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lflngpicker

It's the PLAYING that Matters Most!

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by
lflngpicker
, Nov-29-2015 at 9:02am (5358 Views)
Just a few thoughts about the mandolin as the sun rises in So Cal: I find myself driven to find just the right mandolin, and I realize the need to be settled about the very nice instruments I have. I am working on finding the contentment to appreciate and play these three mandolins!

Practice, practice, practice, along with sharing the music out and about as I do, are key aspects to enjoyment as a mandolin player. Today, it will be in the church band playing songs that fit the Advent season. Soft rock, folk and bluegrass go very nicely with an A style mandolin (my A4 and A5 each have a pickup which is necessary to compete with several other instruments)! The Hank Williams song "I Saw the Light" will be a favorite for me today.

Thursday we will be singing and playing for the patients at Villa Hospital. The mandolin is a nice alternative to singing accompaniment on particular songs. I alternate between the guitar and the mandolin, using the F Style most of the time these days.

Just want to say what a blessing these mandolins are in my life and I hope in the lives of others. I want to be able to say the search is over, but you never know, there may be another mandolin in my future. However, I need to learn to be content and enjoy the playing of these fine instruments while I have the chance. Thanks for taking time to read my musings-- it helped to put them to "paper."

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Updated Nov-29-2015 at 9:05am by lflngpicker (improving expression)

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Comments

  1. Bob Clark's Avatar
    Amen Brother. I think you've hit it on the head.
  2. JeffD's Avatar
    It is almost like playing the instrument is a separate hobby, a separate endeavor, than say evaluating and comparing instruments, or shopping for an instrument, or any of the other activities we do.

    When engaged in the hobby of playing the darn thing - there is a chance for peace and contentment and satisfaction. At least one feels like "OK this is what I do this for" and while there are frustrations, they are frustrations whose solutions all really do point to that contentment.

    What I mean is there is a possibility of contentment worth achieving when we work on intonation, or double stops, or licks. There is no possibility of contentment, even in theory, it seems to me, in pursuing the perfect mandolin, the perfect pick, the perfect strings, etc.

    Some great thoughts in your blog. Good stuff.
  3. lflngpicker's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by JeffD
    It is almost like playing the instrument is a separate hobby, a separate endeavor, than say evaluating and comparing instruments, or shopping for an instrument, or any of the other activities we do.

    When engaged in the hobby of playing the darn thing - there is a chance for peace and contentment and satisfaction. At least one feels like "OK this is what I do this for" and while there are frustrations, they are frustrations whose solutions all really do point to that contentment.

    What I mean is there is a possibility of contentment worth achieving when we work on intonation, or double stops, or licks. There is no possibility of contentment, even in theory, it seems to me, in pursuing the perfect mandolin, the perfect pick, the perfect strings, etc.

    Some great thoughts in your blog. Good stuff.
    Hey Jeff, I appreciate the way you have responded; both interesting and thought provoking. You also gave my ideas reinforcement (forgive my lack of eloquence). I do, as you indicate, find the playing, the skills, the growing, the sharing of music the point of the instrument. At times, though, it is easy to get off track and want to find a mandolin or guitar that does something else in sound, amplification, tone, projection, and thus the pursuit, as such, becomes an obsession (if not a pastime). I confess that to be true. I am sure enjoying these instruments- and particularly the Morris A4 and the Gibson F-9. These two fit me quite well. Thank you for adding your well formed ideas! Dan
  4. lflngpicker's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Clark
    Amen Brother. I think you've hit it on the head.
    Thank you for your thoughts, Bob!
  5. JeffD's Avatar
    I have played both a Morris and an F-9, and it seems to me you have everything you need to sound excellent. The rest is up to you.

    "The rest" is up to all of us.
  6. lflngpicker's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by JeffD
    I have played both a Morris and an F-9, and it seems to me you have everything you need to sound excellent. The rest is up to you.

    "The rest" is up to all of us.
    Fair enough, JeffD! Thanks. D
  7. Mark Wilson's Avatar
    Once you find a mandolin that inspires you to play your best - the rest is up to you. Hopefully the buzz from that next mandolin never replaces the high we get from making music.

    I agree Dan. Making music on a mandolin has scratched a lifelong itch. Finding a mandolin that suited me just was the icing.
  8. lflngpicker's Avatar
    Hey there, Mark! I like the way you put that. It is always great to correspond with you. Until a guitar player has tried a mandolin, as you and I found, they haven't experienced all that wood and strings can provide in playing and experiencing music. Agreed! D