Messed up my scales

[jerryk]

Hello,

After digging my dad's mandolin out of the closet & fixing it ( strings & nut ), I set about learning to play. The obvious place to start was scales. G scale, C scale, D scale, etc. Up and down. Up and down. I felt quite virtuous . Way back in junior high, I played the cello - so I played the scales the same way.

Now it looks like I messed up. I found a couple videos of people who actually know how to play, playing scales, and they all use three fingers, with their pinkies flailing around. I've been using four fingers.... Do I need to start again from scratch?

- Jerry Kaidor

[emzech]

No. Using all four fingers allows you to play a scale without needing to use an "open" (un-fretted) string. This enables you to play any scale, anywhere on the mandolin. Look into the "FFCP"... it's a great resource that has helped many players.

That being said, I think it is good learn at least some scales (G, D, A, C, E and thus their corresponding minors) in open positions as well. It never hurts to know how to play the most common keys in an "open" position, but then switch to a "closed" scale when you want to move up the neck or get stuck in a situation where you need to play in an unusual key.

[EdSherry]

It's common on mandolin to play using one finger for every two frets: the first finger covers the notes on the 1st and 2nd frets, the second finger covers the notes on the 3rd and 4th frets. the third finger covers the notes on the 5th and 6th frets, and the pinky covers the notes on the 7th and 8th frets. (Very different from a guitar's common "one finger per fret" rule.) Since many scales can be played within a span of six frets, many mandolin players make little use of the pinky when playing open position scales. In particular, the fact that mandolins are tuned in fifths means that the 7th fret on one string gives the same note as the open next string over. Do the one-octave D scale can be played starting on the open D string, followed by the second, fourth and fifth frets on the D string, then moving over to the open A string, followed by the second, fourth and fifth fret. No pinky used. (One can use the pinky on the 7th fret of the D string instead of the open A string, but many players don't.)

As emzech says, the FFCP system gives all four fingers a workout with its closed-position scales.

[billhay4]

What Ed says.
Bill

[Mike Floorstand]

Mandolins use violin fingering rather than cello fingering, that makes it seem like you don't use all four fingers at first - on simple scales in open position - but it will be needed once you get into closed positions or even just to get to the B on the E-string.