Congratulations! Have a ball.
Congratulations! Have a ball.
2014 BRW F5 #114
2022 Kentucky KM 950 Master Model
YouTube Original Recording of My composition "Closer Walk"
OK, first evening with the new Eastman MD515 and first impressions.
1 - Dang this thing is little! Fun to play but man, big adjustment from bass. Really pretty wood though!
2 - My bass player callouses are definitely not in the same place as my mandolin callouses need to be. Pretty sore fingers this AM
3 - This "playing more than one note at a time...you know... those 'chord thingies'"
you guys are so found of are going to take some time to get used to.
4 - It is a blast to play!!!
One off the wall question for y'all. I got one of those headstock clip on tuners and I got it tuned relatively quickly. When you guys/gals tune do you pluck downwards for the top G string and then upwards for the bottom G string? Seemed to make sense but wondering if there is some trick that I have missed.
Because the string are new, smaller and tighter on the mandolin than the bass, you will have a little trouble keeping it in tune at first . . . or at least for a slightly longer time than those massive bass strings of ours - so, don't sweat it.
Personally, I have found that up-stroke or down-stroke while tuning doesn't matter, as long as you:
a. Apply equal pressure to both strings
b. Apply the same pressure when tuning as you would when you are playing.
Just remember, basic chords are easy.
Basic major chord is: Root note, plus 3 steps, plus 2 steps.
Basic minor chord is: Root note, plus 2 steps, plus 3 steps.
Keep it simple at first, and everything else will eventually fall into place . . . and most of all - HAVE FUN!
Yes - a down or up stroke doesn't really matter. One thing - the way i uses a tuner is to tune one string of a pair only,usually the top one. I'll then tune the other string so that when it's in tune with the first one & you play both together,they sound almost like a single string = they're in perfect unison. To tune one to the other,i play a single stroke downwards on both,until the second string is in tune & as i say,they sound almost like a single string,
Ivan
Weber F-5 'Fern'.
Lebeda F-5 "Special".
Stelling Bellflower BANJO
Tokai - 'Tele-alike'.
Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.
That's how I do it....downstroke the upper string, and then upstroke the lower string. I had been tuning each string with the tuner, but a few days ago I figured out (on my own actually) that the way Ivan the Helpful suggested above is the way to go. Get one string in tune, and then tune the other to match. Somehow, I find the tuners and their pairing less confusing than a 12-string guitar (or even my reverse headstock Fernandes guitar), which is nice..
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