Practice "drills" or just play or both.

[Lou Giordano]

I started playing a few years ago. I had to put the mandolin down for a couple of years due to some injuries flaring up.

I'm back at it again and it looks like I can make some progress if I take it slow.

I don't want to go at it like I did the first time. I got caught playing with some friends who wanted to play different songs every week. I had to play two finger cords only, just to keep up.

I'm retired now with lots of time so I wand to try to really understand and learn this time. I will be playing Bluegrass mostly.

So back to my question. Are drills as important as playing or is there a percentage +- or is it up to the person/ skill level.

Thanks for your time.

[JeffD]

I have changed my mind on this over time. The answer is yes.

Exercises are real important, and also working some right hand picking and strumming exercises are as important as drilling the left hand.

Also playing and practicing what you are going to play is very important.

But the most important thing is to get behind that mandolin as often as possible. Any regimen that isn't fun or decreases your motivation to get after it, or that you don't look forward too, no matter how good the regimen might have been if you were able to do it regularly, is no good.

So pick a percentage that keeps things fun and makes you feel you could do this all day long. Anything you actually do regularly is much better than the perfect practice you never seem to get to.

[John Flynn]

1) Listen to tunes. Get an idea of how you want to sound.
2) Practice those tunes. Try to make that sound, even it's slow.
3) If you run into a problem, make a drill out of it, even if it is only a three note run. Practice until you can't play it wrong and move on to the next problem. Once all problems are solved, reconstruct the whole tune.
4) Play with others as much as you can, even if you don't know the tunes. Try to play the melody, not the chords. Try to only hit the downbeat notes at first, then fill in the rest as you can. That's how generations of people learned tunes and techniques.
5) Find some good instruction. I recommend Artist Works online with Mike Marshall, but if you have someone good who is local and you can afford it, that's great too.

[Toni Schula]

Both for me too.

[Lou Giordano]

Thanks for the help Jeff and John. Makes good sense. I'm leaving in a few minutes to go to my second lesson since I starting this time. I found an old BG teacher with a good rep. I like the guy. I hope he can break through the fog

[Tobin]

So back to my question. Are drills as important as playing or is there a percentage +- or is it up to the person/ skill level.

It's really up to you, depending on where you are right now and where you want to go. I think once you've been at this for a while (meaning several years consistently), you'll find that it's important to float back and forth. You may go through phases where you do nothing but play music for fun because that's where your priority is. But then you'll find yourself lacking in something, and decide to put an emphasis on drills/scales/etc., in order to add it to your repertoire or skill set.

There's no magic formula to this, and you pretty much have to figure it out as you go (and as your musical style/taste changes). Your instructor may decide to have you follow a specific regimen, which is all well and good for establishing the basics, but there simply isn't any way to 'master' all the techniques at the same time.

It really does take years, perhaps even decades, of playing through various styles of music and letting your techniques evolve. Even when you think you've mastered something, you'll find yourself refining it over time. So it's important to allow yourself the flexibility to bounce back and forth between 'play mode' and 'practice/drill/learn mode', as you determine you need to, based on where you want to go with your playing. Just keep in mind that it needs to stay fun! If you're losing your willpower or interest because there's too much time spent on drills and such, switch over to playing something you enjoy. But obviously, you will benefit from establishing a level of self-discipline for spending time working on technique and theory.

You'll figure it out. And the most important thing to help you figure it out is to keep playing as much and as often as possible. Find your weak spots, work on them, and keep getting better!

[JeffD]

John has a good point. Listen to as much bluegrass music as you can as often as you can. In the car, in the workshop, in the headset as you walk. Just absorb. It will inform you right brain.

[Pete Martin]

"Playing" and 'practicing" are two differnt things in my mind.

If you just "play", eventually you will reach a plateau where you won't get any better.

If you "practice" with an eye toward improving what you don't do well, you'll eventually improve.

Drills can definitely aid one in getting better at things they don't already do well.

[avaldes]

"Playing" and 'practicing" are two differnt things in my mind.

If you just "play", eventually you will reach a plateau where you won't get any better.

If you "practice" with an eye toward improving what you don't do well, you'll eventually improve.

Drills can definitely aid one in getting better at things they don't already do well.

I think this is a really good approach. That said, a lot of pieces have important practice potential. For example, "Soldier's Joy" gives you a lot of practice in D scales.
I set aside a little time each practice for things I don't do well. This can be a difficult passage in a piece, or a technique. For example, I have made up this exercise to improve my ability to do tremolo on the 3rd and 4th string (key of D doublestops, tremolo on each for 2 beats, 8 notes per beat. You can vary that, of course):
20xx 62xx 45xx 74xx 45xx 62xx 20xx
Chords are D, A, G, D, G, A, D

[Don Julin]

As the author of the hot off the press "Mandolin Exercises For Dummies", I think that exercises and drills are an important part of the big picture. Keep in mind that the real goal is to play music with other folks. Think of pro athletes, I am sure there are examples of great players that only played the game but most need to go to the gym in order to be in top condition, enabling them to play with others at a very high level. Good exercises develop strength, coordination, and knowledge of fingerboard, which is normally considered a good thing.

