A Newcomer to Mandolin Asks the Experts
Hello friends,
For years, I've wanted to learn mandolin, but due to time and money just not being there, I haven't been able to start - until now. I've had the good fortune of being able to borrow an Eastman MD815 from a friend to tinker around with during the COVID lockdown and I'm loving it so far. So, I broke down and bought an instrument of my own (a Kentucky KM-1000 - best I could afford, especially as a beginner). I'm sure my friend will be happy to have his Eastman back!
A little back-story: I have been playing music since I was about 9 years old (flute and bass, among other things), have a solid grounding in music theory, composition, and improvisation. I've jammed with Bluegrass combos, local folk singers, etc..., so know roughly what to expect. I've also had a very little bit of violin experience, which has helped in that I can at least get around the fretboard a bit (although very poorly at this point).
I have a teacher I've reached out to - not naming names, but someone who is known in the Bluegrass community. It's tricky right now with the lockdown, but remote lessons might be possible, depending on availability. But until that can happen, I'm doing my best to learn what I can and hopefully not end up developing too many bad habits early on. At this point, I'm just trying to get chords and scales somewhat under my control, not much in the way of tunes yet.
That's where I'm starting from. So, I wonder if any of the experienced players here might have some words of wisdom they might like to share that could help me start out on the right path here? The goal is to make a serious effort at this - I know I'll never be that good, at least not at my age, but I'd be thrilled to get to a point where I can actually sit in on some jams.
Thanks
Last edited by Erin M; May-26-2020 at 4:46pm.
"Flow, river flow. Let your waters wash down, take me from this road, to some other town." - Roger McGuinn
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