welcome!

Welcome mwillis, im new here too. Looking forward to sharing the mando experience with you.
Mike

Welcome, mwillis! Good to have you here!

Howdy mwillis, welcome aboard. Another suggestion is to look up the 'song of the month' thread here in the newbie section. Many are fairly easy to learn with lots of tips, vids and locations to hear the tune and sheet music (tab or standard notation).

+1 on on the welcome(s) . . . play, learn, keep us posted, and most of all - have fun!

Hello all,

I picked up a mandolin a couple of weeks ago. I have some classes scheduled to begin in mid-March. In the meantime I have been working on some of the beginner series on mandolessons. I have been lurking on the main message board but just found this group.

Welcome Southern Man. Glad you found us. Mandolessons is a great resource.

Edited because spell check!

Welcome, Southern Man. Mandolessons.com is a great place to start with and also to keep with. He is always putting new material on there and the index keeps getting longer and longer.

Don't be shy about joining in on the general food fight we seem to keep going here.

Welcome to the group, Southern man!

Newbie here, been trying to play for about 6 months - playing by tabs I can do, but when it comes to rhythm playing by chords is where I struggle - been working with a metronome for the past 2 weeks hopefully that will help - but always look forward to meeting and learning from others. Planning on attending Alan Bibey's Mandolin Camp in August and am considering joining a Bluegrass club in Greensboro. One thing I have noticed about rhythm when playing with others I can watch them and play in rhythm but when playing alone I can't get it. Great to meet everyone.

Welcome Southern Man and Zeb. I haven't been here long myself. Have fun!!!

Does anyone have the tabs for "I'll Fly Away" I have been trying to learn this sone. Any assistance would be truly appreciated.

tabledit files for I'll fly away
http://www.mandozine.com/music/searc...rder=A&submit=

here's a bit easier version available as a pdf: http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/ma...l_Fly_Away.htm

This site and mandozine.com are both great resources for tabs.

Thanks guys - you all are awesome.

Another newbie checking in. I’ve been playing for a few months and enjoy bluegrass, Americana, reggae and (some) country music. My resolution for 2018 was to spend less time on social media and more time with my brain engaged - so why not choose the most frustrating and expensive instrument to learn at age 57? I’ve signed up with Mike Marshall’s online lessons. Really liked his low-key style and the thought he seems to put into his lessons and that I can proceed at my own pace.....which is pretty slow. But I’m enjoying the journey so far!

Welcome jpva. As an old toot myself, I can say it is definitely fun to be a Newbie at some endeavor. It's amazing how much I have learned and yet I am still having fun in my Newbieness.

57 is old? Anyway, welcome to the Newbies, jpva! You'll find lots of support here.

Old is defined as 2 years older than my current age, so technically 57 is old

Welcome aboard, jpva. You have a great journey ahead of you. The mandolin is a beautiful instrument. Mike's class on Artist Works is a good start. There's also plenty of free material by some very talented players available. Looking forward to hearing about your progress.

Hi all,

I have been lurking on this site for several months. I just started playing an instrument of any kind last year. I spent a couple of months on the fiddle, but found it a very fickle and frustrating instrument for my skill level. My music teacher recommended the mandolin as an alternative and I have been making progress. My biggest struggle is prioritizing practice time in my schedule. I have a family, work and am in my second year of a doctoral program for counseling. I have found the Cafe to be a supportive environment for newcomers and it has inspired me to continue learning.

Hello Cotton77 and welcome to the Cafe. You'll find a lot of support and good information here. Juggling practice time into everyday life can be a challenge. The mandolin is a wonderful instrument and a great outlet. Hang in there and enjoy the ride.

"family, work and am in my second year of a doctoral program" ... wow! You have a LOT on your plate. I find the act of simply running up and down a few scales to be relaxing at times (and it is also good practice). Welcome to the group. Let us know how you are progressing - just don't rush it. Mandolins are to be enjoyed, frustrations and all.

Hank took the words ... you have a lot on your plate! When I was doing my undergraduate work with a young family and working full time, I had little time for music. Never did much more than play occasionally in church on Sundays. But as long as you keep fiddling around with the mandolin when you have a spare moment, and enjoy it, you'll be fine. Music can provide sort of a brief escape to solitude from time to time, and can be cathartic as well once you have learned to express yourself through music. Enjoy!

