I am still fairly new to mandolin - not two years yet. I played a little piano when a child but did not enjoy scales and no tunes. I had a go at guitar around 3 years ago but hit a block and didn't really enjoy just chords. Ther was a mandolin in the house not being used so I had a go. I found online lessons, Brad Laird, and enjoyed playing melody. I needed to learn how the mandolin note positions fitted with a keyboard etc but learnt using tab. Although I can sort of read notation I struggle with key signatures and understanding where a sharp is played so tab works for me. I have enjoyed learning tunes but so far can't play more than the one I am currently working on without music. Sorry for the long intro but here is where I am struggling to know what to do. I have found that when practicing I seem to just work on one or two songs that I am learning. I then wonder should I be also playing other songs that I have done and fingering practice such as scales and how should I divide my time? I can usually manage a little practice each day but some days don't as I am not sure what to do or I spend too long researching such as looking on here! Some days I can manage a couple of longer practices but feel I need more direction. So what would others suggest? When you practice what do you include? How do you start? Do you have a beginning middle and end? If you only have a little time what do you concentrate on? Sure there are more things I should ask but I am sure I will get some good suggestions and be able to make my practice more productive. Thanks for your help Yelsel
That's a difficult question with no single answer Yelsel. I can tell you what I should do if I was starting now. Playing with an audiotrack is so much fun. You can download severall tracks on the internet. Dave from http://flatpickapprentice.blogspot.nl/ has made a lot of practisetracks that you can download at different speeds. Search for the tabs of the peace an you can start right away. Start slow is always good. Fiddletunes are pretty easy to learn and you can start with a simplified version. Search for a mandolinversion on youtube and find one that you think is do-able. ( I love the versions Bill Macy put on youtube, but maybe you like my (luurtieful) channel) Good Luck and keep you wrist loose!
Yelsel, what style of music do you want to play? Is it Bluegrass, old time, Celtic, rock/pop?
its got to be fun if its going to be worthwhile in the long run, so maybe play along with tunes you enjoy, but also do some technical exercises like scales apergeros etc. There are some 'getting into jazz mandolin' exercises on this site somewhere - could be a useful start? a bit of both imo is the way to go. personally i have found this Song a week group has helped me hugely to learn a much wider variety of music than i would ever have tried otherwise...
Here's some insightful interviews on practicing that someone posted on the café a while back. The subjects are world-class guitarists, but their tips and advice are applicable to us as well. It was a fascinating and inspiring read for me. Here's the link if it sounds interesting... http://practiceguitarnow.com/guitarp...musicians.html One thing most of us here benefit from is regularly having the opportunity to watch and listen to our practice sessions. It does seem to help a lot.
Thank you for the suggestions so far. Old sausage I like all sorts of music and to be honest I can't always say which genre something is. I had fun working through an Irish mandolin tune book but I also enjoy bluegrass, old time and much more. I have recently been playing around with Greensleeves and Black Velvet Band. I really want to get The Entertainer done too but come and go from this as will take time! I have had a go at one or two on here and on newbies. I think it is good to vary what I do but do find I get on best with ones I like. I will have a go at some of the suggestions but also try some of the ones on here but give myself longer than a week! Will also try and do more technical practice too. Plenty to keep me busy! This is a wonderful resource.
Generally, I found it useful to approach music from various angles, that is, get some knowlegde of music theory, try to play by ear, learn some tunes, practise some pure mechanics...This may seem disconnected at first, but eventually it will flow together, and a well developed ear will come in as handy as some theory-basics.
