Watch and learn
by
, May-28-2013 at 7:56pm (3991 Views)
So I brought my mandolin to a jam session Sunday, first one with the Loar. It was a bit of a struggle, since I just learned some basic chords and have had no practice actually playing back-up. I still don't understand the whole "in the key of" thing to help figure out chords, and I sure am having a hard time figuring out learning to play by ear. It's a skill that I will develop (I hope) eventually. So to get through tunes, I watched the other mandolin picker and tried to follow what he was playing. I managed to get through Old Joe Clark that way, with gusto too. Once I picked up the chords and tune, I just went for it and didn't hold back. Once it was over, I got "Nice mandolin playing there." Sure it was directed to both, but it was still nice to hear I did something right.
I guess that's how I learn things. You can tell me about it, I can read about it. But just show me how to do it, and gosh it will get done. I just wonder if it's a valid method of learning to play the mandolin. Because I just can't figure out how to play by ear, and I've realized by attending jams that most people learn tunes by ear. I'm one of the few people who brings a boat load of sheet music and it holds everyone back (and myself for that matter). I'd like to not be tied down by my books and binders of music. But I'll be darned if I can figure out how people do without.