How to get started for a Newbie

[B381]

Why do you play, and for whom?

One of the best questions you can ask yourself. Enjoy playing for yourself.

Practice practice practice. Learn scales, chords, and sight-reading. Practice more. Copy famous or infamous or even just catchy solos and riffs. Find voices you like, then find your own voice. Play your mandolin many hours each day till it becomes an extension of you.

Once again, spot on. I have been seriously trying to learn about 6 months and although I am making steady progress, I have to remind myself of these thoughts constantly. I am one of those people who like it to happen quickly, sometimes patience is a hard thing to have.

[Bill McCall]

Be patient with yourself as you enjoy this journey. While you may want to be born full grown, enjoy your playing at the level you’re at. If you can play in jams as well as you play at home, that is a big thing. Great community of folks. Can change your life in so many ways.

I agree that a few personal lessons are great to avoid bad habits, and developing the habit of practice are the core of playing. Listen to everything.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Seek out other people to play with as often as you can.

[dadsaster]

I haven't read the entire thread so apologies if it has been mentioned elsewhere, but I think artistworks.com with Mike Marshall is a great value. You get an entire corriculum and access to a world-class player who (if you submit videos) will keep you from developing bad habits.

[richardwills]

I haven't read the entire thread so apologies if it has been mentioned elsewhere, but I think artistworks.com with Mike Marshall is a great value. You get an entire corriculum and access to a world-class player who (if you submit videos) will keep you from developing bad habits.

Thanks dadsater! artistworks.com has not been mentioned. I will have to check it out.

[fatt-dad]

fiddle tunes and old-time jams.

Pentatonic scales.

Fakebooks.

Jack Tottles book.

learn the four-finger chop chords - yes getting all four notes to ring.

Download the application (laptop) tabeditviewer and search for *.tef files for mandolin. (These *.tef files show you on the computer the music and play the computer speaker's rendition of the music. It sounds horrible, but informs the ear to get the notes correct. Mandozine.com and this site both have *.tef files for all sorts of genre. Check that out and it's all free.)

Write down the tunes played at local jams and get the *.tef files. Learn those first so you can join the jam next time.

and for advice?

"On the journey to excellence, enjoy mediocrity."

f-d

[richardwills]

Wow fatt-dad, thanks for all the info, I will check out the application and books.

[B381]

PegHead Nation is pretty darn good too.

[UsuallyPickin]

This is my advice to all new players ..... 1. Learn both open and closed position scales and arpeggios. Two three and four finger chords all work in the appropriate place learn and use them all.
2. Take lessons from a mandolin player / teacher not someone that just teaches mandolin. It will save time on relearning good technique later.
3. Get a 1.2mm or thicker pick. Dual courses of short strings need a bit of mass to move them.
4. Keep a loose wrist and fingers. If you don't drop the pick occasionally you are gripping it too tight. Watch a video of Tim O'Brien.
5. Hold your pick at 90' to the side of your thumb.
6. Do a lot of active ,with mandolin in hand, and passive, while doing other things , listening to mandolin players.
7. Learn fiddle tunes. Then learn to play them in odd keys. Not to befuddle your picking buds but to really learn the fingerboard.
8. Find a jam to play with folks. It's the best way to dive in to playing.
9. Start practicing tremolo and crosspicking early on. Right hand control is crucial to tone production as well as keeping your play interesting.
10. If you don't already know basic music theory then learn it. It will help you evolve as a mandolinist and as a musician. Know what keys and chords work together arpeggios and scale construction etc.
11. Play daily one half an hour daily is better than more time occasionally. A good portion of what you will be learning is muscle memory. Regular reinforcement is key. Enjoy the journey. R/

[richardwills]

Thank you UsuallyPickin! Lots of great advice in you post.

[Mark Wilson]

Learn the basics fundamentals of left and right hand technique. Even if you decide to stray from these fundamental guidelines it helps to know you've done it.

Find a trained eye to watch you play before it's permanent

Don't compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to last month

Save money by buying as good of a mandolin as you can afford as soon as you know this will last.

