How My Life Was Changed

[jmcgann]

Back around 1980 I graduated from Berklee, where my main focus was on learning theory and composition. I could play OK but my tone and technique were "not happening", and I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get a sound approaching that of my heros. So, I decided to call Andy Statman and arrange a lesson.

That was the only lesson I ever took on mandolin. Andy got me thinking VERY seriously about my right hand. I was clenching my fingers in, which was limiting my movement. He showed me and got me thinking of ways to get gravity working for me, to make the act of playing much easier than the struggle I was going through.

My left hand was the "flying fingers" syndrome- rather than keeping the fingers down as I ascend the string, I would lift each finger under the new note on the string. As the link below details, this makes about 80% more work for yourself .

I have detailed a bunch of right and left hand technique ideas collected from my experiences both with Andy and from casual "picking the brains" of other great players here. (http://www.johnmcgann.com/techtips.html)

After the lesson, I went to a hardware store and bought a long vertical mirror. I put it in my practice room so I could watch my hands. I took me three months, practicing untold hours, to get the new techniques to become automatic. During this period, I was playing bluegrass 2 to 4 nights a week in bars- where, of course, in an effort to keep up with the fast tempos, the new techniques would fall to shreds and I'd be back hacking away.

After the 3rd month, I began to be able to deal with the new way of playing on the gig as well (lots of metronome practice!). From here, I went on to winning regional mando contests and eventually Winfield.

The point of my post is to say that if you are willing to work hard at the right stuff, you can really change your musical life. The first point is that you need to feel unsatisfied with your playing (I still do and hope I always will- that's how you keep growing!).

The second step is to find a great teacher who is a great player. The combination is rare.

The third thing is to enjoy the ride. You'll probably be looking at long hours of dedicated practice- but you will get results in a relatively short time (I could do three months in prison if it made me a better player!)

I hope this post may be of some help to folks who get down on themselves for "lack of talent". I consider myself the product of hard work much more than talent.

Best holiday wishes to all you fine Cafe patrons!

[John Flynn]

Truly words of wisdom! Thanks for this and all the advice you share so graciously online.

[Mike Buesseler]

I find this post from John so generous, articulate, unpretentious, and helpful--to say nothing of unsolicited, I hardly know what to say. Except maybe thank you, John, for loaning us your gifts.

The one sticking point for most of us, as you point out, is finding that great teacher/player combination. I keep my eyes wide open all the time...

Thanks again, John.

Mike Buesseler

[Milan Christi]

My right hand is my nemesis - thanks a lot for posting this stuff, John, it's very encouraging. Playing the same scales and things with the metronome at such a s-l-o-w tempo makes me weary but I know there's light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for shedding that light!

Milan

[Eric F.]

Thanks, John. If I didn't have a book and DVD by you, I'd feel guilty about all the free help!

[Peter Hackman]

Nice story.

I'm reminded of the main reason I never took lessons
in any formal sense. I have no natural talent
for music, none whatever. I assumed I would be dismissed
as a hopeless case so I simply had to learn on
my own.

My first instrument was the guitar and it
was awfully slow, and I was as much helped as hindered
by the perverse fact that I could read music years
before I plucked one single tone on the guitar.
I wasted a couple of years before finally realizing what music-making is about.

Amazingly I didn't fall into all the technical traps.
Having small hands I was forced to arch my
left hand away from the fretboard
in order to reach all the notes,
for example.

Apart from that I learned by example, reading, listening,
finally transcribing. I didn't have a good right
hand for backup work, BG style. In the mid-60's
I met a fellow from Detroit (and a cousin of Neil
Rosenberg's), Tom Wolf. I watched him play
(his main instrument was actually the banjo)
and noticed how the pick came to rest on the next string after plucking a bass note. Thus I learned about the rest stroke.

In 1969 on my first and only trip to the US I asked
Tom and his cousin which people to meet and Tom
suggested, among others, his friend Eric Schoenberg,
who was then living in New York City. I was into
a bit of finger-picking and I remember showing Eric
my arrangement of Yesterday, in open D.

He listened and commented on it, roughly, there's some
nice stuff in there and some junk. Then he showed
me a few things and I realized I would never be
able to put in *that* kind of work in working out songs.

