Thanks to one and all for some interesting comments. If you remember, my question was 'What to call this position?', and I think Jim and Louise above have nailed it: it's called 'half position'. I've searched for 'half position' and it is indeed a thing! Sometimes I think we mandolin players get so engrossed in our own instrument that we forget that other instruments can teach us stuff!
For the record, this issue came up when I was teaching a student Petzold's Menuet in G. The second part moves into E minor. The melody line has D# on the A string, but the counterpoint, as I have arranged it for mandolin, has the D# on the D string:
Playing this passage with normal fingering is somewhat tricky and - that word again - clumsy. Moving into half position makes it so much easier and smoother. Now I've learned the correct term, I'm very happy to refer to 'half position'!
Bookmarks