Mando Hangout - Playing Advice Forum Feed

How do you structure a typical practice session?

eric@mandohangout.com — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 14:00:38 CST

I'm trying to get more intentional about practice. Do you follow a set routine - warm-up, scales, then tunes? Or go where the music takes you? Without some structure I find I waste a lot of time.

How do you structure a typical practice session?

eric@mandohangout.com — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 08:49:54 CST

I'm trying to get more intentional about practice time. Do you use a set routine - warm-up, then technique, then repertoire? Or go where the music takes you? I find I waste time without some structure.

What do you find most useful for sight-reading improvement?

eric@mandohangout.com — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 08:49:03 CST

I've been trying to get better at reading notation while playing. Do most of you learn mostly by ear, or do you work on reading sheet music? Curious what works at different levels.

Trying new picks

eric@mandohangout.com — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 06:47:13 CST

Hey all. I have a few picks that I really like, but for fun, I just picked up a Token pick (D1-60), and a few different Cooper picks.

I'm still putting the Token through it's paces on my mandolin. so far, it's on par with my V-Picks Tremolo.

Cooper picks will be relegated to guitar. To me, they're just not for mando.

Any thoughts on either of these?

I Just Don't Get It!

eric@mandohangout.com — Sat, 16 Aug 2025 11:16:19 CST

I've been playing guitar ... bass ... ukulele ... steady for 5 years now ... longer off and on playing ... When it comes to the mandolin I am having trouble and it is blowing my mind! I've been playing it off and on for years now. I can get clear notes when playing other instruments, but I CAN'T get a clear notes with the mandolin! ...

The frets are shorter than the guitar ... and bass ... about the same on the ukulele ... but on the mandolin everything sound plucky.

The F chord on the mandolin is the same shape as the C chord on guitar ... I have no problem getting a clear sound on the guitar .... but on the mando ... it's impossible!!!! All plucky!!! WHY? What am I doing wrong?

It doesn't make any sense to me. I just don't get it!

Holding Fingers At 45 Degree Angle Really Helps

eric@mandohangout.com — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 12:21:11 CST

When I first tried to play the mandolin, I thought it would be impossible to spread my fingers across 6 frets, no matter how much time and effort I invested. Thankfully, I learned from watching David Benedict on YouTube that the proper way to hold your hand and fingers is at a 45 degree angle to the neck, which did the trick. I can easily play a full G chord now, made possible by maintaining a 45 degree position when playing those more challenging chords.

mandolin

eric@mandohangout.com — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 11:50:48 CST

hi, im new here and i just began playing the mando; im 16yrs old :)

What's Your Opinion Of Eastman And Kentucky Mandolins?

eric@mandohangout.com — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 09:29:31 CST

Are Eastman and Kentucky mandolins a good purchase? I know that they are made in China, but I've read some good things about them. Is there a noticeable difference in tone between the $1,000 Eastman and Kentucky mandolins as verses a $5,000 Northfield mandolin? Thank you.

Retuning 4th Strings G To A?

eric@mandohangout.com — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 20:58:54 CST

I humbly learned a helpful trick this week. I like to make my own backing tracks in the key of A. I am mainly a 5-string banjo player. I recently bought an Eastman 505CC mandolin and am very happy with it. The tuning keys turn easily, which is why I bought the 505 rather than the 305. I love the mandolin, but am still a novice at it, so the heavier 4th strings tend to twang when I don't press down hard enough when forming chords. I think it is important to build finger strength, so I wouldn't recommend doing this all the time; but just for recording, I retune the fourth strings from G to A, which allows me to forget about the 4th strings. Now I can just heartily strum across the 4th strings open without worrying about missing the chord. I'm not sure if this is not a recommend thing to do, but it works for me.

If any players have some thoughts, I'm appreciate your wisdom. I was playing mostly two and three finger chords. Retuning my 4th string from G to A now allows me to include the 4th strings. I'm curious if others players do this too. God bless and thanks.

vintage travel mando; and muting a banjolin

eric@mandohangout.com — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 08:14:29 CST

Two questions: [1] I have 2 mandos, both early teens: Gibson F2 & Fairbanks/Vega Tu-ba-phone banjo mandolin. I'm going on the road for a month and have decided to take the banjolin rather than the F2 because I suspect it will hold up better while traveling. Am I right? Or should I just buy a beater? [2] More generally with the banjolin, I am concerned that it is too loud, especially if I was a stranger at an out of town jam. At present, I've got the pot stuffed with my household white goods, but I wonder if I attached little binder clips to the ends of the bridge, would it help at all with muting?

Question about mandolin tab signs

eric@mandohangout.com — Sat, 6 Apr 2024 12:32:22 CST

Hi all,

I have downloaded a tab from the site that contains some notation signs that I am not familiar with. Can somebody please help me what these mean? It's the "B", "R", "SI", "H" bits - how do I play those chords/notes?

Find attached the parts.

Thanks,
NubianL

Creating Tablature For Mandolin

eric@mandohangout.com — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 00:20:44 CST

There are a lot of songs I want to play and most of them are played on banjo, and I struggle to find tabs for mandolin. For a beginner like me is there a tool of some kind to transfer or create those tabs for mandolin or would I just have learn to play by ear?

