Sheet music confusion

[xav88]

I know how to read music but I was wondering how one decides where to play the notes on the frets as there are multiple places for each note.

[lgmorley]

I as first violin player use the fingerings used on the violin. On with violin the first finger takes care of the first two frets, the second finger takes care of the next two and the third takes care of the next two. The fourth finger (normally on the 7th fret) is used as a short cut as it is the same as the string above it. The fourth finger is also used on the 6th fret as a flat open string (Gb, Db, Ab and, Eb). The pattern of these fingers allows you to play with out moving your hand up and down the fretboard unless you need to reach higher notes or the music calls for it. Just wondering what kind of music are you playing?

Liam

[foldedpath]

If the sheet music is for a "fiddle tune" in genres like OldTime or Irish trad, there is no ambiguity. Your left hand is in first position like a fiddle, using two frets per finger, and you move up/across the strings to reach the higher notes, all the way up to the B note on the E strings with your pinky. It's all on the treble cleff between the low G below the staff, and the high B above the staff.

You may choose to use other fingerings to reach notes duplicated in first position, but that's the general layout. It works just like sheet music for a violin.

Edit to add: Ninja'd by Liam above, and Liam, welcome to the forum!

[lgmorley]

Thank you!

[xav88]

Wait so are you both saying that each note on the scale has a finger and fret assigned to it? I always assumed because you could play the same note in different places that it was up in the air. Right now im not playing any music. Just learning from a book.

[lgmorley]

So on the violin the idea of positions is used. Positions are where your first finger lands. different positions allow you to play in different keys easer and reach higher.

Heres a fingering chart linked to the notes for each position. this works for almost everything

[xav88]

So the fingering makes sense but im having trouble seeing where 1st and 2nd etc position are.

[lgmorley]

I wouldn't worry about positions to much for now. If you play violin music it will have finger numbers as an indication to shift or to play differently if needed. First position will be the position you use the most. In first position your first finger starts on the first and second fret. In second position your first finger is on the third or forth fret and third position starts on the fifth fret. In first position you can play just over two octaves which should be fine to start with.

[xav88]

I think I get it now. So looking at the fingering charts with corresponding notes. Those fingerings in 1st position are mostly what I can assume are being referred to when I am learning to read music on my mandolin. The problem I faced was that know how to read music just not where to put my fingers you know? Now different keys will effect this or no?

[lgmorley]

Different keys affect just where your your fingers go whether its on its normal fret or a different one. If you where to play a G major scale You play open G then first finger on the second fret, second finger on the fourth fret and the third finger on the fifth fret then open D, first finger on the second fret, second finger on the fourth fret and the third finger on the fifth fret. A major starts first finger on the second fret, second finger on the fourth fret then instead of the third finger on the fifth fret its now on the sixth fret then open D then first finger on the second fret, second finger on the fourth fret then instead of the third finger on the fifth fret its now on the sixth fret. As indicated by the key signature the position of your fingers changes by normal 1 fret. Cool thing is if you know G major you can now play d major and a major with the same finger pattern.

[MandoAblyss]

http://jazzmando.com/ffcp.shtml

If you work your way through this material, you will be ahead of the game.

Your first decision is whether to play in a position that uses open strings, or further up the neck with all your notes fretted (closed position). Closed position is nice because you can change keys simply by shifting your whole pattern of notes up or down the fretboard. But the tone of open strings is lovely, so sometimes you prefer that sound.

If you become comfortable with FFcP and the four patterns to play a scale in a given position--depending on whether your root is under the index, middle, ring or pinkie finger of left hand--then you will begin to see comfortable ways that the melody falls under your fingers at various positions on the fret board.

Most music is scalar. If you can play scales at various positions and patterns, you can play melodies in any key in the same fashion.

Check out FFcP. For me it was the key to unlocking the fretboard, and also some really good stretches for warm up.

[Nevin]

In the end it is up to you how you finger the note. The position approach is fairly standard, particularly for fiddle tunes and it is a good one. I find knowing scales in differnt fingerings to be helpful. Most music is based on scales. If you know scales your fingers will tend to find the note without thought. If you don't like the sound or it puts you in an akward place for another note you may have to do some re-fingering.

[EdHanrahan]

I know how to read music but ...

