How did everyone learn to play?

[Ken Feil]

I was very fortunate that I lived in the same town as the great Tiny Moore. Took lessons from him at his music store in Sacramento. I think I started in 1967 and went on from there.

[Clockwork John]

Started on guitar, tried tin whistle, realized I should stick to stringed instruments, picked up a mando at a pawn shop, and taught myself to play it the same way I taught myself to play guitar... A couple of books, some basic theory, learning songs I like, practice, practice, practice.

[Zeke Chandler]

Was awful on guitar for 20 years and couldn't sing a lick.

While searching for a new instrument 'Old Brother Where Art Thou' was playing on TV and I had been introduced to bluegrass through other sources.

Bought a good playing mandolin (banjo was too limited and fiddle was out of the question) and was committed from day one. I knew enough theory and songs to begin playing immediately.

Progressed through fiddle songs and favorites and discovered, by necessity, that I can sing bluegrass, practically no other genre but bluegrass? I can.

For some reason the mandolin all made a lot more sense to my brain. 6 strings is just too dang many!

[Geordie]

6 strings is just too dang many!

I feel the same way. I know my limits, and six strings is two too many.

[JeffD]

I was very fortunate that I lived in the same town as the great Tiny Moore. Took lessons from him at his music store in Sacramento. I think I started in 1967 and went on from there.

Yeehah! I bet that was a great experience.

[Justus True Waldron]

I've only ever had one official mando lesson... I was lucky enough to get a lesson from Frank Wakefield right when I was starting out 10 years ago (He lives here in Saratoga and uses my Lutheir for setup stuff sometimes). After that, I would just pick the brain of my Luthier when I'd get stuck on stuff... he's a family friend, somewhat of the reason I started playing mando, and a pretty mean picker in his own right! Actually, I decided I wanted to play mandolin ten years ago when I went with Marty to Thomas Point Beach to help him man his vendor booth. It's been a long and fun journey ever since, but I just went back to Thomas Point for the festival last weekend for the first time in 10 years... it was like coming full circle. After I got started I didn't play a lot of bluegrass... I jammed a lot of whatever, played electric mando in a rock band... About two years ago I ended up getting back into bluegrass hardcore and going to festivals again. I've met and gotten to know many top level pickers, and that's what has kept me improving recently. My theory is that my playing rises to the level of people I'm surrounded with... so I try to pick with the best out there, and it certainly has scared me into improving. Between putting all this time in recently and having a real deal instrument I'd say there is no comparison between my playing now and two years ago. So to sum this all up... I guess I learned to play one day at a time, by surrounding myself with the best players I could find and then listening, picking their brains and trying stuff for myself!

[Timmando]

Back in the day when I first started learning, we lived in a cabin. I had to walk 2 miles in the snow to borrow a mando, then 2 more miles to take a lesson. The instructor made me stand on one leg, he said it gave me a balanced tone. Then I had to walk back in the dark 2 miles to return the mando, then 2 more miles thru the woods running from the wolves who were out at that time. Then my dad made me take a cold shower so I wouldn't use much water, and mom made me eat porridge for dinner cause its all we had left. Not like today...all the newbies got it easy....

Kidding aside...get this DVD and you will learn stuff that you can apply to bluegrass as well as other styles of music...it helped me alot.

http://www.amazon.com/DVD-Butch-Bald.../dp/B0006N2DY2

[Geordie]

I had to walk 2 miles in the snow to borrow a mando, then 2 more miles to take a lesson... Then I had to walk back in the dark 2 miles to return the mando, then 2 more miles thru the woods...

...uphill all the way.

[Herzen]

Mel Bay taught me some things about the tenor banjo, which I later transferred to the mandolin. Most learning resources are useless to me due to an old injury to my left hand that makes *conventional* fingerings impossible.

[nfire]

bought one because nobody else around played it and everyone played guitar. it sat there unused for awhile before my banjo playing friend would come over repeatedly making me play stuff he was working on.

[Dave Hicks]

I played guitar for quite a while before I picked up mandolin. My inspiration came from a couple of concerts at Oberlin, where I taught for a couple years oin the early 80's. Between Bill Monroe and Lorraine Duisit of Trapezoid, I got exposed to a wide variety of mando styles in just a few hours. I started with a Kentucky, but bought a Flatiron A5Jr, which is still my only acoustic mandolin, within a couple years. (Thanks to guys at Elderly for playing that mando over the phone for me.)

