New here.

[apar87]

Hi, my name is Amanda. I have played the guitar for about 13 years and never really went that far with it. About two days ago I decided to buy a mandolin (Gretsch New Yorker G9310) and am far more impressed at how quickly I am picking this up. I found myself continually coming back to this website to look things up and decided today I should just go ahead and join. If anyone has any tips on how to excel with this instrument, good places to look up tabs or anything else mandolin related I am completely ok with suggestions. :)

[Ellen T]

No advice to give you as most of the other members are much more proficient than I am, but welcome and enjoy dividing your time between playing and hanging out here.

[bart mcneil]

Like you I came with basically guitar experience years before buying my first mando. Did you buy from a mail order discount or from a brick and mortar dealer? The reason this is important is that discount mail order mandos are almost never set up after the factory and are very often difficult to fret comfortably and will often play out of tune as you go up the neck. These adjustments are called "setting up" a mando and it is doubly important with a mando as they have short strings under high tension, compared with a guitar. So only being a little out of adjustment can make a lot of difference on a mandolin. Getting your mando set up, if it is not, is really money well spent

We hope you feel free to ask questions and comment on various topics of interest. I think the hard part may come in about six months when many folks give up or lose interest. But I think that if you play every day you will make progress and likely succeed in the long term.

Welcome!

[George R. Lane]

Amanda,
Welcome to the Café. You will find it full of useful information and a great group of people.

[Ben Cooper]

Welcome! Hope you enjoy your new friend as much as possible! I don't have much advice either, as there are players here who are much more advanced than I. Just have fun and enjoy!

[apar87]

I bought it from Guitar center. The first one I had picked was the acoustic/electric version of the New Yorker but when I hooked it up to my PA it wouldn't work so we took it back and I settled for the acoustic version. After talking to a few popular mandolin players around town I am quite happy with my decision. I made sure when I left the store that it was still in the box from the factory and had my boyfriend put the bridge on for me. I have barely put it down since.

Like you I came with basically guitar experience years before buying my first mando. Did you buy from a mail order discount or from a brick and mortar dealer? The reason this is important is that discount mail order mandos are almost never set up after the factory and are very often difficult to fret comfortably and will often play out of tune as you go up the neck. These adjustments are called "setting up" a mando and it is doubly important with a mando as they have short strings under high tension, compared with a guitar. So only being a little out of adjustment can make a lot of difference on a mandolin. Getting your mando set up, if it is not, is really money well spent

We hope you feel free to ask questions and comment on various topics of interest. I think the hard part may come in about six months when many folks give up or lose interest. But I think that if you play every day you will make progress and likely succeed in the long term.

Welcome!

[Denny Gies]

Welcome to this wild, wacky world. What helped me most were playing in jams and trying to play along with CD's of music I liked. Good luck and have fun.

[Marc Ferry]

Welcome! The beginning mando years are fun -- seeing yourself progress so quickly is an incredible thing. Enjoy the ride!

[Douglas McMullin]

If anyone has any tips on how to excel with this instrument, good places to look up tabs or anything else mandolin related I am completely ok with suggestions.

Well you already found the #1 source for info! In addition to the Cafe, be sure to frequent http://www.mandozine.com/. Paired with that, get Tefview if you don't already have it, and then find the massive Tef file resource at Mandozine. That should keep you busy for the next few decades.

Enjoy!

[TexHawk]

Welcome Amanda, I'm a newbie too. This site is an awesome resource.

[Cecily_Mandoliner]

Welcome!
If you don't mind working from a book, I liked the Hal Leonard Mandolin Method with the CD. It got me going! I still go back to it, bcause the arrangements are nice, too.
There are some great resources on this site, as others mentioned.
One thing I have learned, after being a newbie of almost two years, is to learn alternate picking. I wish I had understood it better when I first started, so I am still working on that.
I recommend finding a teacher, either via Skype or in person, so you get feedback on your progress.
Have fun picking!

[lflngpicker]

Welcome Amanda. The mandolin is a great instrument and it grows and grows on you. I have found myself selling much of my electric guitars and amplifiers to acquire mandolins. I think I have come down with a serious case of MAS. Glad you have joined!

[Capt. E]

I experienced the same thing, guitar never really grabbed me, but when I discovered mandolin, I was quickly hooked. As Mike Marshall recently said on his online special "the Mandolin the King of instruments". Of course, he is prejudiced.

[apar87]

I actually bought that book and a book that is nothing but chords =D

Welcome!
If you don't mind working from a book, I liked the Hal Leonard Mandolin Method with the CD. It got me going! I still go back to it, bcause the arrangements are nice, too.
There are some great resources on this site, as others mentioned.
One thing I have learned, after being a newbie of almost two years, is to learn alternate picking. I wish I had understood it better when I first started, so I am still working on that.
I recommend finding a teacher, either via Skype or in person, so you get feedback on your progress.
Have fun picking!

[Amanda Gregg]

Good name Welcome!

If you can, find yourself a good teacher. You'll go further faster, and you'll find out good technique. I started playing mandolin at age 20 after playing guitar since age 11, and I was surprised at the many differences in technique between guitar and mandolin, especially in the right hand.

[CSIMelissa]

Welcome Amanda!

I'm learning and using the book 'Play Mandolin Today' which teaches you sight reading among other things. It's a blast. The mandolin is quickly addictive. A helpful too for me is videoing myself so I can "see" where I need improvement. Enjoy the journey!

[DataNick]

Welcome Amanda!

Best to you on your mandolin journey!

[GuitarDogs62]

Hi and welcome aboard. I am a guitar player that still plays guitar and always will. When I finally took up the mandolin, I found the instrument was fun and seemed pretty easy for me to understand. The mandolin also improved my flatpicking skills on guitar to boot. Now I am a Bluegrass guy and started with Bert Casey's Mandolin Primer. The book comes along with a CD so you can hear the lessons and also play along to songs that you will be learning. A great fun course in notation and tab. If you need a visual then there is a DVD that you can purchase that goes along with the book and cd. The course provides you with good basic skills to learn and gets you into playing songs and learning chords to boot. So I practice Mandolin almost every night for about 1 hour and then hop back to my guitar and practice on that and new Bluegrass songs I am working on for Jamming. Now this course does teach you scales in G, A, D and songs that go along and again you get a lot of good basic lessons that you will need to succeed and move on. This course was a lot of fun and you can progress quickly and also be challanged as well where you will need more practice and time, which is a good thing, but you pick up a lot of fundamentals that you can use in a lot of music for mandolin and not just bluegrass.

[Jim Gallaher]

Check this thread for the free Rob Meldrum e-book on setup. It comes highly recommended by Cafe members.