Liam - Sounds to me like your issue, as mine was a decade ago, is too much general knowledge and not enough mandolin-specific beginner knowledge. Some excellent books are now available that will ease you into mandolin without discounting whatever prior knowledge you may have. MOST highly recommended is "Mandolin For Dummies", by Café member Don Julin.

As I found 10 years ago, some of the then-most-common but still-available beginner books (mostly the smaller, cheaper ones that I foolishly assumed would suffice) skip over basics such as the 2-frets-per-finger standard (implied but never stated), and led me to the sort of confusion that you've expressed here.

BTW: Most of us came to mandolin from some other instrument, the majority being guitar. Fortunately, most of us came to realize that it is not a "little guitar", and does need to be learned from scratch.

[Jim Garber]

I know how to read music but I was wondering how one decides where to play the notes on the frets as there are multiple places for each note.

What sheet music are you looking at and what genre of music do you want to play? Also, it might help to know what other instruments you know how to play.

[xav88]

What sheet music are you looking at and what genre of music do you want to play? Also, it might help to know what other instruments you know how to play.

Right now Im just working out of a mandolin method book. What I am worried about is when I get the first images book I wont know where to play the notes that im reading. I used to play 6 string fretless bass haha. I want to play classical and bluegrass mainly.

[ralph johansson]

I know how to read music but I was wondering how one decides where to play the notes on the frets as there are multiple places for each note.

Fingering is something you develop over time. As for myself I started in first position, using strict diatonic fingering on strictly diatonic songs (next note, next finger) and avoiding open strings, introducing them only gradually when pick economy or special effects called for them (e.g., the first two or three bars of the second part of Brilliancy alternate fretted and open notes on the first string).
I still avoid leaving a string on an open note, and I won't leave a string for just one open note on the next higher string. My next step was to explore the standard positions, i.e., those defined by the fret markers. And then the final (?) step was to move more freely along the fretboard, e.g., transposing patterns up and down the neck, using a lot of double stops, playing from chord forms, etc. For instance I will play in Ab major in first or second position, or third, soemtimes stretching my index back a fret, or moving the whole shape one fret higher. In other words, the only rule I can suggest is, start in rigid patterns to familiarize yourself with the fretboard, then start exploring. For every set of rules there is at least one creative way of breaking them.

[mobi]

While there are multiple positions in fret for playing a note, it is up to the player to select the fret.

For beginners, it is best to start with the easy frets (within 7th frets). If you plot the staff notation in MuseScore, it can show which frets to play.

[billhay4]

Fundamentally, the real value of sheet music over tab is that it allows you to decide where and how to play the notes (within the parameters established by the composer). These decisions are based on how the song sounds best, the most comfortable fingering progressions for you, what other instruments you are playing with, etc. The positions referred to above are valuable because they teach you to play certain passages in similar places on the fretboard. This sounds better than skipping all around and changing octaves at will. Most melodies sound best in the same range throughout, but not all.
Another thing, you can, if you wish, take the middle C on the treble clef and the middle C on the mandolin as a starting point for making fingering decisions. This is restrictive, but it sticks to the composer's work exactly.
Bill

[fatt-dad]

somethings sheet music can't help with. Sheet music informs the ear. It's up to you to figure out how to make it possible on the mandolin.

I'm in the midst of figuring this out right now on a few pieces of Bach. I mean I can play it out of first position, but. . .

It may be easier to retool my grip?

f-d

[Randi Gormley]

If there's someone around you who plays the mandolin, they can probably give you a fairly quick demo of where your fingers are on the strings. I came to mandolin from flute and recorder and found that Mel Bay's 'how to play the mandolin' worked just fine for the basics, including which finger on which string to play which note (I also, could read music, just needed to translate that knowledge to where it fit on the mandolin). Not sure if that's still around, but it might be one place to start.

[Simon DS]

I know how to read music but I was wondering how one decides where to play the notes on the frets as there are multiple places for each note.

If the key is at all strange, i.e. Not G D A or any of their modes then it's probably best to play in FFcP. As someone has already written, jazzmando.com is a great site for the scales and exercises and pdfs. I've just done a couple of videos on that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MplXwcUJ-s
https://youtu.be/sO5x4kOqkHU. -hope they help!
It also helps to known which finger positions you need in order to be able to play which double stops, the FFcP gives you choices for pathways to use.
Good luck!

[sbhikes]

Do a google image search on violin fingering. The fingering is the same for mandolin and a little easier since we have frets.