[Lou Giordano]

Great turn out, Thanks everyone for your participation.

I just returned from my second lesson. I really like this teacher and he is reading me really well. So that's a huge start.

In my other hobby, playing pool. I work a lot on my mechanics. That way when I'm having a bad day I can sort of got through my list and figure where I'm dropping the ball.

I will work that way with my drills to get grounded. My teacher will push me a little to get me moving along. He had me jamming with him a little today. I was amazed.

I am in agreement with you all, you need both. It does need to be fun as well

[Lou Giordano]

As the author of the hot off the press "Mandolin Exercises For Dummies", I think that exercises and drills are an important part of the big picture. Keep in mind that the real goal is to play music with other folks. Think of pro athletes, I am sure there are examples of great players that only played the game but most need to go to the gym in order to be in top condition, enabling them to play with others at a very high level. Good exercises develop strength, coordination, and knowledge of fingerboard, which is normally considered a good thing.

Thanks Don. Yep your book is on my list.

[Pasha Alden]

One of those who benefited from "Mandolin for Dummies" I must concur with Don. I find the drillwerk, even a little monotonous and painful, a great help. So I try to keep things spicy play things like arpeggios, scales, also among scale s the pentatonic scales. It certainly increases knowledge of the finger board and that is important when playing with others. At present I am often asked when playing with friends to play solos. So this means, no hiding in the safety of chords and the background. For these solo breaks I have to know the fret board. So yes, I fear I do the drill work. I spice things up by rewarding myself with a session of chords, or playing through a fun song. That works well.

[Lou Giordano]

Thanks Pasha.

All the way from South Africa! Forgive the old guy. I forget what WWW stands for some times

[Killian King]

I don't understand the aversion to doing exercises. Even running scales through the circle of fourths is melodic if you make it swing a little bit.

I also find that if I start by doing right hand exercises it makes the rest of the session easier and more fruitful.

[Lou Giordano]

I don't understand the aversion to doing exercises. Even running scales through the circle of fourths is melodic if you make it swing a little bit.

I also find that if I start by doing right hand exercises it makes the rest of the session easier and more fruitful.

Can you give me some examples of right hand exercises. Thanks.

[SincereCorgi]

I don't want to go at it like I did the first time. I got caught playing with some friends who wanted to play different songs every week. I had to play two finger cords only, just to keep up...

Don't stop playing with your friends, though. You can learn a lot fumbling through new songs under pressure and it's impossible to recreate those conditions in a practice room.

[Killian King]

Can you give me some examples of right hand exercises. Thanks.

http://www.freeguitarvideos.com/mand...s/preview2.pdf

Look at page 13 of this excerpt from Brad laird's mandolin training camp book. I have the book and it includes another page of right hand exercises as well. I find this to be a nice warm up.

[Mike Bunting]

[Mandoplumb]

I don't understand the aversion to doing exercises. Even running scales through the circle of fourths is melodic if you make it swing a little bit.

I also find that if I start by doing right hand exercises it makes the rest of the session easier and more fruitful.

I am by no means a newbe (been attempting to play for 50 years) but I agree that the exercises can be fun, if you are successful. I recently started to work on my cross picking and sometimes an hour has gone by like a minuet,just me my metronome and 1,2,3 &1,2,3. But at the end of that hour, if I detect improvement it is worth it.

[JonZ]

Another way to think about this is to drill with a tune centered focus.

So, that means if you are going learn a tune in A, you are going to drill A scales, arpeggios, and chords around the neck until you can improvise on that tune anywhere on the neck. Then you do another key with another tune. Then, after you have several tunes, you might start working out double stops in every key. You keep adding new tunes that stretch you, or revisit old ones with new approaches.

The point is that you have to choose material, or approach material, in a way that stretches you. Pete Martin's double stop book is a good example of this approach. He does several songs in several keys, so you learn all those variations on double stops. Then he has you work out the same tunes in different keys. So both your repertoire and tool box grow.

Some people are good at planning this type of path for themselves. Others might need a book, video, or teacher.

[Paul Busman]

I have limited time and I hate exercises so I mostly just play. This keeps me in good enough shape to handle local Irish sessions and play in an Irish band. Nothing flashy, but pretty solid.
When I learn a new tune I'll sometimes come across a difficult passage. In that case I'll create a little exercise for myself to learn that passage.

[lenf12]

Thanks Mike!! The ol' right hand can always use the exercise...

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[Michael Bridges]

I have reached a point where I felt like I needed to choose between practicing "songs", or practicing "music" Right now, I'm trying to focus more on the music (different scale, chord, right & left hand drills), on the premise that those will help me play whichever song I choose better. Still run through some of my favorite tunes on a regular basis, to see how it's developing. I just don't have the drive to learn fiddle tunes note-for-note right now. I feel like this approach is helping me progress quicker than ever before.Edit: Re Pete's comments above, his youtube practice videos are top-notch. I use them a lot. Same for Don Julin's vids and books. Both really know how to get a point across and make it fun!