Re: Memorizing the neck
Originally Posted by
gfury
... patterns and relationships are more important than memorizing note names ...
Heartily agree! Even now that I can somewhat quickly figure what any note is, that's not the way many of us play.
What I DID initially memorize (even if it was on guitar!) are the notes at each fret marker up the neck, starting with only the E string(s). After a while, the notes on adjacent strings, a fourth/fifth above/below (mixing guitar & mando here) become apparent, and eventually the others fill themselves in.
But actually PLAYING is a different thing. While a pianist has to memorize each white/black, sharp/flat for the keys they play in, we fretted folks are given a big break, especially on mandolin. All we really have to remember (when playing above open positions) is the location of the root note / root chord, and then follow the pattern of whatever tune you're playing. The singer needs to change key? Find the new root note, follow the same pattern. THAT is a big reason that the FFcP exercises are so often noted here, because they're so easily moveable.
Six or eight years ago, when I thought I was getting decent on mandolin, I took a clinic with Barry Mitterhoff where he gave us some unnamed Mozart sheet music that initially floored me: in Bb and very broken 6/8 time. "Uhmm, okay the B note is flatted and, uhmm, I guess the E note also. Now where's the next one of those?" Barry lifted the fog by strongly hinting that, "Here's the root note, and here's the pattern (from FFcP) that your scale is on. Think more about which note from the pattern you're going to play, rather than whether that note is flatted or not ...", and it did fall together.
- Ed
"Then one day we weren't as young as before
Our mistakes weren't quite so easy to undo
But by all those roads, my friend, we've travelled down
I'm a better man for just the knowin' of you."
- Ian Tyson
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