I started out on old time and bluegrass, and took some snailmail lessons from Lou Martin. (Anybody know what ever became of Lou?) Also used a variety of books and tapes. I eventually decided that my nervous system wasn't really suited to playing bluegrass so I didn't play mando for a while. However, about 10 or 12 years ago, I heard Rich delGrosso play blues mandolin at Augusta. I never realized there was such a thing, but I've been trying to play blues mando ever since, helped by Augusta workshops from Rich and Steve James.

Oddly, I suffer from GAS but not much MAS and read guitar boards more than the Cafe.

D.H.

[yankees1]

Instructor and Band in the Box ! And a lot of practice ( two hours per day ) for the last two and one half years ! I highly recommend Band in the Box !

[Shanachie]

I bought a mandolin 6 years ago but it sat collecting dust. I was more focused on the guitar. Two years ago I decided to start taking fiddle lessons. I found that the old mandolin helped me understand the fingerboard and fingerings on the fiddle. Those fiddle lessons really helped me become a better mandolin player. Mandolin is now my main instrument. I just started playing jams a few months ago. It's a lot of fun. I usually leave each jam with a clear focus on when I need to work on. Playing with other people is a real eye opener.

Learning to play lots of tunes is a great education. There are so many catchy irish, old time and bluesgrass tunes tunes in a variety of skill levels and you get the great combination of adding a new tune to your list as well as learning new skills. At any given time I am working on a song in my skill level and then one just outside it.

Books have been a huge help as well. I'm now working on the "Getting into Jazz Mandolin" book. Their system of closed positions really has started to help make the fretboard make sense. I feel like I'm starting to "get it". The light is turning on but it's still dim.

I'm hoping to work on improvisation. My question to the group is how have you worked on learning to improvise?

[JeffD]

I'm hoping to work on improvisation. My question to the group is how have you worked on learning to improvise?

I work on learning the tunes and hearing the chord changes in the melody.

[journeybear]

Find variations of the melody that work with the chords. Learn the notes that make up the chords and figure out how they move from one chord to the next and the next, and find notes that go with that. I have to admit, when I was learning to play and improvise, I was smoking and drinking and doing other stuff, and I like to think that helped, too. Not that I am recommending that approach, but anything that lessens your inhibitions and liberates your imagination is likely to help. Or just fool around, with your internal judging mechanism set to low. ''Free your mind, the rest will follow.'' Something like that.

[Elliot Luber]

I studied violin and guitar, but I essentially taught myself mandolin. Was fortunate to study with Andy Statman, but it was short lived when I developed a serious health problem that I've since gotten past.

[mandogoshen]

I was already a proficient guitarist and bassist before I picked up the mandolin. For the most part my knowledge on stringed instruments translated well to the mandolin, but I had to learn a few things like 1 finger covering 2 frets, the mandolin being tuned in 5ths instead of 4ths, etc.

+1 Was on a self-guided cycling tour of the UK and Ireland. Just too much music everywhere not to want to join in. The only practical sized instrument was a mandolin. Found one in a Dublin suburb awaiting the ferry to Wales. Cheap. It was laminated w/a strat-sized single coil giutar pick-up w/tone and volume pots. The gig bag was zipppered. Wrapped it in a plastic trash bag given to me at my next hostel stay by a musician/cook. He took my to my first Irish/Celtic 'session' later that night in Bangor, N. Wales at a place called The Tap and Spile. Having a americana/country/blues/folk back ground as well as being a vocalist my first instincts were rhythmic...wrong. That's not where the mando fits in the I/C spectrum as the regular players were quick to point out. Spent most of the night listening and absorbing.

Spent the rest of the trip re-learning my vocal song repertoire on mandolin along w/some standard fiddle tunes I coud pick out like Old Joe Clark, Arkansas Traveller and an I/C one called Rights Of Man. I was able to figure out chordforms that weren't always standard I was later to find out, but worked for me.

After a few months when I returned home to the States I started attending blugrass sessions and quickly adapted to the 4 string 'chop'. Got a few book/cd combos one of which was Dix Bruce's fiddle tunes for fiddle. I simply learned the fiddle parts on mandolin and then would put the songs on cd/repeat and play along until I had them cold. Still only 3/4 speed, but a very good operating bass from which to start. I still use it from time to time if my chops are getting dusty. Thanks Dix! Learned new songs like Ginseng Sullivan, Wayfaring Stranger and a Stan Rodgers song called, Lies. It's a great mandolin/vocal w/plenty of interesting single note runs and chord changes.