So you might say that was the only lesson I ever took, and it made me give up finger-picking altogether,
right away, in New York City, on the
11th of August in 1969.

Eric was certainly not out to discourage me but
he made me realize that my calling was the flat pick
and I've stuck with that ever since.

[Ken Sager]

Wow. Reading John's and Peter's posts clearly shows us there are two paths that diverge in the woods. I wouldn't say that one path requires more courage than the other, but it's clear the outcomes can be vastly different.

Without an initial self view that includes a capacity to exceed expectations one can never exceed expectations.

I would never sit with a teacher who couldn't encourage (or inspire) me to go beyond where I am right now. I guess I wouldn't call Peter's experience a lesson, either.

Thanks for the insights, friends.

Surprise,
Ken

[ShaneJ]

Wow, Mr. McGann, that's great info! Thank you for sharing it!

[Dfyngravity]

I would also like to thank John for his post. I have had a few lessons in my learning of the mandolin. Over all, they have been fairly helpful.

My first two lessons were from a guy who taught classical mandolin, classical guitar, lute and violin. His main worries were making sure I could sight read. He spent more time with me learning to site read(noticing patterns, reading serveral messures ahead, and rhythm) than he would teaching me technique. After a couple lessons I wasn't totally satisfied so I stopped going. However, I did learn to read music efficiently which has made me an over all better player. But the biggest thing I learned was something he didn't teach me, but my best friend who was taking classical guitar lessons right before me. So I would sit there and listen to evething he was telling him. One thing I picked up on and transfered to mandolin would be some of the greatest info I have received(passivly). He told my friend to look for patterns while playing. He said there are many times where you can keep a finger or several fingers on the same string and move the others to get where you are going next. That little point has really helped my playing, especially with building speed.

The second person who gave me several lessons was Pete Frostic of OSFT, some know who that its. He is a very good player and understands a lot about playing mandolin. The first lesson he asked me to play a fiddle tune. So I played Blackberry Blossom. Stumbled here and there, but oh well. The first thing he told me after I played the tune was that I need to lift my wrist off the birdge and to make sure I was gripping the pick between the side of my pointer finger and pad of my thumb. He then commented on some things that I was doing well. Like keeping my fingers on my left hand down on the fingerboard and that my pick stroke over all was solid in the fact that it was a small motion with no motions wasted. After a couple lessons he started teaching my to improvise over melodies, and thanks to him I have progressed fairy good through this process. Sadly I had to stop going because I had to start college, but I difintely learned some great tips that have helped me advance.


The next thing I am wanting to master is how to listening to someone sing or play a melody and then be able to play it. But I know that has to do with more of my ears and many years of playing than anything else. But I know there is some trick or tip someone has that will help make the process much easier.

[jasona]

Thanks again John--as I said in the other thread your description on right hand positioning has made an immediate impact on my picking.

I like many have had few lessons. I took lessons weekly for a while, but while the instructor was good, I found there to have been too little time to fully absorb the information--some of which I decided didn't work for me down the road. However, the occasional lesson bears more fruit for me, and they tend to come when I am ready for the information.

[jmcgann]

Thanks for the nice comments!

Peter, sorry to hear about the discouragement there. There's too much competiton in music IMHO and since I stopped competing (literally and practically), I am having boatloads more fun.

Dfyngravity- to develop the ability to work with vocal melodies, you can work in the comfort of your own home with recordings- before trying to play them melodies back, just listen and "get them in your head" a few times. Then, with the recording, find the first few notes as you play along. Then, turn off the recording and see if you can recall the shape of the melody in your mind, and try to trace it on the instrument. Then replay the recording and see how you match up. Getting a "sketch' rather than every little nuance is a good starting place. If you do this #a bunch, you'll get a sixth sense going, which is good since the other 5 will probably be busy at the time http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Another gem I got from Andy: "You Newgrass guys all play jazz with that 'businessman's bounce' like Jethro- listen to horn players- they play MUCH more evenly!". Dang, he was right again, and my swing feel improved a lot from playing w/ metronome on 2 and 4 and getting the 8ths closer to even than the usual 66%/33% that most books suggest.

