Picked up guitar - wow!

[pettyman]

Hey guys.

Right well, here's my problem - I had to leve my mandolin with my brother last time I was with him, two weeks ago. I'm seeing him again in a week so I get it back then - I've missed it so much! But not having it has made me pick up my guitar again, which I've hardly played since getting my mando.

The difference in my guitar playing is immense - my rhythm and chording has improved so much - nothing is a stretch anymore and I can get some rediculous chord sequences going!

So it has bee worth it - my only problem is, my brother is one of those annoying musical people and is getting pretty good on MY mando! He'll most likely be better than me on it when I go in a week! But some good jamming should be had.

On another plus note - he is now gonna buy a mandolin so I'm gonna have someone to play along with and i guess we'll teach each othder things too!

Should be good!

Matt

[Lee Callicutt]

But not having it has made me pick up my guitar again, which I've hardly played since getting my mando.

But didn't it feel like an aircraft carrier in your hands compared to the mandolin? :-) I've pretty much sworn off playing guitar myself until I become a little more acclimated to the scale of the mandolin, but the few times I picked one up in the last month or so, I was absolutely astounded at how positively gargantuan those six strings were!

Lee

[250sc]

Pettyman,

I think the biggist improvment in my guitar playing has come from playing mandolin. When playing mandolin my left hand technique has to be more precise due to the shorter scale length, thinner fingerboard and need to push down both strings evenly.

On the other hand (not literally) I find I have have to stretch my left hand fingers and reach more playing mandolin than playing guitar.

[ira]

never been a guitar player, but tried pickin it up a few times. just never felt comfortable. well, a few years into the mando now (my first stringed instrument), and picked up a guitar that my cousin had a few weeks ago, and amazingly, though it still felt somewhat huge in my hands, i remembered some chord shapes that i'd seen others made, and strummin, and actually playin a g-c-d song was a breeze! i would assume it works both ways, but i was shocked at how playin the mando made the guitar so much easier. might even get a cheapie (used epiphone type) just to mess around with.

[Wolfmanbob]

In general, you should find that each instrument you play will add to your overall musicianship. There is however the problem that occurs when you spend some time playing one and then pick up another immediately after. However, the more you play, the less that will matter. Experienced players don't have that much trouble shifting back and forth.

[JGWoods]

I find myself playing the guitar with a capo up 4-5 frets and transposing so I can use the shorter scale. It changed my perspective on a lot of tunes, playing in different keys, sometimes finding a better vocal range as I drop down and sing under the capoed guitar. If I play on the full 26" scale I use D tuning to get a good low rumble.

[woodwiz]

I just started playing guitar again after about 25 years of not playing. I've been working hard at fiddle and mandolin for the last year or so, and I was amazed at how much better my ear and overall musicianship is. It'll take a while to get some technique back, but I'm a lot more comfortable up and down the fingerboard than I remember being, and I can almost instantly find the key and chords and play along with anything I have listened to so far, something I struggled with before. I can probaly thank all those scales and arpeggios for that, something I never did with guitar.

[Lee Callicutt]

Picked up my old Aria classical guitar again today just long enough to teach myself a couple of little things on the mando, and it STILL felt like an aircraft carrier!

Lee

I took up the mandolin 6 months ago after playing guitar for 40 some years. I still play guitar in my band but honestly I play my mandolin day and night. I take it to work with me and spend a part of my lunch hour in our data center serenading my servers. My main problem switching to guitar is that I want to hold it straight out in front of me with the back away from my body like I play the mandolin. It works on my little 00 sized guitar but the D-28 won't go that way, and yes, it does feel like an aircraft carrier.

[Lee Callicutt]

and yes, it does feel like an aircraft carrier.

Yeah, I can't say I wouldn't mind having a little more of that playing room on the mando's fingerboard, but the immersion technique I'm employing is helping me get used to the mando scale pretty quickly.

Lee

the immersion technique

That pretty much describes it, doesn't it?

The mandolin is addictive.