Cotton77, with all that going on, make sure you find time to keep playing. It may be the only time all day you have your head to yourself.

Welcome Cotton77! As a PhD student myself, I can say that my mandolin has been a WELCOMED stress reliever and distraction from coursework and dissertation research when my brain can't take it anymore. Glad to have you in the group with us!! Best of luck on your studies as well!

Bluegrasscal_87 - My mandolin time is definitely a wonderful stress reliever and distraction from the PhD world. I'm getting ready to start my statistics track, so I have a feeling my brain is going to need lots of breaks. Good luck with your studies. If all goes well, I should have my PhD in hand on 12/12/20. Not that I'm counting or anything.

Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement. My teacher has me working in the Hal Leonard Mandolin Method Book 1. I spent most of my practice today working on some chords and Old Joe Clark.

Welcome to the group, Cotton77. I am retired, and I still struggle to find time to practice. This sounds ridiculous (and it is), but true.

Hang in there and enjoy the stress relief! Good luck with your PhD.

Greetings,
My name is Tony Ray, and I'm new here.
I’m currently learning on an Epiphone MM-30S. Very excited to begin my new Mandolin journey. I'm striving to learn folk, bluegrass, jazz, blues, and classical mandolin beginner compositions as well as compose original material to accompany the acoustic guitar, cello, keys, etc…
As a potential upgrade from the MM-30S, I’m looking at The Loar LM-520-VS Mandolin from The Mandolin Store.
Excited to absorb, learn, practice all I can as well as interact with Mando Players on the Mandolin Cafe as time permits.
Best Regards,
Tony Ray

Hey, good to make your acquaintance Tony Ray! Jump right in, the water's fine, and we don't bite much.

Hey Tony -- welcome to the Newbie world. Your Epiphone should be a good starter. Make sure you either get or learn to do a good setup on it. I recommend the do it yourself approach using Rob Meldrum's free ebook.

And, the more here the merrier, so chime in when the mood strikes.

Hello Tony and welcome to the group. It's a good friendly group here. I bought The Loar LM520 from TMS a year ago for my first mandolin. They do a great job setting it up and it has a good sound. Keep us up to date on whatever you decide.

Welcome aboard Tony. As FredK said, this is a good friendly group here. Whatever questions you have, somebody else has an answer or can steer you in the right direction. I can't speak for The Loar. Never played one. However I have purchased 2 mandolins from TMS. And played several others they had hanging on the wall. Always a good setup from them and nice people too.

Welcome, Tony. Enjoy the journey!

Hi Tony, and welcome! The Loars are very good value - I learned on one & got several good years out of it. If you're at all handy, get Rob's book as Hank mentioned. You may want to do some basic tweaks that will improve the sound (that goes for your Epi as well). Or not!

Happy learning, and have fun!

Hello, Bayou Sue, here. Down on Bayou. I just started Mandolin, teaching myself from books. I bought a starter "the Loar." I have some callouses from guitar, but my mando playing sounds like someone with mittens on. I'm practicing every day, even though it sounds awful. I know how to tune and kinda checked the set-up - it holds a thick pick pretty far down the neck, so I don't think the instrument is the problem.
Looking forward to sharing the ride with you guys and gals.

Hi, Sue. Nice to meet you. Welcome to bunch.

Hi, Sue, and Tony too.

Glad to have more people around here starting the journey on the mandolin.

Hi, Sue, and welcome to the group. Yep, those guitar callouses aren't transferable to the mandolin. Make sure your action is not too high. I lived with that on my guitar for years until I had the neck reset and the luthier brought it down. Big difference! Looking to hear more about your journey.

Greetings Folks,
Thanks for all the welcome greetings and advice here.
Yesterday, The Loar LM-520VS from Elderly Instruments, can't wait for delivery.
My decision was aided by the helpful folks here at Mandolin Cafe along with other internet testimonials and video reviews. Thank you all for your advice and support.
Best Regards,
Tony ray

Hi all, another newbie reporting in for the first time. My name is Emma and I live in the UK. I've had a mandolin for about 10 years, stuffed behind the sofa (I bought it because I thought it was a lute - don't ask). My workplace recently started up a ukulele club, and I asked if they'd mind if I came along. They said yes, so now I just have to learn to play the darned thing. I took it along to my local music shop, and they re-strung it for me, gave it a new nut and a general service, and said it was actually a pretty nice instrument, which I was pleased to hear. It's an Amana flat mandolin, made by Strubal in the Czech Republic. I think it sounds nicer than the ukuleles, tbh, so I'm looking forward to being able to play!

