Try out Mike Marshall’s Great Book of Finger Busters: https://www.elderly.com/collections/all/products/mike-marshall-s-mandolin-method-the-great-book-of-finger-busters
Getting your pinky working...
Try out Mike Marshall’s Great Book of Finger Busters: https://www.elderly.com/collections/all/products/mike-marshall-s-mandolin-method-the-great-book-of-finger-busters
Getting your pinky working...
https://youtu.be/VweMZusa1S4
Wishing you all the best for a speedy and complete recovery, Doug!
In Appalachian old-time music, many (maybe most) standards that have “hornpipe” in their title usually aren’t played with much of a hornpipe rhythm. I’m thinking of some of the most often played...
Love my two McClungs!
Seems like the consensus, not surprisingly, is that there are no hard and fast rules, and that the best guide is to do what works best and sounds best. For me, at this stage of my mandolin...
That is the tune, but Mark's spin on it is very different. I could post an MP3 clip of this part if I figure out how (can I post an MP4--exported from Amazing Slow Downer--with the attach video...
Hi all, Thanks for your advice. Actually, after I posted this, I did what I should’ve done in the first place: got the answer from the horse’s mouth. The tune is called Pumpkin Vine. It’s a pretty...
I’m working on a fiddle tune that has a bunch of hammer-on pull-off combinations. And if I stay in 1st position, it uses all three combinations of fingers for these (index/middle, middle/ring,...
I just purchased a new MT a couple months ago and have loved it from the start. If it gets even better over time (and hopefully, I will as well), WOOHOO!!
It’s a great book! I still have a long way to go.
I’m about a 12-year beginner at old-time fiddle, and I still can’t “improvise” very well, but here are some of the things I do to try to play a tune “my way.”
1. I try to listen to tons of...
I’m just a beginner myself, so don’t listen to me, but I would just say keep doing what you’re doing. Those pinky muscles take time to develop, but they will stretch out. As will whatever brain...
One. But I have my eyes open.
Do you like old-time music? No breaks, so it's much easier to blend into the background, unless you are THE rhythm guitarist, in which case, your playing will make or break the jam. Mandolin...
“...the Carolina Chocolate Drops restores the tradition of the black string band that had been all but written out of bluegrass history.”
I’m more into old-time, but do any of you bluegrassers...
It sounds paradoxical, but the thing I have to focus on most when practicing—both mandolin and fiddle—is relaxing. Especially when I practice fiddle, I find that my entire face and jaw tends to tense...
OMG, I live 5 minutes away from there! But I can’t make it tonight. Maybe next Thursday night. I love Waterloo.
No, the pinky reach to the B isn’t a problem at all. It’s just slightly awkward to play that second measure with pinky on B, middle on G, and ring on A. It’s slightly easier to play that combination...
I can't remember whether this has been pointed out yet, but one benefit of working on 4-finger (not just 4-string) chords from the beginning is precisely to stretch your hands so that you'll be able...
Nice! I really like this tune and have been playing around with it myself. Erynn Marshall recorded it with The Haints Stringband on their Shout Monah Album.
The A part is similar to Washington’s...
On “bluegrass centricism”: I just wanted to say thanks to the Mandolin Cafe and everyone here for all the varied and terrific information, advice, and inspiration. I’m a relative newcomer to both...
That’s actually an easy goal. You don’t have to get any better—just lower you standards and self-shame. That’s what I did. ;)
Not advice (I’m still a beginner, so not qualified yet to give advice), just encouragement. I also have really small hands. The three-finger chords are all fine. Learn and use them. But I would...
Thanks to you all for your really helpful insight and perspective. I’m excited to learn my way around this stringed beast through both closed positions and third position.