Mandolin progression - rewarding?

[Mandolinoob]

Hey how's everyone doing?

I've been playing guitar for a little over 11 years, and I'm looking to pick up the mandolin. A few years ago I bought a fender FM-52E and have been toying around with some basic chords and fiddling around with it in a couple recordings, but I'm left considering if it's worth progressing onto the next level. I'm going off to college in September which doesn't leave me with a lot of time for music. I'm pinned between bringing a cheapo guitar, my mandolin, or nothing at all. I don't have time to reach the aptitude I have with guitar on the mandolin, but what I'm here to ask you is: should I give it a shot? If you were moving 1,000 miles away from home with nothing but a few suitcases, would you bring a mandolin or a guitar? (assuming you were pretty good at guitar and pretty bad at mandolin)

Question #2 - if you had 5 months to go from bad to decent with a mandolin or become ever so slightly better at guitar, which would you choose?

Thanks a bunch guys!

[tkdboyd]

Everybody and their brother(s) play guitar. Being able to add a mandolin into a jam is very beneficial. Just learn basic folk, rock, country, etc...and you'll be able to fit in somewhere. And if all you have available to you is your mandolin, you'll grow accustomed to it rather quickly.

[Mandolinoob]

Sweet, that's the exact advice I was looking for

If I were to fix up my mandolin a bit, which strings would you recommend? (one of my e strings broke, I've been too lazy to fix it). Aside from running 0000 steel wool over the fingerboard, are there any other maintenance necessities I can do for it while the strings are off?

Thank you very, very much

[Tobin]

In your situation, I'd definitely take the mandolin. And I'm not just saying that because this is a mandolin forum. You have more room for growth on the mandolin right now, and making it your only instrument will accelerate that. It's smaller and easier to store, which is a pretty big deal for college students (or at least it was way back when I was in college).

And as previously stated, guitar players are a dime a dozen around colleges. Worst case, you can borrow one if you need one. But you'll be the unique guy with the mandolin.

[tkdboyd]

For that model of mandolin I would suggest .010-.036

Make sure the bridge is seated correctly, not leaning, and in the proper location for the best possible intonation.

Good Luck with the mandolin and your studies!

[Relio]

You will not have a lot of time for music in college? Are you crazy?!?! College is the time of my life when I had the MOST free time. Unless you plan to study 7 hours per day, have fun with that. I'm 31 years old, I've played guitar since I was 13. I started mandolin 3 years ago and I'm a much better mandolin player than I ever was a guitar player. The right and left hand techniques transfer very well, and I think you'll find the tuning of a mandolin makes learning easier because you can move chord/scale shapes with no alterations. I don't even own a guitar anymore. I've been messing around on a banjo for the last 4 months and am having a blast on that as well.

[catmandu2]

1. There will be plenty of guitars around (and likely a few mandolins too) in college - so I recommend bringing with you what you'll not otherwise have readily available.

2. Concerning not developing highly refined technical chops - bear in mind that Mr page reportedly borrowed Mr jones' mandolin (on which he allegedly had little-to-no experience) and proceeded to render some iconic "progressions" (made quite good sport of it despite his lack of chops on the instrument).

3. Some courses and curricula do require heavy reading - one may indeed not have much time for extracurriculars..

Best of luck - do well

[mandroid]

Monetarily , It seems Not. cash flow is always outward .

[Steve-o]

I'll offer a couple considerations to the OP. Do you like to sing when you play? If so, the guitar is much more suitable and versatile for accompaniment. Secondly, I played guitar in college and met my wife-to-be then. I took up the mandolin much later in life. She claims that the guitar attracted her to me, and the mandolin doesn't quite have the same effect. Just sayin'. YMMV.

[LadysSolo]

I played guitar since age 11 (I am 60 now,) and was always fairly good. I put it away about 20 years ago due to pressures of work/family/etc, took it back up last summer, and went right back where I left off. Took up mandolin last fall, and am nearly where I am with guitar. I find mandolin easier to play - fits my hands better, so I will soon pass up my guitar abilities. But I recently purchased a 3/4 size guitar (also fits my hands better) so my guitar may catch back up with my mandolin. I find many chords similar, and I believe my guitar background made learning mandolin easier. I would take the mandolin because it is smaller and easier to carry around. And it is not hard to sing while playing mandolin - I do it all the time.

[darrylicshon]

I would take both but if you can only take one take the mando cause thier will be alot more guitars than mandolins. Maybe you could borrow one if you felt like playing guitar

[Mandolinoob]

I do like to sing when I play but I'm not great (yet!). While the mandolin is a beautiful instrument that I plan to invest time into, I think I'll bring a guitar solely for the versatility.

