Where to get started?

[Chris Berardi]

Hello,

I just bought a new mandolin - Rogue RM-100A - to learn the mandolin. I am a complete beginner to this instrument (which is why I bought a cheap one, to test it out).

Previously, I have played the guitar about 10 years ago - mostly heavy rock (lots of power chords). I can also play piano a little bit.

My question is on where do I start for learning the mandolin? I bought "Alfred's Teach Yourself to Play Mandolin" and "Hal Leonard's Mandolin Method Book 1". I can read music, so I can skip the redundant "this is a whole note, etc." sections. What should I be focusing on in my picking this instrument up?

Where I want to go with my playing: I'd like to primarily play Italian and Croatian folk music and also classical pieces. Perhaps, but in a distant second, also some bluegrass. I'd also like to focus more on learning from actual scored music than tabulature.

[abuteague]

Where are you located? Are there others with the same interests where you live?
Are lessons possible?

I'd get a nice book CD/DVD combo of the music you like so you can listen and/or watch a good deal while you play.

How about this one: Traditional Southern Italian Mandolin and Fiddle Tunes http://www.melbay.com/product.asp?ProductID=21488BCD.
I don't own it myself, but the sound samples sound fun to play. It has notation as well as tab, but some books do that to expand their market.

Has anyone tried this book?

Anyway. I'd listen to a piece until I had it stuck in my head (for me, it takes like 20 times of listening to the piece). Then I'd start sight reading it until that was comfortable. If you really like the tune, I'd keep going until it was memorized. Then play with the CD, or if that is too fast, play for yourself.

There is nothing like really knowing a tune so you can just play it when you pick up an instrument.

Then start in on another tune. But do keep playing the first one so you can hold onto it.

That is what I would do.
Though I should say that nothing made me improve as fast as playing with other people. They might not specialize in your particular music interests, but I've found that it helps bring your playing up to speed and improves your overall musicianship.

Good luck. The mandolin is a fantastic instrument and I hope it brings you great joy.

[abuteague]

No one has probably tried that book. It seems it came out in May of this year!:))
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50987

[Chris Hasty]

Ironically, youtube was a great place for me to start off. I could listen to the piece, emulate it, and play along when I got comfortable enough. Plus it helped me learn the names of songs that I've heard for years but never really knew.

Probably the next best thing to playing in a group. YMMV

[Tim2723]

Hi and welcome!

Since you already read, nearly any scored version of a tune can be adapted for mandolin. The melody lines of your piano music, for instance, as long as you're in a key that provides the range limits of the mandolin.

As for the method books you have, go ahead and skip the 'this is a whole note' parts, but do pay attention to fingering technique (different than guitar) and the all important tremolo. While it sometimes shows up as a minor ornament with the guitar, it's basic to the mandolin, especially the classical and Italian styles. And be sure to visit our classical music forum here to find lots of players with similar interests.

As for Italian tunes scored for mandolin, it's good 'ol Mey Bay to the rescue. Here's a couple of MB publications at Amazon to get you started:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=italian+mandolin+music

And one perennial bit of mandolin advice, have your instrument properly set up by a technician. Practically no mandolins are fully set up right out of the box, many are barely playable. A good set up will make everything much easier for you. Even affordable, entry level instruments need to be properly adjusted. It's just a mandolin thing.

Another thing to focus on in the beginning is getting in, and staying in, tune. Few things are more discouraging to beginners (and those around them) than an out of tune instrument. Guitars can be off by a tiny bit and go unnoticed, but those pairs of strings need to be dead on. If you don't have one, an electronic tuner is a godsend.

Have fun, hang around with us, and welcome to the Cafe.

