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Nice job! I found the best way to learn was to dive in and do it. Your sound will smooth out the more you practice and it becomes more natural - you are looking understandably tense in your...

Great start. Now learn a fiddle tune, like Old Joe Clark in the key of A. It's easy and will give you confidence. Thanks for posting for us.

Matt, you are off to a good start! I could tell what you were playing without looking at the title, which is great!

IMHO, the thing that really stands out to me is that you ARE DOING IT. Not being afraid to put it out there, asking for comments/help is a huge step towards improving! Soon, someone more qualified...

Sing it in your head , play it with your fingers ..




give it 20 years or so.. :whistling:

From your email it is hard to figure exactly what you mean. Is it playing the tune when it comes around to you, or is it improvising something cool to play when the break comes around to you.

I...

Matthew: as others have suggested, keep it simple by playing just the 1, 3, or 5 notes of the chord being played. You don't have to play all the notes in the melody. With practice, it will come to...

Hey Matt, remember, if you can sing it or whistle it, you can find the notes on the mando. As a kid long ago when I started out, that’s how I began putting together solos. Also, YouTube is a great...

MandoLessons has a whole bunch of play-along jams to popular BG fiddle tunes, where Baron "trades off" with you playing chords and breaks. You can slow down the tempo using the icon in the bottom...

Great advice from all here. I found that if I could whistle it (the melody), and could find the 1st note on the scale it sped things up a bit. The tune has to be in your head deep enough for your...

To me lot of playing breaks is jumping in strong and landing the finish, so start there, know the chord changes you are playing over, - if you don't have them down to almost automatic then go back...

Hmmm .... It all starts with the melody. Then moving within the chord changes of the melody. I have heard that described as "making the bases". Tools to do that include learning to play closed...

Begin with very simple songs and you have to get the tune in your ear/mind/head first ! It will come and don't give up !

Teach your ear by starting with the classics, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, 3 Blind Mice, Happy Birthday, etc. You’ll realize the almost all BG songs start on either the 1, 3 or 5 of the starting...

Matt, my advice is, since you have a good ear, learn some breaks to songs that you would like play. Pick it out by ear and practice till you have it down. It will increase your musical vocabulary....

Do you mean in a jam session, or alone in your practice space? The way you phrase this, I assume you mean in a jam setting. Whatever song you’re working on, make sure you have the chord progression...

Does playing a break mean improvising or playing a melody with some variation from the
tune? Both are valid, and you can always create your own variation. Try doing it for your
favorite song. One...

Have you taken a look at this video? It was made for the Cafe's profile of Michael Daves who teaches Bluegrass Vocals for ArtistWorks, but it's a great guide to building a bluegrass mandolin solo.
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Just keep it simple. You don't have to be Bill Monroe, Mike Compton, Chris Thile, etc. Just play the basic melody and maybe build on it. I also agree with Allen above to play with some other...

Are you trying to play other people's "breaks" (solos to us jazz players) or improvise your own?

I hear you. I started in March, but without the lifelong exposure and off and on playing. This is my first serious string instrument. I'm so impatient! Yesterday, though, after a hiatus in that kind...

I had to spend years hacking before I could shred...

Still hacking sometimes :mandosmiley:

It'll come when it comes. Don't pressure yourself, or set too high a standard for yourself. Practice playing melodies that you can play -- whether it's Twinkle Little Star, You Are My Sunshine, or...

love your splatter case!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41spDMBaeYY