Thank you,

- oldnmoldy

Stop chasing Loar, the Magic Dragon!

eric@mandohangout.com — Thu, 4 Jan 2024 15:45:48 CST

Having playing many mandolins (F5 & A5) over the last 15 years I can unequivocally state that it's much more important to acquire a really good, professional quality instrument, than a name on the headstock with its associated provenance. As bluegrass mandolinists, a lot of us get sucked into chasing the Loar Magic Dragon or late 20s Fern Magic Dragon. It is much more important to identify the qualities in a mandolin that are most important to you, play a bunch of mandolins so that your volume-tone-playability palette is discerning and then identify the instrument that meets your needs and acquire it if financially you are able to do so.

Though I have played but one Loar (for a good 20 minutes), I have played several late 20s Ferns, 40s 50s, 60s F5s all the way up to current Gibson F5 models. I have also played Nuggets, Ellis mandolins, Webers, Pagonini, Brentrup, Heidens, many Gils, Pava, Northfields, Sullivan, Givens, Miller, Hinde, Austin Clark, Brock, Newsome, Kettler, Red Diamond, Smart, and others...and what stands out in my aural memory is that the best mandolins allow you to pull out the tone that your style produces in varying degrees. The "best" mandolin I ever played was a Nugget F5 that David Grisman used to own and I would characterize it as having everything my 94' Weber signed F5L has in tone-volume-playability (TVP), with about 10% more.

That being said I see no need to mortgage my financial future to go in hock to acquire such an instrument. I was recently with a vintage mandolin dealer and after having played several of his Ferns & he having played my F5L, he agreed that my mandolin is so close in TVP that there's no need on my part to fork over $50K for a Fern.

If you have the financial means to acquire a top dollar mandolin, go for it! I would if I did!
But if you don't, there's a lot of comparable instruments out there for much cheaper; you just have to diligently search. I got mine in 2014 for $2K cash & an Eastman md515 in trade. I hope this is helpful to someone out there!

On the video with Tony Williamson & myself, go to 2:30; that's where Tony starts to play my 94' Weber signed F5L

Nick

is a 4 string G chop a major. The way Im trying sounds like a 6th

eric@mandohangout.com — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 07:26:39 CST

I know this is a dumb questioin but is The G chord chop a major or a 6th.

How can I memorise tunes better?

eric@mandohangout.com — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 01:34:30 CST

Hello all, Waa wondering what strategies you all use to memorise your tunes.
I have no problem playing the songs at all up to speed when reading tab but I try to memorise small parts at a time but there there just seems to be a mental block that won't allow the information to settle. What tips or advice can you guys offer me?

Mandola for Bluegrass

eric@mandohangout.com — Sun, 15 May 2022 09:06:45 CST

Hello everyone!

So, I play guitar, I have tried to learn mandolin, but my giant hands are always an issue (I have a size 17 ring finger). I have tried so many different mandolins and my playing always seems limited by the size of the mandolin.

I am a big fan of Sierra Hull and I noticed how often she uses a Mandola in her music. I then started to search and saw so many people using the Mandola for Bluegrass.

I bought a Mandola! Victory! it's perfect for my hands and I am in love.

Problem, there are no books for Mandola for Bluegrass nor for Americana nor Roots.

So, help a new Mandola player artist out, please. Can anyone point me to books, videos, tab (I don't read music) for jumpstarting my learning to play Mandola for Bluegrass?

D Minor chord fingering preference?

eric@mandohangout.com — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 07:38:18 CST

Hi,

Please forgive the ignorance of a noob. I have noticed that when playing a basic D minor chord...(A/D/A/F#) - i.e. second fret on the G and E strings, D and A strings open... I'm happy to put fingers 1 on the G string and finger 2 on the E string OR do it the opposite way round. Both seem fine to me.

Is there a right/wrong way ?

Joe

Wrist or Arm? Technique Discussion

eric@mandohangout.com — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 15:40:12 CST

I've had top tier players tell me to only use my arm and others tell me to only use my wrist when playing. This comes down to whether the picking arm is planted or is free to move while playing. I do believe if you observe other players they will fall into one of those two broad categories.

Nowadays I am solidly in the "wrist" category and I have my own arguments for why that is so. I realize a lot comes down to personal preference in sound but I'm curious what others think.

FREE ONLINE LESSONS

eric@mandohangout.com — Thu, 25 Jun 2020 14:52:51 CST

Hi All, I'm mostly a banjo and bass player and I'd like to get going with the mandolin. Any suggestions for free online lessons to get me going? Thanks, Jim

Expensive Picks

eric@mandohangout.com — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 07:41:44 CST

What do you think about these really expensive picks. I'm thinking of things like the Blue Chip ($35) or the D-Addario Thile ($25). I thought I was splurging when I bought Dawg picks ($1.99) instead of Golden Gate ($1.50).

Flatiron Festival F5 Mandolin

eric@mandohangout.com — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 17:50:41 CST

What is difference in Flatiron Festival & Flatiron