I have had my share of BAD teachers too, from the psycho who called an entire listening/analysis class "a bunch of clowns" to a conducting teacher who told me "you hold the baton like...a "Tee You Are Dee!" to a insult monger jazz guitar teacher who turned out to be a wife beater and fled to Amsterdam...this is why I am such a deep bluesman http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/blues.gif #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[mandopete]

John,

Thanks for your post and insight. #After several years of operating as a "functioning, self-taught" mandolin player, I too decided to take a lesson. I contacted John Reischman, whom I consider to be one of the finest musicians and mandolin players on the planet and arranged for a 1-hour lesson. #During that hour we focused almost solely on the right hand. John gave me some very good advice regarding pick angle and grip, that have already improved my tone. #I was somewhat surprised to find that some things that I had deduced through trial and error were things he was doing and his comments just confirmed my notions.

Here's to everyone that teaches...thank-you for what you do!

[Peter Hackman]

Peter, sorry to hear about the discouragement there. There's too much competiton in music IMHO and since I stopped competing (literally and practically), I am having boatloads more fun.
Please don't get my wrong on this.
I still think
Eric taught me an important lesson,
and I'm only grateful for it, and always was. It
was good for my development to concentrate on flatpicking
the guitar.

[dang]

When I heard of the passing of John McGann this thread was one of the first things I thought of. Although I have valued the advice he shared regularly, the original post was a point of inspiration for me. I printed a copy and put it on my practice wall, and got a mirror to watch my hands while I played. This inspiration got me over a plateau I was on at the time. The timing seems right to bump this thread and hopefully help out another avid mandolin player with some sound advice from John.

[August Watters]

Thanks for reposting, how nice to see this thread again! It reminds me of that time, John speaks of here, right after he graduated from Berklee. It was the same time as I arrived there, and almost immediately I went out and took a lesson with John. Pretty soon he was playing his @$$ off in two of my student recitals. I still have that recording somewhere. . . .

John's advice here is excellent, about the mirror and the self-diagnosis. I still use a mirror in my practice space for the same reason, and it still helps. The link to his right hand advice reminds me of the ways in which our paths diverged, as players and as teachers. (for a discussion of the medium-pick perspective, check out Simon Mayor's books.) John had great tone and was good at teaching others tone production, but there are other schools of thought too.

John was an inspiration and a challenge to us all -- I love the way in this post he challenges us to be our best, and avoid all the self-destructive patterns we too often get caught up in. I think, for those of us who knew him from this online community, John will continue to inspire and challenge us for a long time.

[evanreilly]

I consider myself lucky to have taken mandolin lessons with John. He made my buy the big black Franz metronome, which I still have, and work with it.
I also did the look-in-the-mirror route to straighten out my right hand technique. I had watched Monroe's fluidity and economy of motion and strove mightily to play like that. I describe his technique as the ball-bearing wrist; economy of motion!!! I would practice in front of the bathroom mirror late at night, watching and listening.

[JeffD]

This is really great.

[jasona]

I've apparently been away from the Cafe for too long. I hadn't learned of John's passing until just now :(

He was a good one and will be missed.

[dang]

Thought I would bump this thread with the 1 year anniversary of John's death and all...
And I know I am a day late!

[JRcohan]

Great stuff in this thread. I am in the process of attempting to work with gravity, it's easier that way. "Don't play anything that's too hard." Joe Pass. Also trying to cure my flying fingers and keep them nimble and ready. Thanks for posting.

[little george]

I´m just new (and sadly late) to know the work and music of John McGann. I´m loving the music in is youtube channel.
Since his personal page is down I can´t get the document he offered us in this post. It sounds very interesting, so, may any other cafe member be kind enough to send me a copy of it? I would aprecciate it very much...

When I see those videos I just can´t stop thinking how lucky were the people he teached to...

[greg_tsam]

I´m just new (and sadly late) to know the work and music of John McGann. I´m loving the music in is youtube channel.
Since his personal page is down I can´t get the document he offered us in this post. It sounds very interesting, so, may any other cafe member be kind enough to send me a copy of it? I would aprecciate it very much...