[kristallyn]

I ve recently started playing, am a guitar player , and can read notes ( studied classic singing in my twenties)
I bought mel bays complete mandolin method, it does have two or three pages on the half note stuff, but playing the mandolin is different from playing the guitar of the piano, or reading notes when singing , and I needed the help to find the right finger placement with the right notes on paper
the method swiftly goes through the basics, you play a lot of duets, and classic melodies while practising, and also play scales..
I think if you, like me , allready have that knowledge you ll find this a good method and you ll learn quickly, it ll teach you where to put your fingers on which note , reading the rythm won t be a problem for you, but the book also explains about up and down strokes which I find very good because it ll help you play faster when you get better at it.

once you get to page 30 ( which took me less than a week) you ll be able to play all kinds of fiddle tunes
and that is where the fun starts

[Chris Berardi]

Where are you located? Are there others with the same interests where you live?
Are lessons possible?

Thanks. I'm in N.E. Ohio. A friend of mine has a mandolin, too -- we're going to try to learn and play together. Unfortunately, professional lessons are not in my budget.

[Chris Berardi]

How about this one: Traditional Southern Italian Mandolin and Fiddle Tunes http://www.melbay.com/product.asp?ProductID=21488BCD.
I don't own it myself, but the sound samples sound fun to play. It has notation as well as tab, but some books do that to expand their market.

Has anyone tried this book?


No one has probably tried that book. It seems it came out in May of this year!:))
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50987

I've seen that book on Amazon. It seems right up my alley!

[Chris Berardi]

Thanks for the replies.


Since you already read, nearly any scored version of a tune can be adapted for mandolin. The melody lines of your piano music, for instance, as long as you're in a key that provides the range limits of the mandolin.What keys and ranges can the mandolin play?




As for Italian tunes scored for mandolin, it's good 'ol Mey Bay to the rescue. Here's a couple of MB publications at Amazon to get you started:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=italian+mandolin+music
Thanks for the references.



As for the method books you have, go ahead and skip the 'this is a whole note' parts, but do pay attention to fingering technique (different than guitar) and the all important tremolo. While it sometimes shows up as a minor ornament with the guitar, it's basic to the mandolin, especially the classical and Italian styles. And be sure to visit our classical music forum here to find lots of players with similar interests.As I can see, the biggest hurdle/goal for me right now is to learn the fretboard and fingering. Do you have any good references/resources on how to properly learn this? I'd rather now learn to properly learn this (read crisp clear notes) and then pick up speed rather than sound really bad really fast.



And one perennial bit of mandolin advice, have your instrument properly set up by a technician. Practically no mandolins are fully set up right out of the box, many are barely playable. A good set up will make everything much easier for you. Even affordable, entry level instruments need to be properly adjusted. It's just a mandolin thing.What needs to be done for it to be properly setup?



Another thing to focus on in the beginning is getting in, and staying in, tune. Few things are more discouraging to beginners (and those around them) than an out of tune instrument. Guitars can be off by a tiny bit and go unnoticed, but those pairs of strings need to be dead on. If you don't have one, an electronic tuner is a godsend.Check -- I used a piano to tune it. It actually wasn't as hard as others told me it would be.

[Chris Berardi]

I ve recently started playing, am a guitar player , and can read notes ( studied classic singing in my twenties)
I bought mel bays complete mandolin method, it does have two or three pages on the half note stuff, but playing the mandolin is different from playing the guitar of the piano, or reading notes when singing , and I needed the help to find the right finger placement with the right notes on paper
the method swiftly goes through the basics, you play a lot of duets, and classic melodies while practising, and also play scales..
I think if you, like me , allready have that knowledge you ll find this a good method and you ll learn quickly, it ll teach you where to put your fingers on which note , reading the rythm won t be a problem for you, but the book also explains about up and down strokes which I find very good because it ll help you play faster when you get better at it.

once you get to page 30 ( which took me less than a week) you ll be able to play all kinds of fiddle tunes
and that is where the fun starts

Thanks. Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me to get started is learning fingering.

[Chris Berardi]

Here's a couple beginner questions:

Is there a proper way for the right/left hands?

Right hand (picking): Obviously the thumb and index finger hold the pick. But of the others - I've seen in books with pinky on pickguard, ring and middle fingers tucked under palm; all three extended out; all three tucked under. For me, the first is very uncomfortable and the last is most comfortable. Is it just what works for me?