[fatt-dad]

p.s., regarding the right hand. At some point you will realize all the music is in the right hand. Don't just fuss over fretting!

f-d

[Austin Bob]

Lots of good suggestions here. I particularly like the idea of playing with others, see if there's any local slow jams.

My other suggestion is to go to the home page of the Cafe and click on the Learn/Listen link at the top, then choose TablEdit.

Download the free TEFview program you'll need, then download the files from the Mandozine link under Additional Information. I have all the files on my local drive.

The program gives you a follow the bouncing ball kind of approach to learning tunes from tab files. You can slow it way down, then gradually speed it up. It's also good for learning how to read music. You can set it to just display only standard notation, and follow some easy tunes you probably already know. Search YouTube for tutorials, but it's not hard to learn.

There's also practices and exercises to help you improve. Who doesn't need to practice in Eb for when the guitar player uses a capo on the third fret and plays in C? It's free, so why not give it a try?

[Papa P]

I am a 63 yo newbie and a little excited to say so.

I played brass instruments in school band from 6th grade through college. All that I was ever taught was my part. No explanations of any theory at all. Many years ago, my son took up saxophone and I started playing trumpet with him. I realized how much I missed playing. I began reading and studying all I could on theory and consider myself very knowledgeable. I tried playing guitar on my own but after several years, I felt that we just weren't communicating.

I picked up a mandolin two years ago and fell in love. It spoke my language- we, both, played and clapped on the off beat. I have taken lessons for about a year and was fortunate to find an instructor that spoke theory in my language. His assessment of my work is that I need to be joining learning jams. In the perfect world I could do both lessons and jams but...

I joined Mandolin Cafe to get words of experience. I love scales and could practice them all day. I noodle a lot. I don't know how to practice. I don't have direction. I need y'all's help!!!

Any words of wisdom?

Thanks,
Papa P

[wormpicker]

Check your local library for that Mike Marshall artistworks course. Lynda.com has added that set of four courses to its library, and I discovered that my public library subscribed to it and offers it for free (I also have free access to Lynda.com through the university where I work). The Mike Marshall course is fantastic!

[richardwills]

Thanks wormpicker! I didn't think to check the library. I know they have had ecourses before, just did not look at the time for musical instruments.

[OneChordTrick]

fiddle tunes and old-time jams.

Download the application (laptop) tabeditviewer and search for *.tef files for mandolin. (These *.tef files show you on the computer the music and play the computer speaker's rendition of the music. It sounds horrible, but informs the ear to get the notes correct. Mandozine.com and this site both have *.tef files for all sorts of genre. Check that out and it's all free.)

That is the best piece of advice I never had!

I downloaded TEFView, the tablet equivalent yesterday and it was a revelation, I learnt to play a new tune in a day rather than the week it usually takes me. The ability to stop and start, select section by section is a real benefit.

[Mark Wilson]

I don't have direction. I need y'all's help!!!

So much to learn. I hit that wall the first 2 years - not knowing where best to spend my time. If you could find one other picker who would like to practice together once a week or so, it can super charge the learning process.

Ask local music instructors to poll their students. Ask at local area jams. Ask jam facilitators permission to use their email contacts to send out inquiry for practice partner (this is how I found pickers) Ask/post in local music shops - they usually are involved with lessons and know many pickers of various levels. I've had no luck posting inquiry (CL and FB) online but I did get a few referrals to local jams that I wasn't aware of.

It's out there. The gateway to accelerated learning. Ever wonder how musical families kids get so good. House full of other folks to pick with maybe.

[Mark Gunter]

I have been going through the beginner series on MandoLessons, and I am almost done. Although I still need more work.

Richard, you've gotten such good advice here that it's hard to add anything else of value. Something you may have gotten from the sum of all that's been said in this thread is that there are a number of directions you can go from where you are, and if you stick with it, you'll never be done and you'll always need more work. That is the way of the musician. You have to love it to enjoy it.