Bach Cello Suite No. 1 - Prelude in D on mandolin

[whitelines]

After many MANY views of Alex Timmerman's performance posted on this very helpful thread (thanks @tkdboyd), I finally have a successful playthrough of this on video.

For some reason I get nervous and VERY prone to mistakes when I know I'm recording, so I was really happy this came out right. Aside from my pick holding, which I know is wrong, any comments/criticisms are welcome.



working on the allemande now!

[Jeff Hildreth]

Well done..

Try giving the notes a little more space and consider punctuation .

As to your pick grip.. experiment a bit.

[Jordan Ramsey]

Hey Vinnie, your pick grip is not a huge deal (not the norm, but a few prominent players do use the same grip). The real issues is your pick direction. You're using a pretty big mixed bag of pick strokes, it almost looks like an electric guitar player's "economy" style playing. Take it from someone who had to totally rework their pick direction after years of ingrained bad habits, squaring away your right hand approach will drastically improve your sound and consistency. Revisit that entire thread you linked, especially post #17 explaining the reason for specific pick direction. Take the music for this piece along with Mr. Timmerman's video (slowed down if possible) and write in his pick strokes below the notes in your music. It'll take some serious effort to unlearn what you've already ingrained, but I guarantee you that doing this homework and getting your right hand in line with Mr. Timmerman's will completely elevate every aspect this piece for you (smoothness, timing, tone, etc.). All the best,

Edit: just realized that you can't see Mr. Timmerman's hand the whole time. Check out this video of Caterina:

[whitelines]

Thanks Jordan! Pick direction is something I've never really thought of nor understood why it would make such a difference. When I step up my direction game I'll post a better vid!

[Jim Garber]

After many MANY views of Alex Timmerman's performance posted on this very helpful thread (thanks @tkdboyd), I finally have a successful playthrough of this on video.

Re: Alex's playing. I think everyone should be made aware that Alex is playing with a Roman style pick and the technique one uses with those picks are very different from other styles for instance Caterina who plays in the German style. Pick direction may be similar but the way the pick is held and the tone you get is very different.