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Nice article. Great quote from Monroe at the end!

That was great, Mark! Huge fun and very nice playing and singing. Thanks for posting it!

I’m becoming increasingly impressed by how differently different people learn. There’s no one right way. I used to learn a lot from tab and books. Lately I’ve been learning exclusively by ear. To me,...

This is about the best I've done yet on a bluegrass tune. I'd appreciate any feedback. I'm trying to play David Grisman's solos from Home is Where the Heart Is.
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To me the coolest thing here is not the pick but how he holds it. He shows a lot of pick, yes. Also looks like it’s flopping around like crazy in a couple of those pictures. I know he says to hold it...

Wow! That is one stunning banjo. You are certainly worthy of it, no matter what kind of banjo player you are. Owning something like that will get you behind the instrument. Post a video sometime....

...in his opening solo of Long Journey Home with Doc Watson from the Home is Where the Heart is cd. That is, until the closing run of that solo, which I can only play at 3/4 speed. But I’ll take it! ...

How often do you play through the chord progression of a tune you know? It’s natural to skimp on that since the melody is what draws you to a fiddle tune. But I find that if I play the chord...

Sigh. I have to stop reading threads like this. I like my mandolin fine while I’m playing it. Then I read this, or visit the classifieds, and MAS sets in. Why do I do this to myself?!?!

Anyway,...

Glad your set went so well! And of course you are far from alone. I sometimes take a mandolin or guitar on vacation, took one with me all the way to China right now as I'm here for a month working....

I don’t know if this will help, but I have a neighbor who is a guitarist and a pastor. He writes sacred music that he plays in his services. Quite lovely stuff, based in his jazz background. We get...

I think it helps to know it’s a widely shared thing. Beyond that, I find that the more I do it the better it is; the more I’m familiar with the tune the better it is (i.e. at the jam, play a tune...

Well, I made it to Beijing without an incident. Had the United policy printed out, but didn’t have to use it. When I gave my boarding pass to the gate attendant, she smiled at me and said “Music...

Thanks to everyone, especially sblock. I have the United policy printed out. Next step is to see if I can upgrade my boarding status.

I had the same experience when I first started learning tremolo. But I never produced the tone and volume I wanted for single note picking with a rounded point. It wasn’t til I got it hammered into...

Isn’t Austin the home of both Collings and Ellis/Pava? If you mix a trip to Fiddler’s Green with tours of those two shops, that puts Austin pretty high on the list.

One Sunday morning I woke up early and snuck down to the basement to practice. Had to play really quietly to keep from waking anyone up. At a certain point I realized I was playing with a very...

Great story. Enjoy! There’s infinite fun in these little things.

Those were great, Charley. Thanks!

If that were the wall next to my desk I would never get anything done.

Speaking of which, has anyone tried to play Eyes of the World on mandolin? I've only ever tried the rootsy stuff, but just strikes me that Eyes might work nicely.

I recently had to try to take the swing out of Fisher’s Hornpipe. I think I was hearing its Irish background or something as I learned it, but then the people I was playing it with were all playing...

Having just paid the final installment of my daughter's college tuition, I am about to hit the economic sweet spot between college bills in which I may be able to pull off an instrument upgrade. My...

This question hits the nail on the head for me. I pretty much stopped playing for about 6 months, because I joined Mike Marshall's mandolin school on Artistworks and he is incredibly good at...

Yep, she forced me. We walked by a music store and she saw my eye drift to the bouzoukis inside and she said "let's go look" and it went from there. She knows I'm a penny-pincher and she insisted...