Art - Music - Mandolin

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Table of Contents

• 1. Overview
• 2. Equipment
• 3. Practice regimen.
  • 3.1. 0 months (Dec 2009)
• 4. References

1. Overview

This page records my progress in learning mandolin. I had a brief tussle with a banjo, but really wanted skills that would lead to the lute. It turns out a mandolin is a soprano in the lute family -- a lot of the skills are interchangeable. And mandolins ($500) are a lot cheaper than lutes ($2000), so a good place to start.

2. Equipment

• Rental: Low-priced Fender "A" style, steel strings.

• Music stand, metronome, tuner (see Music)

• Books. See References. Also see http://www.mandolincafe.com/lessons.html

3. Practice regimen.

3.1. 0 months (Dec 2009)

Worked through "Teach Yourself to Play Mandolin". Got it tuned, learned fingering over 3 sessions... and got sore fingers. Now using tape on fingers.

Once I knew the fingerings and the general theory of picking, I went to the Christmas Fake Book for Trumpet. Since mandolin is a "C" instrument, I'm playing 3 semitones high, but as long as I'm solo the melody is ok.

It is startling how quickly it goes. With less than 10 hours of practice, I'm able to play slow tunes adequately to be recognizable, and my fingers are beginning to reach for the next fret without thinking about it.

4. References

alexander2002a

A. Alexander. "Medieval Music for Mandolin". Allan Alexander, 2002.

From author's notes: "I've tried to choose keys where the strings will ring and where the notes needed will lie under the fingers".

And it feels that way. A lot of music for very little effort.

alexander2002b

A. Alexander. "Renaissance Music for Mandolin". Allan Alexander, 2002.

Again, a lot of music for not much effort.

fox1996

Dan Fox. "Teach Yourself to Play Mandolin". ALfred, 1996. ISBN 0-7390-0286-4.

As with most Alfred books, very clear and usable. I didn't pick up fret-finding as fast as the lessons presume, but pretty close. I got stumped on tremolo (which may be why the book says to practice it 5 minutes a day). And I'm just skipping chords until I have some single-picking speed.

tottle1975

Jack Tottle. ""Bluegrass Mandolin". Oak Publications, 1975. ISBN 0-8256-0154-1.

More information on picking than fox1996, so they should be synergistic. Has some of the classic bluegrass tunes.