Re: Books...and Specifically, Intermediate Books???
Thanks to everyone on this thread for inspiring me to break this book out in a more serious fashion. It looks like it will really help a lot. And, for those of you who might be interested, here's what I generally do for thicker "perfect bound" books - take 'em to Staples and have the binding cut off then spiral bind. Four bucks, and reduces the frustration of the book closing all the time.
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![Quote](images/misc/quote_icon.png)
Originally Posted by
JonZ
You will become a better mandolinist if you complete the Horne book. But, for me, it covers too much material in too little depth. For example, there are two cross picking exercises, which are really just enough to introduce the topic.
I think a better path for most aspiring intermediate players is to go deep on a more limited range of skills. For example, learn to really play the crap out of your pentatonics, arpeggios and double stops, until you can improvise with them creatively and effortlessly, in several keys, over the entire neck, at speed, using basic right and left hand techniques. To the listener, this will make you sound more proficient than kinda sorta learning dozens of skills and techniques. You want to be able to use your tools beautifully, rather than collecting many poorly mastered tools.
Your goals above are a pretty good list to drill deep on. Horne covers way more.
A better fit for you, if you like Bluegrass, might be The Mandolin Picker's Guide to Bluegrass Improvisation, which goes deeper into fewer concepts. Also, get a tune book that appeals to you. I think it's a good idea to go ahead and learn to read notation. It will pay off in the long run.
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