Originally Posted by
John Soper
When I was first getting into swing mandolin about 20+ years ago, I photocopied lead sheets for songs my guitar-playing friends were into (eg: "ALL of Me", "Out of Nowhere") and built chord progressions with largely 3-note chord charts. I forced myself to use voicings that would transition through a cadence with minimal finger movements (max 2 frets) between chords and used different positions for each 2nd A part of an AABA song format. I would slowly force myself to play these tunes over and over, so I could get the moves down in a jam situation. At that time, I really didn't internally understand half-diminished chord function or a ii7b5- Valt - i cadence in minor keys, but with help from Ted E's Getting into Jazz Mandolin, I built up a foundation of grips that have served me well over the years & allow me to take part in jams that cover both familiar & unfamiliar tunes. Don Stiernberg and Aaron Weinstein have lessons covering chord-melody mandolin - my "grips" were foundational in my ability to thunk my way through many tunes in this style. Highly recommended that you spend the time to plot out cadences for the style of music that you want to play.
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