Hi y'all, I am a total newbie to mandolin (or any stringed instrument). Way, way back in the day I played clarinet and helped both my children with their piano lessons, so I can read music (which I have been brushing up on). I talked with a local guitar/mandolin instructor and he recommended for me to watch mandolessons online before actually taking lessons with him. I have been doing that since I got my mandolin a week ago, but I am so slow! Sometimes I can't even get a note to play! I talked with my son who plays guitar and he told me that I am not pressing down hard enough on the string on the fretboard. I think I will be waiting to take lessons with the instructor until I am more comfortable with my mandolin. I would appreciate any suggestions and advise you may may for a totally clueless mandolin player😀 Thanks so much! Tammy
Tammy: Finger placement rather than pressure is the most important key to getting a note to sound in my opinion. How much pressure? just enough to make the note ring :D. On a guitar I would tell you aim to put your finger just behind the fret. That position gives the best sound with the least pressure. Honestly on mandolin I tend to aim for the midpoint between frets. The other thing I would tell a newbie is focus on finger placement and sound. Spend your time there speed without good finger placement and sound is a waste, again just my thoughts. Anyhow welcome to the wonderful world of mandolin. Enjoy the journey.
Hello Tammy and glad to have a fresh recruit for the forces of mandolindom. Welcome! Re sounding notes. Google up Pete Martin's videos and find the one on left hand technique. He and Kevin are in strong agreement on finger pressure. Another very important difference between guitar technique and mandolin: you use the tip end of your finger to fret a note on a mandolin. On a guitar you use more of the flat of the last joint. If you try to use that guitar fretting method, you'll have a world of trouble. edit: here's the video I was thinking of:
Tammy, welcome! I agree with Kevin re: speed. Scales, although not fun, are great warmups. You should only play them fast enough to play them well consistently. Gradually increase your metronome speed as your playing improves. Play some easy tunes to keep your practice interesting. I now have 2 teachers. One is a professional violinist with a master's degree in music education. She has emphasized good left hand position. Keep your fingers close to the fretboard as you play, holding them over the "home" frets. Hold your fingers at an angle, fingertips pointed at your body. To get a smooth sound, don't raise one finger, even slightly, until you've depressed another string or fret. I haven't watched a lot of videos, but haven't heard these things said. You'll probably hear something on the thumb and first finger position. I've just started recently with a mandolin teacher to help me improvise at a weekly jam session at the senior center. He agrees with everything I've told you so far. He has told me To place my fingers just behind the frets. Watch good players' hands. IMO, based on my own lessons, good hand and finger position - along with proper counting/rhythm form the basis of good playing. I have no musical background but do have the benefit of face to face instruction. I hope you find these comments helpful. Sherry
Hi Tammy, welcome to the group! I'll take a different track than the others have so far, although the advice has been excellent. I just want to clarify something and make sure that nothing here is being overlooked. First off, you have spoken with a "guitar/mandolin" instructor. Have you shown him your instrument? Did he ask you to let him see and play it? I ask because when you buy a new mandolin, there is a 99% chance that it has not been set up properly. Unless this has been discussed at the shop where you purchased it, or checked and verified by someone who knows what to look for, this could be a big part of your problem. The bottom line on this is that it should not be terribly hard to press down the strings to get a good note. In fact, it should be relatively easy. The "action" on your mandolin should be set as low as possible, especially for a beginner. Pressing the strings can be a bit painful for a beginner before callouses are properly formed on the fingertips. If the action is too high, then the learning process will be way more difficult and painful than necessary. 99% of mandolins out of the box from the factory will have action that is way too high, as well as other issues that need to be checked when the instrument is set up for the first time. So my advice would be to have the set up checked by someone who would truly know about these things, and also consider using light gauge strings in the beginning.
Ditto Mark's suggestion. I got this same recommendation and ended up having my bridge shaved to lower the action. My fingertips are no longer mutilated after playing for an hour.
Hi, Tammy. As usual, Mark is all over it, and absolutely right. Sherry too. I'm a little puzzled that your potential teacher would tell you to learn on your own first. Starting with someone who knows what they are doing can get you started right, and save you all sorts of grief down the line having to unlearn half of what you taught yourself. If time and money are available for lessons, take at least a couple to get started, and get started right. Mandolessons has a wealth of excellent information and instruction, but it's no substitute for being in the same room with someone who can evaluate what you're doing. Oh, and welcome!
I thought that was odd also, Louise. Better to form good habits from the beginning than try to correct bad ones later.
Well you all beat me too it. My first thought was setup. I’m fairly new to this game and had real problems until I stumbled across this place and read about setup. As soon as I had mine set up properly it became far easier (and far more enjoyable) to play. My guess is that the action is far too high. Get hold of Rob Meldrum’s ebook and it will talk you through the process, it’s far easier than it sounds. For me the action is right if I can store my pick between the G string and the first fret when I’m not playing, others may prefer a higher or lower action
Thank you all so much for the welcome and the much needed advise!! The video was perfect. That is exactly the problem I am having. It should really help me. I bought a Kentucky KM-150 (as per a lot of the posts for beginner mandolins that I've read here on Mandolin Cafe). I also read Rob's EBook so I knew what to look for when my mandolin arrived. Since I didn't buy it from a store that already did the setup I took it to the instructor as he also works on guitars and mandolins. The only thing that needed to be done was adjusting the bridge and tuning. His reason for me to wait and watch some videos is that he wanted me to learn some scales and build up some calluses on my finger tips. It is not that I want to play "fast" just at a normal tempo. I play a note and then stop and look down to be sure I am on the correct strings🙂. I understand that it will come with time as with learning anything new. I remember when my children were little and taking piano lessons they'd play the songs over and over again and getting better each time. There is another teacher in the area so I may check with them. Thank you! Tammy
Tammy, what area?
My mandolin teacher says pianists always want to pick up their fingers. Not good for mandolin.
I can't add anything constructive, Tammy, but welcome to the group!
"I would appreciate any suggestions and advise you may may for a totally clueless mandolin player" Put it in your hands every chance you get and use it.....that's the ONLY way to get good at anything.
