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So you don't have to scoop it nor do a "Floridaectomy":)



Indeed, some of us do use those extreme registers.



Many folks do what you did, since for many the "sweet spot" is found by...

Sometimes I use one as thin as 2.5mm!

Gypsy jazz style is the only style I use a pick thicker than 1mm.

Jeff, I agree with everything you said but one thing - tuning stability.

If you are using a plastic head, a banjo (mandobanjo too) can be very stable in tuning.

However, a natural skin head is...

I can't complain - besides my wife is a musician too!

Rest stroke techniques are also part of Gypsy jazz picking and in what's also called "economy picking" where successive downstrokes are used when possible rather than strict alternate picking.

Great classic tunes....but only for certain styles of music. None of those tunes would work for the audiences I've played for, nor would be "flagship" songs for them...subjective indeed.
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My choice these days:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41HdONC1kML._AC_.jpg

It was a big hit in my Italian-American family, and I played that tune at over 10 years worth of Italian Cabaret gigs with a group of singers that performed under the name "That's Amore".
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it works really well.

One highlight of my early mandolin career was playing "Lara's Theme" on a bowlback mandolin as the soloist with the New Orleans Summer Pops Orchestra, in lieu of a...

Thanks for seconding that opinion!

And I've played my share of stuff like "Mala Femina", "Al Di La", and even "That's Amore"!

Nice hearing from you.

No slackers in that group!

Is it just me or do I hear some echoes of Dixieland banjo in that tune?

That may be true, both in terms of one's ear getting used to those very high pitches, and for the instrument itself to "open up" its sound in the highest range.

It depends on your concept of what...

Funny you mention "Maggie May".

That song first came out at about the same time my Italian grandmother gave me my first mandolin.

Although most of what I initially learned to play were...

Yes, those picks are a bit thin for my taste too. Not just thin, but not stiff enough too.

So as one that is NOT primarily a BG player, songs that I am expected to play are:

the most common wedding tarantella and all the other Italian restaurant gig chestnuts like Santa Lucia, Vieni Sul...

Very slight - the Dunlop picks are just a tiny bit better finished, but I can use either brand happily.

I use this pick on most guitars (not for gypsy jazz, I use a thicker pointed pick for that...

I've used both Clayton Ultem and Dunlop Ultex as a go-to pick for some time now. I prefer the standard size "sharp" shaped picks:
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A great deal of classical mandolin technique can be applied to BG and other styles of music.

a good example, the book by August Watters:
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Can you post a link to the sheet music please?

There are classical mandolin pieces where long notes (often tied for measures )are played with tremolo; additionally one may need to change dynamics during these long tremolo tones.

Thus there is...

I would too.

Both - you need to develop the muscles, but that comes from practicing your technique. Dean Gray is right about using classical methods Like Bickford, Munier, etc.



It's a lifetime skill but it...

It would depend on the particular piece of music - where is the next phrase, what is the articulation, etc.

Typically I'd use 1-2-3-4 (or 4-3-2-1 if descending), but other factors could indicate...

Because the fast tunes are exciting that way, as in any musical style.

ah...real, serious, but still fun CLASSICAL (ish) mandolin music.

this is a serious, special, not folksy side of mandolin music.

As a classically trained - but not a player of the most common...