Hey all - I thought I might pick your brains about good, interesting, or less well-known tips and tricks for learning the mandolin for a relative beginner.
I bought my Eastman 305 a couple of years ago and I love it dearly, but without clear tuition or structure I found myself ignoring the hard stuff or moving on frustrated from playing difficult chords. It meant that I eventually hit a wall and stopped playing.
I picked her up again in the summer and decided to seek out private tuition which has been amazing and very helpful. For instance, I never learned scales before because I found them boring and hard to learn. Now, I see their point, it's rather like the wax-on/wax-off part of The Karate Kid. You don't understand their usefulness until you start playing songs that use scale structure. A good example of this would be my inability to strum the A chord, or reach the 7th fret on the E-string. Playing scales has meant I can now do this - I learned the Kesh Jig just this week and can play it pretty well thanks to also learning the E major scale. My pinky jumps straight to that 7th fret without me having to modify my hand position - something I never thought I would achieve.
So here is my regimen:
- Every day I practice scales (at the moment just the major scales G, C, D, A, E). I also practice them with double notes to build in variation.
- I practice strumming and picking a couple of simple songs, to help with rhythm which is my achilles heel
- I learn a song per week, usually by accessing the latest songs on Mandolessons
- Each day I play through the songs I know, which now totals about 12
So my weak points are rhythm, strumming (particularly tricky notes like the F), and I have to say I struggle to learn scales. The pentatonic scales are throwing me completely but I am trying my best.
So, it's a general question, but is there anything that beginners can learn or try out that helps with overall playing in your experience?
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