Left hand speed and accuracy

[DavidF]

Hi everyone,

For the first couple months of learning to play I practiced only chords and rhythm playing. Still need to do some work on that but recently I've learned the melodies to a couple songs. I'm wondering what I need to be practicing to increase my speed and accuracy on fingering the fretboard. I know I'm not going to start playing fast over night. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif Just looking for some advice until I can get some videos to practice along with.

I'm mainly focusing on scales right now to teach my fingers where they need to go. Anything else I can/should be doing?

Thanks,
David

[Tim2723]

Hi David,

Other than saying practice, practice, practice, I would say that proper hand position is very important. While many chords feel comfortable with the neck against the palm or in the crook between index finger and thumb, many players get their greatest agility by bringing the fingers down from above the fingerboard by holding the palm away from the instrument, supported by the pad of the thumb.

[groveland]

This is an excellent question for the "Theory, Technique, Tips and Tricks" section. I think it will get buried pretty quick in this "General" section. If you repost there I bet you'll get a ton of responses.

[gnelson651]

Get John McGann "Sound Fundamentals" (http://www.johnmcgann.com/books.html) DVD

[mandroid]

observed basics:

The 3 chords in a key gcd, cfg, etc. in most songs covers all the notes in the scale.

Hum a tune , then play what you hum.

setting up neural pathways to your fingers and your ears.

[DavidF]

Thanks for the tips, guys. Until I can get some videos they'll help a lot. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Groveland, I thought of that right after I posted. Still not very familiar with the different forums here so just post as a question pops up.

Mods, instead of me wasting bandwidth reposting this elsewhere, would it be possible to move it to the appropriate forum?

Thanks,
David

[AW Meyer]

You may find some of Ted's Jazzmando downloads useful. Have a look at the FFcP, and G&G downloads from this page:
http://jazzmando.com/popular_downloads.shtml