As a fiddler it's easy to just practise tunes on mandolin. I've been doing that, and I've been putting off working on chords till I can't stand it any more I'm 'open string-centric', and most comfortable playing what I know from fiddle in 1st-4th position rather than thinking in closed patterns I can play across the fretboard. Plus, I like the sound of open strings when they're available.
I have a bunch of the usual mando books. I'm finding most present the style of chording favoured by the writer, e.g. some bluegrass mando books major in l-o-n-g open chord shapes, whereas the Mando Exercises for Dummies book appears to be more interested in 3 string closed shapes. Then there are books that spend 40 pages on learning the easiest and tightest fingered sequences of open chords, which usually don't sound that great.
Problem is, where would you suggest I start to get playing chords usefully without taking years to get some basic competence - any particularly good sources? My mando ambitions don't extend much farther than being able to play fiddle tunes fluently and busk rhythms (maybe with a folk/jazz flavor), mostly at sessions where there are too many fiddles already.
Thanks, Max
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