New to mandolin playing

[Raybel]

Hi,
After years of playing many different types of instrument from guitar to sax, harp to cajon, I have decided to try and concentrate my efforts on just a couple of instruments at the risk of spreading my time too thin if I keep dabbling. So the two I have chosen is guitar and Mandolin, a new venture for me as I only picked one up a couple of months ago. Since starting to play, my daughter who is in her mid teens has commandeered one of the instruments that I bought, and is now learning the basics. The UK unfortunately is not bustling with specialised Mandolin teachers.
Any suggestions on the best way to proceed, resources etc?
Ray

[Randi Gormley]

There are Youtube videos (it's generally a good idea to look at Mike Marshall's video on how to hold the mandolin, especially if you're starting out without a teacher), Skype lessons and, depending on where you live, there might be a Café member handy to ask real-time questions. Or you do it the old-fashioned way and learn from a book or by copying music (back in the old days, we used records or tapes). What kind of music are you hoping to play?

And welcome to the café!

[John Kelly]

Hello, Raybel. Where in the UK are you based and what sort of music do you hope to play on mandolin?

Nigel Gatherer has a very fine site called The Gathering http://www.nigelgatherer.com. He is based in Perthshire here in Scotland and his site has lots of resources for various instruments - violin, mandolin and whistle being catered for. Nigel runs very good workshops and classes. NFI, I must add!

http://www.mandolin.org.uk is a small site with not too much activity but again, UK-based and often has interesting threads in its forum. One of the posters, Tosh Marshall, provides information on a London-based group he runs which seems to meet monthly.

Loads of stuff on YouTube from classical through bluegrass to Celtic/Scottish and lots more.

[Raybel]

Thanks for the suggestions. Myself, I have a very eclectic repertoire, I have played some Bach and Mendelson, hoped across to leadbelly and Led Zeppelin, but mostly play jazz. Trouble is that I don’t read tab or music, I do use chord shapes for reference but basically I hear what I want to play in my head and play it. So trying to teach my daughter is a bit tricky. I can get her to copy, i.e, put your fingers here, here and here. That’s OK for learning basic chords and I have taught her some basic single note tunes, but if she is going to progress ( I think she would like to play classical to contemporary pop) I think she may need some help from people who know about theory and techniques and not a musical illiterate like myself. I live in Hampshire, So if there are any mandolin players around Southampton, Winchester areas, I would love to hear from you.
As I say I’m pretty new to Mandolin, I dabbled with the idea a few years ago (a couple of chords on and old bowl back that disintegrated after about 3 weeks) and then decided around June of this year to give it a more serious go, My daughter started around mid end of July. So early days, I’d like to get her started down the right road before she picks up too many bad habits, (Too late for me though).
So many thanks again for you suggestions.
Ray

[EricLopez]

I've always thought the lessons on this site are well-organized and helpful:

http://www.mandolessons.com/