Improvising and just getting better.

[vg159]

Hello al,

I've been playing Mando for, gulp, a long time. I've been plateaued out for a while now. I need to get better (don't we all). I can play all sorts of fiddle tunes and can improvise OK (sort of). I like to stay around the melody when I do. I'm looking for suggestions on a DVD that will help me move forward. I would not object to something that would be considered beginning to intermediate. Help!

[Bluegrasstjej]

I can only say amen to that.

[groveland]

How about a little more info first -

Do you rely on open strings a lot?
Are you restricted to one, two or three keys?
Do you read notation?
How's your theory? Scales? How's you chord knowledge?
Do you know the note names all over the neck?
Can you find the scales all over the neck?
Can you build chords from scratch?
Can you hear a melody and play it on the fly?
Can you hear a chord progression and play it on the fly?
Can you hear a chord progression and improvise over it on the fly?
How's your tone?
How's your technique?

These are questions I ask myself. So much to learn. What area do you want to attack first?

[AW Meyer]

It's not a DVD, but I highly recommend Brad Laird's book, Mandolin Master Class. It comes with a cd included. It helped my understanding of the fretboard and improvisation immensely.

[David Horovitz]

vg159,

I feel your pain. I'm in roughly the same predicament. There are so many instructional materials out there it's hard to recommend just one. My view is there are no short cuts or silver bullets, it just takes time and practice. Isolate the problem areas and develop a plan, then start working away at it daily. If you don't already know scales, arpeggios and chords all over the neck, learn them. There are tons of books and videos just about theory too. Practice with a metronome or other rhythm track. Record standard chord progression and practice soloing over them, playing as freely as possible, even if it doesn't sound at all like the melody anymore. Lastly, play in as many informal jams as possible and try to apply all that you practice to the "real world."

These are things I'm trying to do, but I can tell you, it's slow going and takes a lot of discipline.

The only other alternative, which is not an option for me, is quit your day job and join a working band.

[groveland]

Isolate the problem areas and develop a plan, then start working away at it daily.
That's what I was getting at with my prior post. I listed out a dozen items that should give you food for thought.

Also,


play in as many informal jams as possible and try to apply all that you practice
That's at the top of any list of solutions. Until you try it out with folks, it's all theoretical. For me, it's not until I do something live, in context, and under the gun a couple times that it becomes part of me.

Oh, and I have a short article on how chords work on mando: Who needs a chord encyclopedia? (http://www.grovelandsoftwarelabs.com/modeexplorerweb/home/lessons/mandolin/chords.aspx). Some have found it useful.