New here

[dwhite]

Hi! I'm new here. I bought a mandolin several years ago and it has just sat around. I retired about a year ago and have been taking music lessons on piano and guitar (which I used to play 30 years ago). Yesterday, I dug out the mandolin, adjusted the neck and bridge, put some new Martin 80/20 strings on and tried it out on some tab I downloaded.

I'm telling you, I can't put this thing down! I took violin lessons for a quarter at a local community college and the songs I learned translate directly to the mandolin.

I woke up at 4:30 AM this morning and, instead of just going back to sleep, I went for the Mandolin. I played for several hours and learned several songs. This instrument rocks for flatpicking bluegrass but I don't know if I could ever contort my fingers for the chords.

Been playing mandolin for something like 36 hours now and I'm stoked!

[KennyE]

Awesome! I'm relatively new here, myself. Guitar player adding Mandolin to the mix. Feels funny picking up the guitar after ... ahem ... hours on the mando. I may be too new here to do any official welcome, but what the hey. Welcome to the Cafe`. Can certainly relate to what you're saying. Altho' the 4:30 thing seems to be a bit obsessive. ;)

[MikeEdgerton]

Welcome to the cafe. We need to warn your spouse (assuming you have one). You will soon be overcome by the disease we call MAS, or Mandolin Acquisition Syndrome. We all suffer from it eventually.

[Ed Goist]

Hi! Welcome! I'm a relative newbie also, having started playing the mandolin in March. I came over as a casual guitar enthusiast, but I basically haven't touched any of my guitars since I discovered the mandolin. :disbelief:
BTW - The chords will come with practice, sooner than you'd think...even the four finger movable chords (which seem utterly impossible at first).

[dwhite]

Oh no! I already have GAS (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome)!

[dwhite]

KennyE, I experienced that yesterday, picking up the guitar after hours on the mandolin. I had to decompress for a while before I could play. I also play a bit of bass and the same thing happens there. Even worse, I find myself reading bass cleff on treble cleff music after playing the bass for a while. At least the mando is a treble cleff instrument!

[dwhite]

I'm also trying to learn guitar and piano. I'm finding I have to play the mandolin last every day. I can go from a guitar to mandolin easy but not the other way around. If I start with the mando, I take too much time with it, then spend a long time adjusting to the guitar leaving me with no time to practice the piano.