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Enjoyed the interview. Thanks for teaching me to play the mandolin Roland. You're one of the nicest guys in the business, in my book. Best of luck to you and Diane.

Cedarhog, I think that what you are describing is called playing arpeggios, or the individual tones that make up a chord, one at a time. Arpeggios are an important part of improvisation, but they are...

Freelance UNIX system and network consultant. I also do some writing. Former GIS specialist, back in the dark ages. Hard core Morse code ham radio contest (competition) enthusiast. -.- ....- .-. ...

Raceway Park, Englishtown '77. Whew. :)

It's been 15 years, but in 1994 I spent two weeks near Cork in County Claire.
We stayed in this old castle called "Ballyportry." At that time there were no staff
or anything -- we were pretty much...

Campbell's Farewell To Red Gap (from Kenny Hall)

Black Hawthorne (Norman Blake)

I took my first mandolin lesson from Roland White in June 1999 at age 37, then
started studying fiddle with Jim Wood in October 2000. Not quite at this stuff a
decade yet, though I've played guitar...

I found that I liked good old J74's on my 1924 A4, but a friend just
gave me some J73's to try out. I put them on today. They are
noticeably lighter, but still sound surprisingly good. It will take...

OK, I'll jump on the band wagon.
Please change "K4RO" (my ham radio call sign)
to "Kirk Pickering"

Old Time music is a vast deep well. There's a lifetime of music to enjoy. Here are some of the Old Time artists in my iTunes library, in no particular order.

Norman & Nancy Blake
John Hartford...

You can read more about focal dystonia at the following link.
The article is called "Hand Jive" and begins on page 19.

https://www.taylorguitars.com/news/community/ws_winter_2007.pdf

I've played a few times in the key of L.
At least, they all said it sounded like L.

This mandolin on eBay is supposedly possibly a Sargent:

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Older-Gibson-mandolin-F5-style-Fern_W0QQitemZ300163887317QQihZ020QQcategoryZ10179QQssPageN...

I'm firmly in the "work on the fiddle tunes" camp.
On the other hand, I don't play that much bluegrass
yet, and in old time music, the Melody is King.
There seems to be a little more freedom in...

I learned to read music while studying classical
guitar from John Knowles and John Johns back in
the early 1980's. I never got to the sight reading
stage; but given enough time, I could decipher...

Sibelius will do what you want.

I've had bouts of tendonitis since taking up the
mandolin, but the only finger problems I've had
were from ligament sprains due to accidents. My
advice is to pay attention to your body, and...

Check out Tim May and David Harvey having
some fun with several classic Gibson instruments
at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame museum.

Tim May and David Harvey

Has anyone ever heard of a mandolin with
a scalloped fretboard? I've seen guitars
set up that way, but never a mandolin.

Nope, I just returned from Gruhn's. They no longer
carry any Gibson strings of any type. I was told
that Gibson dropped Gruhn's as a dealer. I've given
up on finding 161 sets conveniently in...

I've been playing mandolin for 9 years, and
fiddle for 7 years. I played guitar for 20
years before that, so the plectrum was not
foreign to me. The bow, on the other hand,
humbles me every day....

This looks kind of interesting.
What model is it, an A2 type?

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/1906-GIBSON-A-Snakehead-Mandolin-Original-Case-NICE_W0QQitemZ170154787033QQihZ007QQcategor...

When playing reels and other dance tunes in
2/4 time, try playing with the metronome tick
on the BACK beat (the AND) instead of the down
beat. So, instead of the metronome playing:

ONE and...

The chromatic scale on any twelve-tone
instrument is every available note between
and including two notes an octave apart.

Start on any note, play every note until
you've reached an octave...

Since you already know how to read music, I
can't think of any reason to bother with tab.