Left hand: particularly thumb, I've seen with under the neck and wrapped around. Which one is best?



When playing chords and dyads - is the mandolin strummed like a guitar or is each noted individually plucked?

[Carolie]

A mandolin can be strummed or the individual notes can be picked.

If a person were feeling really wild and crazy, I imagine you could even don a set of banjo picks and have at it with banjo rolls. I am going to have to try this sometime, since I'm working on the banjo too.:)

Carolyn

[jim_n_virginia]

Go to YouTube and type in mandolin lessons in the search box. It don't get any cheaper or easier than that.

Also some pretty good used instructional books, CD's and DVD's can be bought in the Mandolin Cafe Classifieds.

If you buy from eBay becareful that you are not buying from an online music store because you pay the same as buying from a store or maybe even MORE when you throw in shipping. Try to buy from private individuals who have outgrown the book and no longer need it. Also if you develop a rapport with the seller if you have questions later on going through the book they may even help you out via email.

And finally don't forget that the Mandolin Cafe has some lessons too. Some are advanced but some are beginner too!

Good luck and happy picking! :mandosmiley:

[Mandophyte]

Welcome,

As you can already read notation and are interested in folk music there are great collections of music in ABC, see the links in my signature below. One of the best collections is here (http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/).

Also for fingering excercises and other skills look at FFcP (http://jazzmando.com/ffcp_studies.shtml).

Good luck

[Tim2723]

Hi again,

As to the keys and ranges, a mandolin can play in any key, but of course the lowest note is G below middle C, so you might have to transpose some tunes to get them in range or into a key that's easier to finger. Eventually you'll pick up all the keys, but for the beginning it's nice to have easier challenges.

As to the fretboard and fingering, Jim's advice above is about as good as it gets, I think. Tons of on-line lessons and a wealth of resources right here at your fingertips.

As for set up, the most basic things you can do yourself if you have a little experience working with your guitar. The bridge needs to be located so that the 12th fret is exactly an octave above the open string, and it's height can be adjusted with the little wheels to the minimum height without buzzing. A full set up includes fret work and adjustments to the neck, nut, tailpiece, pretty much the whole thing, but if you get a good playing result with the easy fixes, you should be fine for starting out. Lots of info here on full-blown setups for reference though.

Glad you're in tune! It really isn't all the hard, is it? It's just that an out of tune mandolin is really noticable. Makes you wonder about the old joke that says a mandolinist spends half his life tuning and the other half playing out of tune.

[SHORTY]

Recently the "Musicchoice.com listings of Bluegrass music on "Comcast" cable was removed! It was the only Bluegrass channel available. I feel it was very unpatriotic as this is America's heritage in music. I would like others interrested in having Bluegrass music relisted in the Comcast cable selection to email them as I have done. It's hard enough to see the economy in dismay but removing our heritage in music is disheartening.
Thanks,
Shorty

[CES]

Welcome to the obsession!

For basic set-up info, you can search here as Tim suggested, but many of those links unltimately reference frets.com, so that's worth a check. Set up is KEY on the mando...

Standard Notation for the Tab Addicted Mandolinist will work on getting the fingerings in your head, but you can also check out John McGann's tutorial online (can't remember his site per se, but he often chimes in and posts the link, so if all else fails you could pm him and ask...super helpful and extremely knowledgable and talented guy). Other beginner books often have this info as well, but maybe in a more abbreviated format. I'm working through this as well, and it really just comes down to learning it. It's really no harder than tab, but I'm so used to tab (still think in sax fingerings on standard notation) that it's hard for me not to look at it, so I'd advise just learning from standard notation from the git-go.

Marilyn Mair's Complete Mandolinist book may be the most bang for your buck, but I'm not sure how much teaching that text does on notation/basic fingering.

Typically folks recommend holding the pick/picking hand as you suggest is most comfortable for you as the "correct way"...many arguments--I man threads--debating that subject on here. I tend to brush my pinky, but come from a banjo obsession as well, and am trying to get better at "floating" my picking hand. Search youtube for Mike Marshall and Chris Thile...some awesome duos on there, and you get some good close up shots of Thile's picking hand especially...do it like him if you can, but, ultimately, do what's most effective for you. those 2 also have some ridiculous classical pieces as well (something to strive for, not be frustrated by).

