RH Form: Assistance Requested

[TheArimathean]

I bought my first mandolin on the day after Christmas. It is a Michael Kelly Solid A and so far it works great for me! I have learned the 2-finger G, C, and D chords and am currently working on their corresponding "chop" chords along with playing scales and simple melodies. I have found no trouble strumming in general, but in other areas I am lacking and I thought you folks might be able to help me.

1. When picking notes out on a single string more often than not I hit the string(s) above it. Should I just mute the string with my left hand or is there a specific form to the stroke so that it only hits one string (course)?

2. There is a common technique (sadly I do not know the name but can merely describe it) of strumming a chord rapidly, almost as if playing the chord as a set of 64th notes. When I *cough* attempt *cough* this on my own however I do not reach a speed anywhere near that of what I hear.

3. Where between the bridge and fretboard is the best place to strike with the pick?

4. Up-strokes and Down-strokes, how are they applied, what is their main purpose, and what is the best way to master them?

Thank you all for reading this long post (typed by very sore fingers) and I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

[Jim Garber]

I would heartily recommend that you find yourself a teacher to guide you thru some proper technique. It sounds like this may be your first fretted instrument. Is that so?

Generally advice: take it slow. You must be patient in learning these techniques.

1. Pick slowly and carefully to get full tone and fret carefully. You can build up speed later. No need to mute the strings with your left hand.

2. Tremolo. Some played have been playing for years and never master it. There are methods and prob the best way is (you got it) take it slowly and break down to measured notes. Once again, a good teacher should guide you thru this. IMHO you can wait to do this. i would concentrate on single string picking and chords right now.

3. Depends on what sound you want. Experiment. No real right or wrong in this case.

4. That is a whole thread in itself.

[yankees1]

Other than locating a local mandolin instructor, check out Pete Martin's free videos at petimarpress.com as he has videos for the beginning mandolin player and he does offer lessons online by Skype.

[bluenote23]

As a beginner (I've been playing since October) here is what I can tell you.
1. Hitting the right notes is a question of practice. I don't think there are any tricks. Like Jim Garber says, play slow and then build up to speed. This does not happen overnight. Day after day, there will be small improvements and eventually your muscles will learn and it will become second nature.
2. Again as Jim Garber says, don't worry about this too much but again, it's just a case of practice and more practice. Again, it's not overnight. After a couple of months of doing the same excerise over and over every day, it will become second nature.
3. If you have an extension, I would say around the 24th or 25th fret. The tone is better when you are not too close to the bridge. Also make sure you hold your pick parallel to the strings.
4. Get used to doing more alternate up-down-up-down picking than always picking in the same direction. Again, there's no tricks to doing this. Just practicing day in and day out.

When you want to get into a more structured practicing regime, I would also suggest checking out Banjo Ben Clark's online video lessons. I have found them very useful. They are not free but at $5 a month, I think they are a great deal. He injects this hokey humor into some of his free videos but the actual lessons are all down to business serious. He tabs all his videos and the tabs include up and down stroke notation which he feels (and he's not alone in this) is really important.

I have mentionned these lessons in another thread and it's only because I found them to be really helpful that I am insisting so.

[TheArimathean]

Thanks for all the great advice! I can already start feeling my hand adjust to picking and I'm becoming more accurate with my strokes. It will all fit together with time! And in answer to your question Jim, this isn't technically my first fretted instrument, I also play bass guitar (self taught), but there's very few similarities between the two