Hi, I have been lurking in these forums for a couple years now (since I bought my first mando) but have not participated until now. MC is a great resource and I have learned alot from just digging into other people's conversations, but I think I am ready to be at least semi-participatory here now. I am happy to see I am not the oldest Newbie around by a long shot, as I am only pushing 50 . Right now, I am taking Sharon Gilchrist's Beginner Mandolin class on Peghead Nation, and I am liking it so far, though I feel a bit squirmy about the learning by ear ONLY thing. I have to admit to cheating and looking at both tab and standard notation. I was previously trying to teach myself through you tube and books, but I decided I need more structure and a class of some sort to keep me practicing. I have never played an instrument in my life, though I have forced two of my three children to do so since I think it's a tremendous value to developing a "growth mindset." Guess I decided now it's time to walk my talk... I have given up (for now, at least) on playing the Rogue A-model I bought, and instead I am playing a 1960s?? oval hole A-model that was given to me by my MIL at Christmas. She said it was her mother's and had been sitting in the attic awhile. Brand is "Valencia." I haven't been able to find out anything about them, but I like it's sound better than the Rogue (probably the oval hole?) Music-wise, I am not a huge bluegrass fan, I love old time, irish traditional music, singer-songwriter type folk music, and lots of other stuff. My husband plays the banjo, mostly clawhammer style. He was a drummer from the time he was a kid, so I have a long way to go to develop the kind of good rhythm he seems to already have mastered (with 4 separate limbs, no less.) Sorry for the long-winded intro. You all seem to be a friendly, welcoming, and helpful group, so I count myself lucky to be here! Happy Picking! Angela Gillespie
Hi Angela and welcome! I'm also an older newbie, be 64 real soon. Structure is good, I agree with you, I've been going through the same thing, and still haven't found the ideal path. I like the idea of in-person lessons, but it'd be a big commitment. Also think its okay to peek at the music, as long as it's just to help you over the tricky parts. That's my opinion, and I'm sticking with it Sue
Hi Angela, and welcome! I also started my mandolin journey with Sharon Gilchrist on PN. I strongly encourage you to stick with the learning by ear, even if seems to slow you down some. It will pay you big dividends later in your journey. Also, take advantage of PN's course-switching policy, I believe it's twice a month per course, to check out some of the other teachers. Most of the other mandolin courses are intermediate level and beyond, but you may find another player whose teaching style or material you particularly like.
I second sticking with the learning by ear. I did Sharon's course on Peghead nation and it is the thing that really helped me transition to that style. Welcome,
Welcome to the Newbies group, Angela! Our group here has been kind of quiet of late, but maybe we just needed a youngster like you to give us a little kick in the pants! I haven't taken any online lessons other than Mandolessons.com. Barron does a good job there. My main hurdle is spending enough time practicing and if I signed up for a course like Sharon's (and by the way, I seriously considered it a week or so ago), I would still have to get myself to practice more. I am afraid I would just be wasting my money. I lean more towards classical, folk music, and hymns instead of bluegrass. I listen to some bluegrass players like Molly Tuttle and Sierra Hull just to watch them play. It is hard for me to believe someone can actually play like that! Anyway, welcome again to the Newbies and MC. This is a good place. Stacey
Welcome Angela!
Thank you for the warm welcome! I plan to try to keep learning by ear. It can be slower, but slow is good for beginners. Maybe once I am done with Sharon's class I can take time to learn a little theory too.
Stacey, that's sort of why I signed up for PN, in that the money made me accountable to myself to not waste it. I set an initial goal in the beginner's class of one lesson group a week and at least 30 minutes a day. I now set a goal for myself of 1 hr practice a day which I mostly meet. After attending a bluegrass camp recently I've also made my practice time more structured: 10 minutes warmup, 20 minutes working on a new tune from whichever PN class I'm in (right now it's Joe K Walsh's Bluegrass Jam Favorites), 20 minutes reviewing fiddle tunes I've already learned, and 10 minutes working on not-necessarily-bluegrass. Except right now that's all out the window because my mandolin is at the luthier's for a few weeks having the florida removed and some work on the neck. I've got the octave that I haven't touched much in the last few weeks so I'm reviewing the tunes I learned on it and re-remembering how much fun it is to play.
BEM, this is why you need four or five mandolins at all times. The risk of being without a playable mandolin is just too high.