As for learning to play in different keys, I'm working on that as well. I play guitar with a friend on occasion, mostly classic rock and country with a little pop thrown in (he's not so into the BG scene). I've been making myself figure out what key the song is in on the guitar tab (especially if there's a capo involved) and transposing to mandolin...this approach is also expanding my chording skills...some mandolin folks abhore the notion of using a capo, and unless you're after a certain open/ringing tone, there's no reason to use one IF you learn the theory behind it, which, again, just comes down to putting in the work. I'm currently using/cross referencing "How to Play Guitar in Any Key" and "Music Theory for the Modern Mandolin" in this endeavor. The latter has a wealth of scales, chords in the various keys, etc, but is a little on the dry side.

MusicMoose is also a good site to check out, though I heard this may be shutting down soon.

Lot's of info out there, on this site, and over at JazzMando.com as well, and all for free!

Good luck...don't get overwhelmed by all our suggestions...try to start with the basics (as it seems you are), and give yourself time to build up from there.

[JeffD]

As for keys you can play in - the mandolin is about as limited as a violin.

It can just about do it all, and fake it on the rest.

[JeffD]

Here's a couple beginner questions:

Is there a proper way for the right/left hands?

Right hand (picking): Obviously the thumb and index finger hold the pick. But of the others - I've seen in books with pinky on pickguard, ring and middle fingers tucked under palm; all three extended out; all three tucked under. For me, the first is very uncomfortable and the last is most comfortable. Is it just what works for me?

Left hand: particularly thumb, I've seen with under the neck and wrapped around. Which one is best?


Let me be the first:

http://www.tothestage.com/MediaDetail.Page?MediaId=352

[Chris Berardi]

Thanks for all the replies!


Here's an update as to where I am. I've had my mandolin for about 3 days now.

The strings stay pretty much in tune with the exception of the second G string which goes flat regularly -- I'm sure it's due to the cheap tuners used. It's livable for right now. Like I said, this mandolin is just to get my feet wet.

The first day, I had a lot of trouble just getting a note to sound properly without being muffled or what have you. Now, I am regularly getting bell or near bell quality notes -- albeit at a very slow tempo. I'm sure my several years of guitar playing long ago are helping out. I'm still trying to get a comfortable left hand position, but it's coming.

I am getting comfortable with the notes on the first string, almost time to move to the second string.

I can still only practice for about an half hour before my fingers start hurting too much to play -- how long till callouses build up?!


I'll update you a little later.

[Chris Berardi]

Also for fingering excercises and other skills look at FFcP (http://jazzmando.com/ffcp_studies.shtml).

What does FFcP stand for?

[Chris Keth]

What does FFcP stand for?

Hint: Follow the link.;)

[Brandon Flynn]

This (http://www.tothestage.com/MediaDetail.Page?MediaId=352)
is a good place to start. A lot of good info in their for free, from one of the best. Not all of it is important, but most of it is very good info.

[Chris Berardi]

Hint: Follow the link.;)
I found it -- but, I had to follow a couple links. ;)

Four Finger Closed Position system (FFcP).

[Chris Berardi]

This (http://www.tothestage.com/MediaDetail.Page?MediaId=352)
is a good place to start. A lot of good info in their for free, from one of the best. Not all of it is important, but most of it is very good info.

I'll have to view it when I'm at a system with flash installed.

[Greg Wilson]

Learning Major scales and chords is a good place to start. If you already play guitar you should pick this up pretty quickly. As folks her have mention youtube is a wonderful resource for learning songs. What I did (am doing) is print out a tab piece that I want to learn, then find a slow youtube version of that song. Collectively those two things help me learn songs pretty well.

Taking lessons helps but take your time and find the right instructor; preferably one that can teach you the songs you want to learn.

[extramusical.com]

Watch and learn has a good mandolin dvd