Finger drift

[CW 1500]

I am new to the cafe. I have been playing the mandolin for about a month now. I am having a problem with what I call finger drift. I have a musical background and know the notes and where to finger the note. But it seems that if I play the fifth fret the first time later in the song my hand drifts and I start hitting the fourth fret. Does anyone have some hint or trick to keep the hand anchored so to speak.

[EdHanrahan]

.... been playing the mandolin for about a month now. ... my hand drifts and I start hitting the fourth fret.

Guessing that your musical background in not so much on stringed instruments? And since you're just starting on the requisite 10,000 hours, I'll also guess that it's mostly muscle fatigue. Maybe a little brain fatigue, too.

To commiserate, I play guitar in a mandolin orchestra, and last year we added a new piece by one of our members where I had to learn =16= totally unfamiliar chords (he's heavily into Latin jazz). So even after, uhmm, a half century of playing, my fingers felt a lot like yours for the first several weeks OF JUST ONE TUNE! And my head hurt.

Just keep at it, and remember how to get to Carnegie Hall!

[CW 1500]

Ed you are correct. I had many years of brass instruments. Very little in stringed instruments. I am having other problems with fretting on string and meeting the next one. I will stay with it until I master it. Thanks for the reply

[Dave Sheets]

You can leave the first or second finger "down" on the fingerboard when you are playing notes higher up the neck with other fingers, this may help a bit.

[EdHanrahan]

... I will stay with it until I master it.

Every so often, just to remind myself how frustrating learning can be, I'll flip the mando or guitar over and try playing lefty - just something simple. It's generally a disaster!

[Beanzy]

Try to locate the thumb so it’s pretty much opposing the second finger.
Shortening the reach like that is a sign of allowing tension to creep in to your hand, use it as an audible reminder to ease up the tension.
Dropping your hands to your sides and giving them a bit of a shake out while raising and dropping the shoulders, can help reset everything and get you back on track with less tension.

[John Kelly]

Since you are coming from a brass background, you will need to develop a new discipline of muscle memory for the mandolin (or other stringed instrument). On mandolin, with its short scale, the regular method for the fretting hand is to cover TWO frets per finger; on guitar or other longer scales it is generally ONE fret per finger.

When you are playing, try to develop and maintain the spacing. If you play a simple diatonic scale, let's say D major, using two adjacent string courses you will play open D, E on the second fret, F# on the 4th, G on the 5th, then repeat this pattern on your A string to get A, B, C# and D. You will use fingers 1, 3 and 3 for this. Fiddlers generally learn, when being taught by ear, to play "open, big space, big space, small space" then repeat on the next string - emulating the pattern we have just used on our mandolin. When I began trying fiddle after years of guitar and mandolin, the tutor told me I had almost the reverse problem of the other students in the group - I was opening my fingers too much to get the notes because of the muscle memory from my guitar playing!

Just work at getting those fingers learning the spacing. Anchoring 1st and second fingers on the fingerboard will always help to create a reference point for you and if you are moving further up the neck let your thumb come up too, as Beanzy suggests above.

[UsuallyPickin]

Part of your drift may be in how you are holding your instrument. It may be "settling" a bit as you play. Are you using a strap.. that helps. Other than that … practice practice practice. R/

[Stephen Perry]

Part of your drift may be in how you are holding your instrument. It may be "settling" a bit as you play. Are you using a strap.. that helps. Other than that … practice practice practice. R/

Yes! Consistent ergonomics.

Then practice slow aim-directed fretting. The various classical guitar approaches are good at this. Pure exercises. I'm recalling Pumping Nylon. Might be the other exercises I use came from master classes. Request will get details.