When I see those videos I just can´t stop thinking how lucky were the people he teached to...

John was a gift to this community, IMHO, and his passing was a great loss to many no matter if you knew him personally or through his writings and posts. Unfortunately his website is down but the wayback machine has snapshots of it. Here's the page you requested, George.

http://web.archive.org/web/20120302122300/http://www.johnmcgann.com/techtips.html

[little george]

Thanks a lot for the link, Greg.
This is my first time to see that "wayback machine", and is very interesting.
Thanks again!

[greg_tsam]

My pleasure. Glad I could contribute and, in a small way, help keep John's work alive to fresh faces.

[dang]

Another bump for the 2 year anniversary of John's passing... Glad his name has been around so much in the headlines recently, thanks to the homespun re-release.

[jshane]

I was just watching a video-lesson with John. Such a focused, articulate, and yet clearly compassionate person... his playing is so layered and complex. I wish I had met him in person.

[DMC]

I'm another poster who was not aware of John McGann's passing until recently (I stopped playing for the past 3 years and wasn't on the café much at all).

I was really sad to hear.

I have two of his DVDs and all of his gypsy jazz lessons. I really appreciated all of the tremendous advice he would offer freely on here. A great player and teacher. He seemed like such a great guy. RIP.

[dang]

Another thread bump; six years goes by faster then I would like to admit. I hope some new eyes see this thread that might benefit.

If there is any question of the power of the conversations in this community I would like to say that I never had the privilege of meeting John but his words from 2005 have stuck in my head all these years.

My successes - in all of my life - and why I found this inspiring can't be summed up better then Johns own words:


I hope this post may be of some help to folks who get down on themselves for "lack of talent". I consider myself the product of hard work much more than talent.

[FredK]

dang, thanks for bumping this. It's the first I've seen of this and there's a lot of meat in this thread. Gonna chew on it for a while - and go look up John McGann on the Tube.

[onassis]

I just encountered this composition in honor of John a few months ago, and it's been on heavy rotation for me ever since.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPPyN7-3Uzc

[MikeEdgerton]

My favorite bit of wisdom from John when speaking about using a capo.


I love steel guitarist Jerry Byrd's quote about all things having to do with gear, tunings, capos, etc:

" If you can play, it doesn't matter, and if you can't play, it doesn't matter!"

Sometimes you need the sound of open strings ringing, and retuning on a mando (especially on stage) isn't an attractive option. As many others have said, the sound should be the reason. I've recorded with singers in Ab and had no ethical dilemma capoing at the 1st fret. I also used one on a set of tunes at Winfield the year I got 1st place in the mandolin contest. Nobody hassled me about that...

https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?81345-Are-capos-cheating&p=1011146&viewfull=1#post1011146

If I could take lessons from anyone I probably would have made John the first choice. He had a logical approach to the instrument with no airs.

[dang]

8 years gone but still around... Thanks again for some ongoing needed inspiration

I was thinking about the original post by John a lot in the last 6 months and how this part related to my recent changes in right hand technique:


During this period, I was playing bluegrass 2 to 4 nights a week in bars- where, of course, in an effort to keep up with the fast tempos, the new techniques would fall to shreds and I'd be back hacking away

After the 3rd month, I began to be able to deal with the new way of playing on the gig as well (lots of metronome practice!)....

About 2 years ago I started gigging a lot with a bluegrass band and we typically play 4-8 shows a month, often 3+ hours in length. With all the playing time I was struggling with some technique issues and, being a lefty who plays right, my right hand is something I am always striving to improve. As someone who had often let my right pinky finger drag or plant I was changing to a more closed hand technique with no planting (except on occasional tremolo).

Long shows, fast tempos and my technique issues were glaring. Everything would break down and by the end "hacking away" is the right way to put it. Untold hours of metronome work, several revisions in my approach (and more like 6+ months of practice) and my tone is better, my endurance is better, my technique is better then ever.

