comparison to the Oboe, or Clarinet?