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Music theory does nothing for one’s “playing”. When playing one does not have time to do the mental constructions that music theory entails. Music theory does have a great influence on how we plan...

Thanks Greg, I too have a couple of early 80s Japanese made Aria guitars and likewise they play easy sound good and didn't break the bank.

Try John Pearse 2160 (12,15,26,40) or 2170 (12,16,26,40) phosphor bronze strings with a BlueChip CT55 pick. This should help fatten up the treble strings.

Or just experiment with a range of picks - thicknesses, materials, shapes…. The rounder tips have more of an effect on the treble strings, too, IME.

I like the GHS A270 set with the .016 A...

I love the FZ quote Pete posted. My favorite Miles Davis quote, hands down, is, “When you hit a wrong note, it’s the next note that you play that determines if it’s good or bad.” It takes a...

Some months ago This topic came up in a conversation with Marla Fibish - an internationally known Irish mandolinist. Her suggestion: “no need to play all the notes” - just play the important ones.

Busy weekend. I've been taking note of everyone's excellent advice, but haven't had a chance to weigh in.

I'm in a learning environment, so there are mixed abilities among all the instruments,...

This is one of my warm up exercises, recorded during hybrid-style-folksongs sessions in March 6, 2020.

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Toomas Rannu
Flat-backed mandolin, crafted by Viljar Kuusk in 2008 (Tallinn,...

https://youtu.be/UA4YkLvoDAU

Hi guys,

I’m keeping it. I’m working it out with the vendor and it will end up being a pretty sweet deal.

Just so you know, after they contacted me earlier in the week, they said that their...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BsZvQDGAuU

Heat and humidity from living 20+ years in Florida convinced me of the value of speed necks especially on my '56 F-12. The F-12 had a black painted finish on the neck that was extremely sticky so I...

Ronnie McCoury Month | Day 5: Little Cabin On The Home

Always fun to see what Ronnie does over a standard bluegrass number. This one has Monroe DNA all over it!

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All,
I put on some EJ75s a couple of days ago and it did make a huge difference. The instrument has no more "blattiness" and is louder. But, it did lose some of the responsiveness (especially to a...

I'm at the learn-a-fiddle-tune-then-record-it stage.Then post it to those super friendly SAW guys, then learn-another-fiddle-tune... and on.

Always with a metronome, of course.
While I'm learning...

https://youtu.be/D7N9qnFQU5E?si=BMCfJQZ81hBqYlSG

That is a very powerful technique, and a ton of fun. I learned arpeggio shapes "keyed" to one finger. Put that finger on a note, and one can play the major and minor arpeggio for that note. I use my...

Thanks for all the kind comments so far. I've released another video today and this time we take a look at finding our triad arpeggios in G,C and D and our pentatonics using the double stop shapes we...

I know all too well about regrets. I have owned a guitar for over 25 years and a fiddle for close to that and never really learned to play either because I put too much pressure on myself to be good....

Alright, second video in this double stop series is up and running. We take the G major double stop shapes we learned in the first lesson and apply them to C and D.

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Hello folks. It's been a while since I posted on Mandolin Cafe but I thought some of you would enjoy some of the free resources that I am sharing over on YouTube and my Patreon.

First video in my...

Indeed they do... for a price.
We can make our own by simply grinding safe edges on standard files (flat, triangular, other).

Like John said. They make specialty files for this purpose. Stew Mac sells them, others too probably. Said files have a safe face without teeth that rides on the fretboard without scarring it while...

Or fret sprout from being under humidified in a previous life (seems unlikely if it's originally from Florida, but it's possible).

My performance anxiety is very much affected by how I visualize the outcome. How I manipulate my expectations.

If instead of being afraid of screwing up, I envision people liking what I have done,...