I just wanted to share how John helped me through another plateau in my evolution as a mandolin player, and express my gratitude :cool: :mandosmiley:

[dang]

10 years gone but not forgotten thread bump

[CES]

John was an inspiration to many, myself included, and was a heckuva picker himself. I still can’t get all the tunes in his OM book to sound like the accompanying tracks, but I’m getting closer…

[JeffLearman]

Thanks for the bump. I hadn't known about John. I was reading his OP about hard work and it reminded me of what I heard recently:

"When I skip practice for a day, I notice it. When I skip for two days, my bandmates notice. When I skip for three days, the audience does."

My response: Gee, no wonder I suck!

I'm looking forward to learning enjoying his youtubes and learning from his tech tips. RIP, John, I wish we'd met.

[mandocanoe]

The link on the initial post is no longer valid. Does anyone have a new link or a copy of the info that John so generously shared?
Thanks.

[Jim Garber]

His YouTube channel is still working. https://youtube.com/user/jmcgann00

Website is long gone.

[journeybear]

When I saw this post, I thought it was odd, a post from John reappearing after so long - starting so long ago and then showing up ten years after he left us all behind - and then I read it. Some very astute observations and sage advice, very much in his wheelhouse. Thanks for bumping it up in such a dedicated way, dang. :mandosmiley:

I've had very little "instruction" from anyone - much more often thoughts and suggestions on a peer level gained from casually chatting with other mandolinists. Someone in college showed me the G chop chord - which, to be sure, was in the Mel Bay book of mandolin chords, but his emphasis made an impression on me. This may have helped counteract somewhat my left hand's tendency to scrunch down, and enabled my fingers to spread a bit more than otherwise. But other than that, I've stumbled through and figured out stuff on my own, for the most part. I wonder whether a good lesson from a good teacher might have helped, back when there was a chance. Too late, now; I know I'm a goner. :crying: Going to hell in a bucket, but at least I'm enjoying the ride. :grin:

[Jim Garber]

I found his techtips page from 2005 in the WayBack machine. Here is the first section:

RIGHT HAND CONSIDERATIONS FOR FLATPICKING:


The right hand makes the instrument speak, so you can consider it the source of your voice on the instrument. Wind instrument players refer to " embouchure" when discussing tone production--the way the mouth and lips fit on the mouthpiece to create their personal sound. Awareness of right hand position is crucial to achieve a great tone on your instrument.

Pick material--the choice of material and thickness of the pick has a huge effect on your tone. A medium Fender pick, played in a traditional fashion with the point, has a totally different tone than a 1.5mm Dunlop Tortex (synthetic tortoise shell) pick played on one of it's upper, beveled edges.

Explore the options of tone by trying different picks. You'll find a snappy, trebly attack from the thinner picks, and a warm, burnished tone from the thicker ones. Irish musicians tend toward the thin picks, as they like the quick snap for fast picked triplets. My favorite American acoustic musicians (Tony Rice, David Grisman, Sam Bush, Russ Barenberg) all use the rounded corners of their picks to get their individual, amazing sounds. Experiment with different picks until you find what you like best.

If you play electric, you may want a thinner pick to go with the lighter string gauges.I switch from a 1.5 Dunlop Tortex 500 Series Delrin on acoustic to a Fender Extra Heavy on electric. It's amazing what a difference your pick can make.


Pick angle--if you hit the strings with the pick at a flat, perpendicular angle, you'll be slapping the string. I like to get a loud,warm sound by picking at a slight angle, tipping my right thumbnail toward the floor.The idea is to draw the pick through the string, much like a fiddler draws the bow across the string.


The "window"--visualize a window starting on the 5th string (A). The pick can reach back to the 6th string and up to the 4th string. If you stay within that window while attacking the A string, you'll achieve economy of motion. To continue this concept to the other strings: imagine the window on each string. To deliver the pick to the string, you must have mobility. You should have your elbow relaxed enough to drop your hand down to the 1st string, and back up to the 6th string. Any kind of anchoring of your hand will limit your mobility and ability to deliver the same stroke, with maximum effect, to each string.
Remember turntables? The early ones had a pivot point, and the needle would be at a much sharper angle on the last song of the LP than the 1st. Then, the "linear tracking tonearm" came along, that allowed the tonearm to move laterally, so the angle of the needle remained the same. Try to imaging your pick as the needle, and your "tonearm" moving to deliver the pick to each string at the same relative angle, without twisting to reach any string. It is really comfortable and easy when you get the hang of it!
The pick motion comes from the wrist, and the elbow (and a little shoulder) move to deliver the pick to the string.
I touch the "karate-chop" edge of my hand on the bridge pins (acoustic guitar) or just below the saddle (mandolin, electric guitar) and let it move as I play. I can retain a sense of where I am, without impeding motion. ¨The universal tip is that you should be as loose and relaxed as possible, even at maximum volume.