[an uncalloused fingertip]

Sometimes it is nice to play a lower tuned instrument though. I just got paid today and am thinking of picking up an inexpensive guitar to fool around with. I saw a 3/4 size "travel" steel-stringed acoustic - a Yamaha JR1 - that they are selling for $129. But maybe not. Undecided. (and frustrated, trying to reposition my mandolin bridge where the intonation is correct; a guitar bridge is fixed ).

Rook

[pettyman]

Well if you are spending that sort of money on a guitar I would highly suggest buying a Washburn Folk guitar. I have a Washburn F8 and love it! Awesome tone compares well against anything else under £400 and it cost about £120!

Matt

[Nihilist37]

I played guitar for most of my life and then started to learn mando about 3 months back. When i first got my mando I played it for about a week without picking up the guitar. When I did pickup the guitar i couldn't believe how far apart the strings were. It's just so much bigger. However I have noticed significant improvements in my musicianship by spending time playing both. I just love the mando though, I'm in total agreement about the addictiveness. I don't seem to be able to put the thing down.

[neal]

One has their favorite, and I say play it, but the playing of the favorite certainly does have an impact on the secondary....does that make sense?

[ira]

well, lucky enough that my bro was getting rid of his cheapie epiphone travel guitar. i took it and have been messing around with it, and can play some simple g-c-d, a-e, a few 7th and minor progressions, lots of fun, and unlike mando, might get a capo to mess around more. it is still def. easier than other times that i've tried to pick it up and i can thank my mando pickin for that. however, though i love the deep resonance i still love playin my mando and after the first coupla days, the guitar has been in the corner more than in my hands- just me.

[fatt-dad]

Playing my guitar tonight (hey the wife and daughter actually tolerate it), I too feel my mandolin playing has been a great help. Here's my dilemma - how come my mandolin callosus don't work on the guitar?

f-d

[Perry]

Playing fast fiddle tunes sure does help the right hand. And that transfers over to guitar very nicely.

On guitar (especially electric) you can afford to be very sloppy with your right hand technique. Not so on the sustainless mando though!

[an uncalloused fingertip]

Playing my guitar tonight (hey the wife and daughter actually tolerate it), I too feel my mandolin playing has been a great help. #Here's my dilemma - how come my mandolin callosus don't work on the guitar?

f-d

Probably because the finger falls on two strings - as opposed to one.

I did pick up the Yamaha folk guitar, removed the pickguard and have been having some fun. I don't have any guitar books, so I'm playing stuff from my mando collection - especially Turlough Carolan tunes. Also, learning to play the Van Halen instrumental "316".

Rook

[Michael H Geimer]

I like to try 'porting' songs over from one instrument to the next. Since I usually play pretty straight, non-embellished melody lines it's not too difficult to do ... and makes for good ear practice.

GF and I are having fun with Norman and Nancy's latest release, and it's fun for me to try playing these songs one day on guitar, the neck on mandolin ... tonight I'll try banjo. (Just chords and simple lines, ya know ... not the subtle but stunning Norman licks).

Re: Guitars seems so big! I often find myself playing my old-style (pre-fancy inlay) Larrivee Parlour guitar for that reason. Solid woods, dovetail neck-joint, great tone ... sounds much bigger than it is, while still being easy to pick up.

- Benig

[250sc]

I'm with Benignus in that I make it a point to play everything new that I learn on one instrument to the other. I don't play the exact same solos on them but I do learn the melody and chord structure. For the last few months I've been working on playing through ii,V,I changes on both.

[BluegrassGirl26]

I've been playing the mandolin for two years now and it took me some time to get comfortable with it and to really understand what I was doing. I was completely surprised at how easy it was for me to play the guitar when I started a couple of months ago. I've learned it so much quicker and I'm almost as good on it as I am on the mandolin.

[fatt-dad]

Playing my guitar tonight (hey the wife and daughter actually tolerate it), I too feel my mandolin playing has been a great help. #Here's my dilemma - how come my mandolin callosus don't work on the guitar?

f-d

Probably because the finger falls on two strings - as opposed to one.

Here's what I think: the mandolin callosus are smaller on the fingertip then the real-estate required to play the guitar. Where my fingers ache from playing the guitar are just next to my well-developed mandolin callosus.

fatt how-do-you-spell-callosus-by-the-way dad