Sue, I'm sure Matt will have some suggestions for you. Here's some suggestions on tremolo I heard from Mike Marshall when I was on ArtistWorks. Mike Marshall talks about pulling the pick up out of the strings when you tremolo. If you have too much of the pick sticking down into the strings, your pick can get hung up in the strings. He also recommends that the pick strikes the strings at a bit of an angle. Notice how Matt has the neck of the mando angled up when he plays; that will provide the angle for your pick. There's less pick surface to catch on the strings if it hits at an angle. A loose and relaxed pick grip will help along with relaxing your wrist, arm, shoulder, etc. Hope those ideas help once you get your work finished up and have some time to experiment with them.
Funny thing, Sue - I can't get the hang of the six per click but no prob with eight per click. I think the problem for me is all those Irish jigs I have played using DUDDUD. You just can't get fast enough or smooth enough using jig picking - Matt clearly is using DUDUDU. My brain wants to do two triplets instead of three doublets. I am sure it is a matter of just practicing slowly and counting out loud, like ONE-two-TWO-two-THREE-two instead of what my brain wants to do (ONE-two-three-TWO-two-three). Slow practice with counting out loud may be helpful for your case, too. I fully agree with Don's comments but I'll add one thing. Matt mentioned at some point that he picks with the face of his pick parallel with the strings. I find this to be somewhat "snaggy". It does make an interesting tremolo sound but it is very difficult for me to do that without snagging and I don't think that is normal for most players. I think Caleb Klauder does do that and his tremolo is really percussive (he also has a thumb plus two finger grip that is very unusual). Angling the pick slightly, as Don mentioned, seems to reduce the snaggy feel and also makes a smoother sounding tremolo. I've been doing some minor maintenance on a mandolin and ran into some issues, so I haven't practiced much at all. I'll be at the practice tomorrow but I'll probably be mostly on the sidelines.
I'm not in this class, but want to chime in on tremolo. Sue, it took me a very long time to get anywhere with tremolo. I've worked on it almost since I started. Watched all the videos, tried all the recommended exercises, and it just. would. not. come. Finally, about a year ago, I started getting somewhere. I've moved up from "wretched" to maybe the low end of "serviceable." Lots of time, practice, and patience with a slow payoff. David Grisman, who has one of the most beautiful tremolos out there, uses those picks that are almost round. A more pointed pick is the tool of choice for classical and Italian players (me too) and those folks play tremolo all the time. Pick angle matters, and it's difficult to discuss or describe as there are at least three different axes in play: the angle of the pick to the floor, whether the flat of the pick is perpendicular to the strings, and if top-to-bottom axis of the pick is at a 90° angle to the length of the strings or not. I think the answers on this are unique to each combination of hand and pick choice. One thing that's a must is relaxation. The second your hand or arm starts to tense up, stop and shake it out.
Well, I'm coming up for air today. I only got to practice once last week, as I was working on a graphics job (not fully done yet either) that had me working from coffee till bedtime every day. So was glad that Matt is taking a vacation next week and I will have an extra week to practice. I did get some good hints on the pick hold for tremolo last week. I know the classical folks use a pointed pick; Matt uses the round shoulders of a guitar shaped pick. I had one just like his and tried it. I may go with that for a bit. Also talked about "brushing the strings" - digging in just enough to get a good loud full tone without catching them. I'm looking forward to getting some more practice in. I was mostly listening and trying strum this morning. Hadn't had a chance to work on the melodies at all. Broken record, but I'm glad I'll be able to continue to use the class resources after it's over. There's so much cool stuff I want to work on.
I woke up yesterday when the clock radio alarm quit at 7am (KQAC-FM -- allclassical.org). So I got to class late in my jammies. Good thing Matt doesn't have the 2-way video feature enabled, but my webcam was unplugged just in case. I did a little bit of strumming after I got some coffee in me.
Not intending to hijack this thread- I’ll start a fresh one if I sign up- but wondered if anyone is planning to sign up for Fred Sokolow’s chord melody session a week from Monday? I’ve never taken a class before but it’s a playing style I really want to learn and I’m comfortable with a lot of chord shapes.
It sounds interesting, but I will be working on this Matt Flinner material probably all summer. If I had more bandwidth, I'd probably pull out my Octofone and sign up for Matt's Octave Mandolin course. But for now, one thing at a time for me.
I thought about that one as well, Sue (with GDAE tenor guitar), but I’m going to stay on the bluegrass road for now.
I actually came to ask a question here because I got an ad for Matt Flinner's Octave course. I live in a timezone where it would be unfeasible for me to watch the course sessions live. Are they interactive at all, or is watching the recording after the fact the same as watching them live?
There is minimal interaction between Matt and students, which I think is OK because it allows Matt to keep on track and cover what he wants to cover in a reasonable time. He does watch the chat feed during the class and answer questions, but there is no video or audio interaction. And having to type questions is rather cumbersome unless you are pretty good with the keyboard. So I think you could watch the videos of his class sessions and practice sessions and do quite well. He also provides a web site just for the class and there is a section of it where you can ask questions. He does monitor that during the week between classes. I think the main advantage of attending the class "live" is that doing so provides a structure or routine and it gives you a kick in the rear to get practicing. It is a lot easier to put off watching the video and procrastinators like me would probably get behind if I didn't do the classes and practice sessions live.
By the way, we did "the Cuckoo" tonight. One of my favorite old-time tunes that I learned on the banjo a million years ago but never really got down solid on the mandolin. His version has an interesting "lead" for between verses. I am having fun with his tunes and I am also realizing more and more how my basics need work - stuff like pick grip, basic up-down-up-down picking, left hand position, etc.
**I am also realizing more and more how my basics need work - stuff like pick grip, basic up-down-up-down picking, left hand position, etc.** Yes, I agree. Very much so. Very eye (ear?) opening. Interesting exercises last night to help gain speed. Exciting and intimidating at the same time. Metronome settings much higher than mine has ever spent time clicking at, and solid suggestions on how to manage them. i would very much like to be able to play faster, and so look forward to practicing these.
Sue, I left a comment at Matt's forum on your question.
Got it, Henry, thanks. How fast did you get going on the picking exercises? I made it past 70 on the first part of ex. 4; maybe 60 on the second part. On ex 5 with the quarter notes and eight notes, I actually got over 80 before it got sloppy. My husband had to listen to those alot this week, though
I confess to being a lazy student this past week or so - didn't do my homework. But I can tell you that on fiddle tunes 75 bpm is my barrier, maybe 80 if I really work on it. I think it is a sign that I am still having to direct my fingers to where the next note is instead of me letting my fingers go to where the tune is.
Did you read that Brainjo book, Henry? (I know I first heard about him from you) He talks about establishing "subroutines" that your brain can and should execute without conscious thought. I think that's what you have when you don't have to direct your fingers anymore. I feel like I might be getting somewhere on the alternate picking, but the left hand has a long ways to go. If I'm summarizing correctly, he said having enough of these "subroutines" brings you to the point where you can learn new tunes quickly by ear. Because the brain recognises what's similar without you thinking about it, and directs the fingers without conscious interference (which slows you down). I am at the point of learning tunes painfully slow by ear. But aim to get there
Well, the last meeting of the group is in the rear view mirror. I spent a fair amount of the day with my mandos (took out the Morris to compare the two), and have gone back to the beginning. I was gratified that I still remember the basic melody for "I Wish I Were a Mole in the Ground".