Mobility--To alter the tone quality of your sound, you'll want to move your hand from just above the bridge (most bright and trebly) toward the neck (increasingly warm and dark). There is a huge range of expression available in tone color, with the pick or with bare fingers (or nails, as in classical guitar). One of the great tone colorists on the guitar is Julian Bream. Listen to any of his recordings, especially his interpretations of Bach-- it's hard to believe it's all coming from one guitar played solo.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Gypsy Jazz Guitar is a whole 'nother world of right hand technique. Downstrokes, rest strokes and all: get you to www.djangobooks.com (https://web.archive.org/web/20051028182555/http://www.djangobooks.com/) and check out "Gypsy Picking".

[Jim Garber]

RIGHT HAND CONSIDERATIONS FOR FINGERSTYLE
There are many schools of thought on fingerstyle guitar. The world of classical guitar has it's own set of practices and dogmas, all worth considering for the sake of expression. Contemporary acoustic steel string players often borrow concepts of hand position from classical guitar- and at least as often, disregard them. Open mindedness lets you explore the possibilities.


My own experience with fingerstyle guitar began with Travis style picking, like most of us. The alternating bass style is found in a lot of styles, from Hawaiian slack-key to country blues. I studied classical guitar as an "outpatient" at Boston Conservatory in the late 70's. The concepts of right hand fingerstyle techniques I found applicable to all styles:


Position-if you look down at your right hand and see an upside down "V" shape between your thumb and index finger, you'll have good mobility and independence.


Angle of attack-the way your finger plucks the string affects the tone. Drawing your finger slightly sideways across the string yields a different sound than plucking straight up.


Swinging from the knuckle-a tip learned from the excellent video "Effortless Classical Guitar" by William Kanengiser (Hot Licks, P.O.Box 337, Pound Ridge NY 10576). Let your fingers swing "like a door on it's hinges" from the big knuckle out toward your palm. You can feel the power of the attack much more than working from the 2nd knuckle, like I used to.

Consider these varied approaches to fingerstyle playing:

Classical--The majority of players use their fingernails and a combination of flesh and fingers. The followers of Tarrega relied on bare flesh without nails, a practice which has fallen out of favor in the twentieth century.


Thumbpick and bare fingers--often used on electric guitar, the thumbpick can easily overpower the bare fingers on an acoustic guitar. Bare fingers can be flicked forward, to get an attack with the entire fingernail.


Thumbpick and fingerpicks--Some players love the projection gained from the use of fingerpicks , others dislike the sound and feel. The tone depends on the material (metal or plastic) and gauge. Try them all- you may use them occasionally to achieve a specific sound.

[Jim Garber]

LEFT HAND CONSIDERATIONS FOR ALL
Whether you subscribe to the classical ideal of keeping the thumb on the back of the neck, never looping around the fingerboard, or go for the blues/rock big vibrato where you have to let that thumb wrap up and over the fingerboard, there are some common things to watch out for:


Arch-keep your left hand fingers separated, so they aren't bunched together. A good basic rule is to assign each finger to a fret, for example on guitar your 1st finger at the 2nd fret, 2nd finger 3rd fret, 3rd finger 4th fret, 5th fret. Let the fingers be independent.


Keep your fingers down as you ascend the string.
One of the most important tips I can offer. I see this in my students all the time, and I can relate to the difficulty of breaking the "flying fingers" habit, because I had it for a long time myself. If you've "hit the wall" in terms of being able to build speed, this one's for you.

Play (on any string) the notes listed in the "arch" paragraph above. Play the sequence as written. If, by the end, all 4 fingers aren't down on the string, you are wasting energy by lifting the fingers. When you play the 1st note, leave the 1st finger down. Play the 2nd, leave both the 1st and 2nd fingers down. Play the 3rd, leave the 1st 2 down. Play the 4th by adding your 4th finger, leaving the other three fingers in place.