[Simon DS]

I'd say that if you're going to college, then you're going to meet about a thousand people who play guitar... so. There'll aways be a guitar within 30 feet of you. There wont be a problem finding people to play with -finding people to put chords where they're needed. You can probably teach guitar on the side, though depends on the college you're going to as to how much you will be paid, if needed.
By the way, the most reward I've had recently is from the threads on double stops and FFcP -after all those exercises I'm thinking less while I'm playing. Nice. Thanks these guys- http://jazzmando.com/exercises_and_technique.shtml
Take the mandolin with you to college.

[Phil Goodson]

Mandolinoob,
I agree with all the advice you've been offered above.

But REALITY CHECK: Forgive me if I'm wrong, but it sounds to me like you're trying to find a way out of playing mandolin. And that's fine. I'm not really hearing any enthusiasm or optimism, or desire to play mandolin. I'd love to see you report in a year or so that you've spent the time and love it, but I won't be surprised if you don't.

If you're happy with guitar and don't have time to spend on a new instrument, so be it.

If you're really looking for a new instrument that is amazingly fun, go for it. Best wishes!

[CES]

Crush mandolin until July. If you can't leave it behind, take it with you. If you still feel conflicted, take the guitar. And, enjoy college!!

[farmerjones]

Guitars and pianos are thought of as comping instruments for singing songs. In general people seem to connect more with songs than instrumentals. You can tell that by the radio. But both guitar and mandolin can both accompany and play melody. Because of the tuning, I can find a melody much faster on a mandolin or fiddle than I can on guitar. It depends on what you want to do, and it depends on you.

NFN In 1980 I used college freshman book money to buy a Kay banjar. I'm not saying that should be the path for all either. "I would never recommend powerful drugs, alcohol, insanity to anyone. But in my case it's worked." - Hunter S. Thomson

[spufman]

If you aren't notably enamored with the mandolin and the possibilities it presents, you're probably better off with your guitar. Music is best when the musicians are all-in.

[LadysSolo]

"I would never recommend powerful drugs, alcohol, insanity to anyone. But in my case it's worked." - Hunter S. Thomson[/QUOTE]

LOL!! I love it! Insanity has worked well for me too - My family just says "humor her...." LOL!! They also say I don't have hobbies, I have obsessions! (They may be right...)

[catmandu2]

For me, college was that opportunity to assuage my musical curiosities - and I spent as much time in the practice rooms in the music building as anywhere else on campus, although I wasn't a music major. If you hang out in the practice rooms, you'll have access to pianos - and if you hang there at night you'll meet-up with peers from other colleges as well as...with whom to share experiences and spur creativity..

[SincereCorgi]

Just bring both. I don't see why this is a problem. It's a mandolin, not a pipe organ.

[UsuallyPickin]

Two things ...... One, usually there is a guitar around to borrow. Two, you can pack and ship a mandolin fairly inexpensively. Just sayin... R/

[lukmanohnz]

You might expect a somewhat biased response when asking 'mandolin or guitar' on a mandolin-centric forum, but kudos to those above who bucked convention. I only played guitar in college. Let me re-phrase that: I didn't take up mandolin until long after my college years. Now that I have gotten beyond the early learning curve on mandolin and can (barely) hang in a jam, I wish I had taken it up earlier. So +1 for the suggestion of taking the mandolin. It will make you commit to it for the school year. And I also agree that you will always be able to find someone in the dorm to loan you a guitar now and then.

[farmerjones]

I would add, if you choose one, the other, or both. Bare in mind college is a place where stuff gets, swiped, borrowed, loaned, lost & traded. It also may get dinged, dent, and possibly beer spilt upon it. Consider not just a case, but a place to lock said instrument(s) up when not in use. No, my banjer didn't get stolen. After all, who would do that? But, lots of stuff did walk off. Just a normal, average, non-descript, plain Jane college, has many hundreds more people coming and going than, say an average house. Jussayin

[Josh Levine]

If you were going to take a guitar and mandolin really doesn't take up that much more room. If bring both unless your moving to a desert island and can only bring a couple things?

[pointpergame]

Lot's of good advice, and probably about what your college-qualified brain has already thought out. I'll add one more. In my opinion ( and modern learning theory concurs ), there is tremendous benefit in playing a second instrument. Bouncing back and forth seems to be the absolute best, but "getting good" on a second instrument has a lot of benefit. I'm often shocked how easy a certain song or passage is on the piano. Then it doesn't matter whether I mastered that passage on a zither or a pair of spoons. It is MINE! And it transfers easily back to the other instrument.

The orthogonal scales on the mandolin are priceless. As a music theory machine it ranks only below the piano. And I have to second all the other advice about how common the guitar is. I don't think the mandolin is quite the same chick magnet. The guy with the jumbo, his is WAY bigger than your dinky Kentucky F. But if they can live with your, more ...uh... dimuitive music maker, then you're in.

Happy college.