Search:

I absolutely deny the concept of some kind of alignment between one's ability and the mandolin one acquires. OK I can understand one's first mandolin being something economic, to see if the passion...

Mandokin. A new word. I am going to use this one a lot. Martin you are moving the language forward!

Although a little googling shows that "mandokin" is a character in World of Warcraft. Well the...

When I bought my snakehead, I had know real knowledge of the history of anything. I really lucked out. But the purchase was based on what I was attracted to at the time.

The F style peghead...

Well.... throughout history there have been many philosophers who have tackled different theories of beauty.

But I know what you mean.

Double check that the string is seated in the slots at either end. I had a similar experience that was driving me crazy, and it turned out that a hard crumb or cinder or a micro pebble or something...

My observation is that how the instrument has been kept for the last 98 years seems to have as great if not greater impact on the sound than the differences the models had 98 years ago. Has it been...

In real life applications, I think mandolinners just fall into one or the other type of picking, based on how they began or someone said something to someone, and then stick with it, and then of...

I made a mistake. The paradiddle exercise is DUDD UDUU DUDD UDUU without emphasis on any particular pick. Then you move through emphasis on first note in each group of four, emphasis on second note...

I think this can't be ignored. What we prize and value today may be no part of how people valued things back then. The aesthetics have entirely changed.

I think that is true. Classic question - one pick several grips and attacks, or one consistent grip and attack, and several picks. Or some combination of the two.

I kind of look at it as a range...

To quote Frank Zappa totally out of context: ohh, the paraphernalia of it all.

I would also strongly recommend Instrumental, A Memoir of Madness, Medication, and Music by James Rhodes. It is a story of a destructive tragedy in childhood and putting together a reasonable life in...

I recommend The Inner Game of Music by Barry Green and W. Timothy Gallwey. A really helpful way of looking at the music.

I thought that was a beautiful book. A beautiful story. We have all done some crazy things when first driven by the passion the mandolin puts in us. Totally understandable.

Chris Thile, in one of his videos talks about pick holding and how it helps or hurts one in being able to up pick with the same emphasis that one down picks. The implication is no unintended bias due...

Most definitely there is a good reason.

It gets the emphasis right which propels the tune. The down stroke is typically a little stronger than the up. Many folks pick jigs DUUDUU DUUDUU

Another...

I was just discussing this with a friend of mine.

I keep my picks in little slider boxes available on Etsy as Heartwood boxes. I also have a little leather "pick pocket" which was made for me at a...

Regarding using the shoulder. I get the triangular picks so no shoulders! The 346 shape I believe it is called.

I have used the DAWG picks, which are supposedly the three round corners of the...

I am a blue chip pick boy, but I am not an expert on anything really. When I use the blue chip I like the TAD60. In Primetones I like the 1.4mm. Same in Wegen.

The idea is very interesting. I...

There is the story about the mandolinner whose spouse was tired of him playing Red Haired Boy. "So how do you like this one?" the mandolinner asked, playing Red Haired Boy once again. "Oh I like that...

I had a bird that liked my mandolin playing, regardless of the song. But he also liked the sound the dryer makes when it is finished.

My dog really loved my fiddle playing. He would sing a kind of...

Churchill supposedly said "I don't run when I can walk, and I don't walk when I can ride." I would add "I don't stand when I can sit." That goes for my entire lifestyle, not just musical endeavors. ...

I agree and I disagree.

I think there is no short cut to getting past the initial finger tip pain. If you take longer getting through that it only hurts longer. So for that I recommend pushing...

I like a 28 piece bowlback. :cool:

What would be wrong with playing as quietly and softly as possible?

I cannot speculate if learning to play softly helps you play loud, (as learning to play slowly does really help you play fast),...