Welcome, emmadragon, to the group. Glad to hear you picked up the old mandolin, spruced her up and ready to play. It's a fun journey. Looking forward to hearing your mandolin in action.

PS - I like the sound of mandolin over the ukes, myself, although I have heard some great uke players on YouTube. Sold mine last year along with a flute and invested in a Loar. Keep on playing!

Welcome, emmadragon!

Welcome to the crowd, Emma. As somebody once said, "In the land of the ukelelers, the mandolinner is king."

Welcome, Emma! I hope you are better at regular practice than I am! I have a motivational problem .

I think I'm quite lucky - I spent around 15 years seriously playing the piano, so if there's one thing I know, it's how to practice. At least half an hour every single day. I'm getting there! I can strum along with a couple of the songs in the repertoire now. A stringed instrument is so different, though, it's a heck of a learning curve.
The ukulele leader had a go on my mandolin yesterday and said woah, that's much more difficult than the uke, but if you can get it, you'll be a way better player than the rest of us.
I think I'm gradually corrupting him, though, he's talking about maybe getting himself a mandolin. That would be fun.
Oh, and I nearly forgot - thank you, you're all so welcoming.

Hi all, I’m Dave and I am working on learning mandolin. I’ve played guitar since about 1969 and uke since about 2011. For my birthday I bought myself a Loar LM590. It’s pretty nice, I had it set up at Bluegrass Musicians Supply and it sings. So far I’m just chord guy.

The Loar is actually my fifth mandolin. But it’s the first one that I got serious about.
-My first was a homemade one some little old Italian gentleman made. It was interesting. But unplayable. And really schlocky, crude. It became a kids toy and was eventually destroyed by them. I wish I still had it.
-Then a real cheap flattop from eBay. The frets were totallly wrong and it could not be intonated.
-Then a Mexican made Lone Star. It was real playable. I gave it to a niece who hocked it. Jeez.
-Then a Rogue, one of the $70 ones. Terrible.
-Then I saw and strummed the 590 in a shop and decided to give it a real go.

So I’ve learned a bunch of chords mostly two finger, all the majors and a select few minors and sevenths. Enough that I can play along with anything anyone plays at our farm market jam group. Solos are forthcoming.

Yesterday I was looking at mandolins, (and guitars and tenor banjos) at Sam Ash. Nothing piqued me, then offby the side between some banjos was an oval hole dark red Johnson MA110, laminated top and all. I played it and it had a nice tone, a built in vibrato. So, for $69 I bought it. I took it home, cleaned it nicely, refit the saddle, (it only had two small places where it touched)and put on some lighter strings. That did it. It sounds quite nice. Something I can play on the boat, or at other riskier venue.

Anyway, I’m having a ball with the mandolin. I caught myself wishing I’d picked up one of these instead of a guitar all those years ago.

Hey Scootch, good find on a cheap mandolin. Mandolins are so cool, small and easy to carry around and play just about anywhere, any time. Welcome to the group here.

Welcome, scootch! I had a Lone Star once. I got it at a Goodwill store for almost nothing. It was not bad. But eventually it got displaced and ended up being redonated to Goodwill. Had a Rogue, too. Gave that to a cafe member who had a terribly warped neck on her found-in-the-attic treasure.

Post early and post often!

Hi Dave. Welcome to the Newbies group. There are several guitar players here, so you are in good company.

I haven't been very active here, but I keep pickin' along. I'm about to start my second set of classes. Have been working to learn some fiddle tunes. I also have a book of Beatles for Mandolin tunes and I've worked through that a couple of times. Along with some songs that I learned in my intro class. I kind of find the fiddle tunes more fun to play than anything. Most frustrating thing is that I seem to be horrible at playing any kind of rhythm. Hoping to get better at that. Anyway, I'm having a ton of fun and hope to check in here more frequently.