Re: Octave Mandolin | Technique Nightmare
I'm no expert but my Octar has a 24" scale and I have just medium-sized hands so I've had to come up with some coping strategies! Bart's given a ton of good advice already. May I add a few more ideas? (can't promise they're as good as what's already been offered though!)
4. Be ready to move your left hand around and expect the pinky to do quite a bit of work. Bowed cello players more their hands plenty, and it's necessary on the mandocello too so that's a good hint.
5. Try to avoid the baby-giraffe-on-ice situation by avoiding a guitar-type hand position. It's easy to take a guitar-type grip to the neck of the OM because it's about the size of a small guitar. But that can be the start of the end. Instead I try to keep my left forearm and for that matter, fingers, more parallel to the neck than perpendicular. A less exaggerated version of the typical violin player's left hand approach, which seems to be more helpful the longer the scale becomes.
6. Bart's right on about everything, and particularly reduced chords. I've found the middle positions on the neck and some of the inversions available there to be a lot of fun, and easier to play. Some of those shapes can be punchier too so they're great to explore. So try smaller chords a bit higher up the neck?
7. Don't be scared of a capo! They're often tut-tutted over on the mandolin but an OM is different. Speaking of Sarah Jarosz, she and others regularly use capos to great effect.
8. Shorten the scale length. This is easy with a capo - you can always tune the OM down and capo back up if you want to stay at standard pitch. It's easy to try. Lighter and easier on your fingers to start, and easier on the instrument too since the string tension is less.
9. I adapted this last one from Mike Marshall - he says on a mandocello it's not necessary to do so much all the time. Since I took that advice on the mandocello I also started thinking similarly on the OM. Mine has a long scale so I figure it's permission to do a bit less there too! Three-course chords, less high-speed chicanery requiring lots of rapid position shifting, etc. This approach makes the OM easier to live with. We're used to blasting along on the mandolin but we don't necessarily have to try to do that with the OM. So maybe thinking of it differently than the mandolin can be useful, and bring some new ideas or insights along the way.
Best of luck!
Gavin Baird F4 & F5, Weber Octar, Gibson K-1, Guild D50, Martin D35, Yairi DY-84, etc...
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