Been playing mando about 15 years now and often wonder why I didn't start sooner. It never ceases to make me a better guitar player when I play it, regularly. It's by far my favorite instument. I've got a mandola and am looking to branch into OM and MC as well.

[Malcolm G.]

Wish I could say that I've learned to play after 4 years or so, but in all honesty .....
I finger-pick guitar well enough to teach, can handle a 5 string b***o and ukulele, but flat-pickin' pretty much defeats me.
Not that this keeps me from trying and having a ball.

It also gave me an excuse to join the best forum!

[Glenny]

I'm playing the mandolin since may this year, i bought two books(with one dvd) and a mandolin chord dictionary:



But i learned a lot from many youtubeclips!

[Billgrass]

Don Julin helped me a lot. Via Skype, not via Dummies -yet.

[lespaul_79]

I played guitar already. I learned mando by ear and scale and chord sheets. Just played the scales till i saw patterns to other scales. Eventually learned I could jam to 1/4/5 folky stuff and that helped a ton.

[re simmers]

Mel Bay Deluxe BGrass Mandolin (Ray Valla), Harold Streeter Tab, Jack Tottle's BGrass Mandolin, Dan Huckabee tapes & tab, Niles pentatonic mandolin (still learning), Niles tab books on Skaggs, Gaudreau, and Lawson, lessons from Ron Pennington, Marantz tape recorder, many tolerant musician friends, many records, tapes, cd's, dvd's, youtube videos, a 3.5 hr lesson from Herschel Sizemore and.....cafe board.

Bob

[Barchi]

Hello, I'm new. Also new to the mandolin.

I'm learning with a mandolin method by Mel Bay. It teaches to play music in standard notation, and it's not related to any specific style. For now, it works pretty well.

[Michael Smartt]

Hello Sam,
I am typically a lurker around the board and haven’t posted in years, had to sign up again to post.

In my opinion you have asked one of the most important questions of Musicianship – “How do I learn?” While there is no definitive answer I would like to share my experience and journey. First let me say that each reply to your post is correct… I have used each technique with success. I was fortunate to grow up in Nashville TN and exposed to some of the greatest players in the world. In addition I was raised in a musical family and had access to a wonderful array of instruments. After 7 years of learning with all the listed techniques, I met a teacher and studied under this individual for 13 years teaching me “How do I learn?” What a life changing experience!!

Here is an outlined approach that I would suggest if you are serious about learning the mandolin or any other instrument for that matter.

1. Have the instrument professionally set up!!! The maker, model or price is not as important as the set up. Spend the money to have the instrument play to its potential.
2. Find a qualified instructor. When selecting an instructor be aware of the tune of the week instructor. A good instructor will provide a lesson plan that will include – technique, ear training, reading music, scales, chord building, theory and while using proper tune selections to incorporate each of the above.
3. Build a good foundation of technique such as holding the mandolin, pick, posture and proper right/left hand techniques. After 7 years of poor playing habits I spent many hours and $ breaking these issues.
4. Buy a simple metronome that has plenty of volume and use it constantly!!
5. Listen, listen and listen to the genre of music that suite your taste. I would suggest listening to the pioneers of each genre of music initially. Ex…. Bluegrass – Monroe, Western Swing – Wills, Classical – Bach, Jazz – C. Parker, etc…… There will be plenty of time to listen to the modern players as you progress in learning.
6. A qualified instructor will also teach you how to practice. Define a routine and discipline yourself to practice.

I understand this approach is very structure and sounds terribly boring. I refer back to the qualified teacher. A good teacher will be able to accomplish this foundation and build you repertoire at the same time. At this point I would suggest exploring all the learning materials and tools you desire. We musicians are fortunate with the technology of the modern era. I would have walked in the snow and over mountains for an – Amazing Slowdowner, artist books, sheet music, youtube, online lessons, etc, etc, etc…………. in my day.

Wish you the best of luck and enjoy your musical journey.

Michael Smartt

[Barchi]

Hello, I'm new. Also new to the mandolin.

I'm learning with a mandolin method by Mel Bay. It teaches to play music in standard notation, and it's not related to any specific style. For now, it works pretty well.

I also tried with Jack Tottle's Bluegrass Mandolin, but I didn't like the approach too much. I know it sounds weird, as it is a classic book, no doubt about it.

Mel Bay's Complete Mandolin Method suits better my way of learning, I suppose. I bought the Fiddler's Fakebook and Baroque Music For Mandolin, that are very good. But I'd like to find another book on Bluegrass...