OK-The was four movements for four notes. If you lift each finger with each new note, it takes 7 movements for 4 notes- about half as effective. The act of lifting those fingers slows you down a lot! Lifting does nothing to help you at all.
Apply this knowledge to tunes that you play already, and see if it doesn't help.


SYNCHRONIZE BOTH HANDS
Be sure that each note is held by your left hand until the instant of the next pick attack (keeping your left hand fingers down while ascending helps this, big time).

Apply these ideas to your existing repertoire.


Regardless of musical style, we are all concerned with "sounding good". Basic musicianship requires a sense of balance between tone, timing, dynamics and soul. The first three are easy to come by!



- - - Updated - - -

PRACTICE TECHNIQUES
Playing with a metronomeUsing a metronome (or drum machine) is a great way to develop a solid sense of timing. I often set the metronome to click on beats 2 and 4 instead of the usual 1 and 3 (or 1234). It can be hard to "find the beat" if your perception becomes locked on 1 and 3. If that's the case, try counting 1234 1234 123 1234 (tel:1234 1234 123 1234) 1234. The bar of 3 turns the beat around. In any event, with the accents on the backbeat (2 and 4), the metronome will be acting as a mandolin player "chopping", or a snare drum backbeat. I find it easier to "swing" this way.


Different styles of music use different placements of notes in relation to the beat. For example, the laid-back feeling of a "Kind Of Blue"-era Miles Davis solo , phrased a hair behind the beat, contrasts with the feeling of a bluegrass solo, which rides up ahead of the beat like a hood ornament. Practice phrasing notes behind, right on top, and a little ahead of the beat. This can really make or break the "feel" of a performance.

A great practice aid for jazz musicians:

CD Metronome is a 2 disk set of live drums playing swing-time in a wide range of tempos. The disks come in a durable leather like wallet and cost $25.00 all together. Contact Aaron Wolf at (617)262-9098 (tel:(617)262-9098) or Lobosaxy@hotmail.com if interested.
Mastery of these rhythmic subtleties will help you get more mileage and enjoyment from your playing. More on the metronome on the Flatpicking Contests (https://web.archive.org/web/20051028182555/http://www.johnmcgann.com/contest.html) page.

PLAYING REALLY SLOWLYThis is harder and less obvious than it sounds--set that metronome for a slower than usual speed and relax, play through the piece with the best tone that you can imagine. Prioritize tone over speed and the speed will come. Good tone comes from good playing habits (technique).

Notice how "groove" is relative to the tempo. Getting a good 'in the pocket' feeling at a slow tempo is very gratifying.

WORKING ON DETAILS-ISOLATING THE TOUGH BITSPull out the difficult sections and play them slowly. Rethink the fingerings, analyze what your fingers are doing. Any problem can be solved if approached calmly and intelligently. It is very satisfying to sit down for a practice session unable to execute a passage, and to work on it slowly and methodically until it becomes easier.
The Amazing Tuck Andress has lots more thoughts on technique here. (https://web.archive.org/web/20051028182555/http://www.tuckandpatti.com/pick-finger_tech.html)ELECTRIC GUITAR SOUNDSUnless you have an isolated practice space to `crank it up', it can be hard to `get your sound' at a low volume. Practicing at low volume with a clean tone is a good way to keep your playing honest-distortion pedals are great for what they do, but in excess they can hide bad playing. A fuzz box is no substitute for a good amp sound.

Anyway, the interaction between your touch and the amp is something you can't practice without the amp being set at performance volume (he patiently explained as the police broke down the door). Another tip is that sounds really change in context--a great solo guitar tone can really change when surrounded by bass and drums. That great tone you got on your own will probably require some tweaking in a band context.


Don't overlook how your right hand position and pick choice can affect your tone-it can do much more for you than a multi-FX box.

See my Electric Guitar and Amps (https://web.archive.org/web/20051028182555/http://www.johnmcgann.com/electric.html) page for more opinions.

