Re: Bringing my mandolin to a jam for the first time
In my early days of mandolin, I was recovering from a shattered humerus that had prevented guitar for 18 months. I was lucky to find a monthly jam much like the OP's: mostly classic rock but almost anything was a go, playing mostly from lyric & chord sheets. (AND going from 10am to 2 or 3pm, with a break for pizza!)
Early on, I brought both guitar & mandolin because my mando chops were limited, as was my arm's endurance on guitar. Switched every 30 - 40 minutes. Eventually had to commit (to myself) that THIS time I'm playing one or the other. That was sort of a landmark in both arm recovery AND mando development. You might want to consider the same just for, ya know, sanity.
And yes, a chop can work well in many genres, despite some folks' opinions otherwise (mostly here, never in person). My quiet goal was to always be doing what others were not. BTW, a capoed-up 12-string can sound pretty mandolinish!
- Ed
"Then one day we weren't as young as before
Our mistakes weren't quite so easy to undo
But by all those roads, my friend, we've travelled down
I'm a better man for just the knowin' of you."
- Ian Tyson
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