I've been playing mandolin for about 3 weeks now, and I haven't found a teacher yet, but I'm reading my books and going to as many concerts as I can where there might be a mandolin.
I'm resting my right hand on the strings behind the bridge and my hand on the bridge, but my wrist is staying pretty stiff. I'm using a stick and am trying to balance it and relax my wrist as an exercise, to help, but I'm still having trouble with my fingers and pick hitting wrong strings, it's like I have a muscle flex in my hand and it just lashes out and hits another string. The funny thing is, when I play my cello, my right arm is my bowing arm, and I have a very relaxed wrist, but when I pick, everything gets all stiff. I've tried resting my little finger on the pickguard, but my playing is even worse than when I rest my wrist on the bridge and strings.
The pictures of people holding their picks looks cumbersome, but I've tried it and it feels really unnatural. My hand just turns into a fist, which isn't limber at all.
Although if I memorize a piece and then play it without the music, it seems to improve. My eyesight is also pretty bad and I can't see the strings.
I don't think I was this bad when I started playing cello in 1969. Everything came naturally with that, but the mandolin seems to be something I'm fighting with.
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