Another Clip From a Newbie

Good evening! I picked up the mandolin about ten days ago and Womandolin's thread inspired me to just record a clip and get over being embarrassed to have people listen to my very amateur playing. I'm by nature a very shy person and this, believe it or not, is kind of hard to do.

I know it sounds kind of stupid but I've played guitar for quite a while and have never played with a band, nor posted anything on the guitar forum I read (in part because they aren't in any way constructive about it...)

You guys were so nice and helpful, that I figured it can only help me improve.

This is the first tune I tackled and have been working on, The Lilting Banshee:

I'm glad I inspired you! And yes, everyone here has been really supportive. I think the best thing is that not only did I get a ton of compliments, but they were specific and detailed, so I was learning something and being encouraged at the same time.


I like that tune a lot. Did you really just pick up the mandolin 10 days ago? For some reason I thought you'd been playing a long time. I want to learn that one now.. haha. Don't be shy about music. Be bold. Thanks for posting. :)

-Erin

PS. I like your picture.. much more relevant than my generic airplane thing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Womandolin

I like that tune a lot. Did you really just pick up the mandolin 10 days ago? For some reason I thought you'd been playing a long time. I want to learn that one now.

---

I have only been playing it about 10 days, maybe 2 weeks. I've played guitar for a while, though, so I started with the benefit of the finger strength, dexterity, picking mechanics, etc. that I learned from guitar.


The tune's fun. I learned it from sound and music here.

Sounding just fine! Keep it up and have fun. The mandolin sounds good no matter who is playin it - pro or newbie!:mandosmiley:

Good lilting rhythm, especially once you got going. :grin:

Its a fun tune. And its got a lot of stuff in it that will be useful with other Irish tunes.

:mandosmiley:

Interesting pointiness in the 6/8, a bit like Dan Beimborn's style - is your picking pattern DDU DDU?

Bertram

screw shy ... well done. you've got a nice, relaxed, comfortable-sounding style and it sounds great.

these "newbie" videos - erin's and yours - make me realize how sloppy my fingering is. both of you make nice clear notes ... something i've got to work on.

what a bright, fulsome tone that fullerton glouceter has - you got a good one - complimenti.

You're only playing a fortnight? Well done to you sir!

When I was first learning the tenor banjo I made a habit of recording myself every week so I could track my progress, hear areas where I was going astray etc. I haven't really been doing that with the mandolin, blame it on stuff like work getting in the way etc.. However, yourself and Erin (Womandolin) have inspired me to get back into that habit.

I see you found the mandolinsessions site then! I love the clip they have of Mike Rafferty playing this tune - I love the way older trad players continue to play this music as a dance music (which is what it is) vs. folks who play it like it's some kind of race. Remember that as you progress in your playing and you'll never go far wrong!

Cheers,
Jill

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bertram Henze

Interesting pointiness in the 6/8, a bit like Dan Beimborn's style - is your picking pattern DDU DDU?

Bertram

---

I'm all DUD--DUD the whole way through, except perhaps where there's a rest and then those may be D-U--DUD, I'm not really sure what I do there I just do it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jill McAuley

You're only playing a fortnight? Well done to you sir!

When I was first learning the tenor banjo I made a habit of recording myself every week so I could track my progress, hear areas where I was going astray etc. I haven't really been doing that with the mandolin, blame it on stuff like work getting in the way etc.. However, yourself and Erin (Womandolin) have inspired me to get back into that habit.

I see you found the mandolinsessions site then! I love the clip they have of Mike Rafferty playing this tune - I love the way older trad players continue to play this music as a dance music (which is what it is) vs. folks who play it like it's some kind of race. Remember that as you progress in your playing and you'll never go far wrong!

Cheers,
Jill

---

Thanks, Jill. I have only been playing mandolin a couple of weeks. I've played guitar for a while though so I already have a jump on the finger and hand dexterity, though I have had to work on breaking habits that are fine for blues guitar but not so fine for mandolin.

Just listening to what I recorded last night I can already hear that I tend to crowd some things up some. I caught some buzzes in there I'm not so crazy about. I suppose I'm used to electric guitar where you don't even hear a small amount of buzz and I got sloppy. You sure do hear it on a trebly instrument like mandolin, though!

2 things...

First - great clip of some real nice picking. Wow.

Second - thanks a heap for posting the link to where you learned the tune. Talk about a resource! How have I not found that before now?

Cheers, bro.:mandosmiley:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OldDirtyTurtle

2 things...

First - great clip of some real nice picking. Wow.

Second - thanks a heap for posting the link to where you learned the tune. Talk about a resource! How have I not found that before now?

Cheers, bro.:mandosmiley:

---

Thanks! That website is pretty cool. Someone here pointed me there. The regular beginning irish mandolin segment is pretty good and there's a "building a song repetoire" segment that also seems pretty good. They publish all of the back issues, as well, so there's just a wealth of information.

Nobody else has any feedback? I'd love some "it's not bad but you need to ___________"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PanaDP

Nobody else has any feedback? I'd love some "it's not bad but you need to ___________"

---

Sounds pretty good to me. How long have you been playing?

Don't have any real feedback because it sounds like you have all the notes. But just a tip. Just because you have a tune down don't think "OK thats it I know it so on to the next tune to learn".

I have found over the years that fiddle tunes if you play then regularly they evolve. When you play them over and over after a while (for me it is years) they start to become a part of you and only then you can start making it "your own"

Many tunes I play now that I have known for many years are nothing like the way I played them when I learned them. After a while variations just seem to come naturally. Sometimes it is just subtle differences but somestime you think of completely different ways to play them.

Thats why one of my favorite Mandolin CD's of all time is the Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza CD because it has everyone playing the old favorites but is SO many different exciting ways.

So just keep playing the tune and soon you'll be picking up speed and figuring out different ways to accent the rhythm and add some of "YOU" into the tune and it becomes "your" version.

:mandosmiley:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jim_n_virginia

Sounds pretty good to me. How long have you been playing?

Don't have any real feedback because it sounds like you have all the notes. But just a tip. Just because you have a tune down don't think "OK thats it I know it so on to the next tune to learn".

I have found over the years that fiddle tunes if you play then regularly they evolve. When you play them over and over after a while (for me it is years) they start to become a part of you and only then you can start making it "your own"

Many tunes I play now that I have known for many years are nothing like the way I played them when I learned them. After a while variations just seem to come naturally. Sometimes it is just subtle differences but somestime you think of completely different ways to play them.

Thats why one of my favorite Mandolin CD's of all time is the Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza CD because it has everyone playing the old favorites but is SO many different exciting ways.

So just keep playing the tune and soon you'll be picking up speed and figuring out different ways to accent the rhythm and add some of "YOU" into the tune and it becomes "your" version.

:mandosmiley:

---

I've been playing mandolin for about 2 weeks, Jim. I've played guitar for a while so I didn't have those initial big hurdles of finger strength and dexterity to jump so I suppose I had a bit of a headstart.

That's wonderful advice about not feeling done now that I've learnt the tune one way. The fun part I'm looking forward to now is to start fiddling around with it and "decorating" it, so to speak.

I can't give any constructive crit because I have been playing for several years and I can't do any better or maybe even as good.

I just wanted to thank Mike Gregory, the author of the column I learned this song from. He e-mailed me and gave me some really useful feedback and tips about my rhythm and the emphasis I'm placing (or rather not placing) in the right places.

His advice, boiled down, is that I'm getting the emphasis on the 1st beat of the first triplet of most measures but often missing the emphasis on the 4th beat, which is the first beat of the second triplet.