[Jim Garber]

Last section: I love his notation at the end… “Don’t forget to have fun”. I know a lot of the li is will not work but you get a lot of wisdom here. Someone should resurrect his site although I am guessing his books (assuming they are available) would cover the same ground.

CHOICES OF STRINGS AND INSTRUMENTS
My attitude is that music comes first, conceptually, before instruments and gear--but they are a very close second. Some folks are very picky about their instruments and amps, with good reason--they deliver your voice (but they aren't your voice). Experiment with different string gauges and pick types, they are the most affordable changes you can make. Electric guitarists (https://web.archive.org/web/20051028182555/http://www.johnmcgann.com/electric.html) are the biggest gearheads for obvious reasons. Don't let the equipment quest sidetrack you from sharpening your musicianship. There is usually something better/faster/louder/more vintage/more cutting edge to be had. The universal quest for tone really begins and ends with your hands, delivering messages from your mind and soul

.
A nice old Tele and Fender Vibrolux is a good way to get those messages across, though. I use my J.R. Zeidler acoustic guitars and mandolinsexclusively, also his excellent electric guitars,and I'm very happy with my old Fender amps and '92 Matchless SC-30 amplifier. I also play some Fender and Epiphone guitars and steels (https://web.archive.org/web/20051028182555/http://www.johnmcgann.com/dobro.html), a Regal dobro (https://web.archive.org/web/20051028182555/http://www.johnmcgann.com/dobro.html), and a couple of pedal steels (Zeidler, Carter D-10). More (https://web.archive.org/web/20051028182555/http://www.cyboard.com/ent/zeidler.html) stuff on electrics here. (https://web.archive.org/web/20051028182555/http://www.johnmcgann.com/electric.html)

A SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT SPEEDEverybody wants it. Don't try to beat the reaper--work on good tone and timing at a slow speed and work your way up the rungs. Keep your hands in sync, remember the tips about each hands. Relax.


WORKING WITH TRANSCRIPTIONSIt is a great feeling of accomplishment to be able to play along with a favorite recording, at speed, emulating all the subtleties of a musician's style. However, you can get even more mileage from a piece by isolating your favorite passages and tearing them apart--trying the part in different keys--looking at the note choices and hearing how they interact with the chords. Try applying the ideas to different situations. Try making up variations on the idea, little phrases that change each time you play. This is a good way to get some improvising vocabulary (https://web.archive.org/web/20051028182555/http://www.johnmcgann.com/improv.html) together.

MEMORYThe best way to memorize is to play the piece a lot, without worrying about remembering it. A casual attitude will allow the sounds to enter your subconscious. If you do need to memorize, do it in small bits. Be sure you have the first few seconds under your fingers before speeding onward. The more you can hear the piece "in your head", the easier you'll remember it.

TO ALL SERIOUS MUSICIANSDon't forget to have fun! (https://web.archive.org/web/20051028182555/http://www.johnmcgann.com/job.html)

[Jim Garber]

Actually, I think at least some the links actually go to the archived site.

[mandocanoe]

Thank you so much Jim. What a treasure.

[bbcee]

Really appreciate you finding & posting this, Jim. It applies to anyone on the musical path equally. I’m very grateful for all he left us with.

As my wife would say, “He would’ve been a great dinner guest!”.

[ralph johansson]

My favorite bit of wisdom from John when speaking about using a capo.



https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?81345-Are-capos-cheating&p=1011146&viewfull=1#post1011146

If I could take lessons from anyone I probably would have made John the first choice. He had a logical approach to the instrument with no airs.


The reason capos have become such a heated topic is that some people *refuse* to understand the difference between advice and judgment. I would perhaps cite other statements of John's; capo for sound (or effect), not for "ease"; i.e., he strongly advised against using a capo *in place of* developing transposition skills. Another "controversial" topic he often discussed was tabs (note the countable), e.g., on a steel guitar forum, where he explained what kind of information notation offers *at a glance* (never of course forgetting the importance of using you ear).

[Chris Fannin]

What a great thread. I don't recall having ever heard of John until now. I've just ordered his book Beyond Bluegrass Mandolin, I hope it can help me on the mandola.

[dang]

12 year bump...