Roanoke

[Kevin Briggs]

Heya, folks:

This song is a perpetual work in progress for me, with speed being the most elusive element. I can comfortably play it at about 110 beats per minute, and try to stretch myself without sacrificing tone and cleanliness. I can’t recall where I learned this version, but I’m open to other resources as well.

Also... the brightness on this new Collings MT2 is really something. I’ve been playing it like crazy and it is really coming into its own, barking and sustaining and feeling awesome. It’s about a week old now and I’m loving this MT2 journey:

[Gunnar]

Good picking, nice sounding mandolin!

[roysboy]

good job ..clean and fluid picking .....your collings sounds better than I ws expecting ...actually more even and warmer and louder than many i've heard

[Kevin Briggs]

Thanks, guys!

Roanoke and Big Mon are two songs work on sporadically, and it seems building speed in a clean way is the biggest challenge. There are also a few passages that give me more troubles than others. My strategy is to play it a ton slower, like at 90 bpm, and o lush it faster, at say 115 bpm. I’ll then raise the bpm incrementally and have gotten up to about 130 bpm without seeing how I could get faster. This version I think is around 105 bpm.

I’ll add, I agree this MT2 is sounding amazing. There seems to be a direct correlation which how much I play it. It’s new and a little tight, but if I play it to the Kauffman Bluegrass Workout for about 20-30 minutes it is noticeably more responsive. The tone is exquisite. It’s very fine, and the chop is a dry, husky delight, with volume to spare all around.