countrydirt - Posted - 07/03/2016:  15:07:56

Hi folks!  I used to be active here at on the BHO but life got in the way and I sort of stopped playing and visiting the hangout.  Here is my backstory.  I picked up a  6 string guitar in around 2005 or 2006 and learned a few chords and enough boom chicka to play along at church and what not.  I then took a few lessons and learned how to sort of travis pick and soon had a banjo and really enjoyed learning that instrument.  I took a few more lessons and got good enough to play along with some friends as long as we kept things pretty slow.  We ended up moving to a new state in 2007 and I hooked up with a couple of pickers and we started playing in church.  One of the guys was a good banjo player and we didn't have a mandolin, so I bought a cheapie and learned some two finger chords and could pick out a few melodies.  We moved again in 2009 and I found another church based group to play and sing with and got a little better on the mandolin.  Our final move was 4 years ago and I haven't really played much since then.  

Recently I picked up my mandolin and started noodling around a little.  I'm planning on getting together with a group that meets on Wednesday evenings and play a little.  The leaders of the group are the local band Fireweed and most of the others are people who are taking lessons with them.  Right now I can chop along in most keys and can play some simple leads on single strings in the key of G and have a very few double stops in my bag of feeble tricks.  I hope to hook in and take some lessons with the mando picker in the band.  Until then, however, I would appreciate any advice on where to look for online lessons or information.  I see several new video lessons linked here, so will give them a bit of try.  I do need to get my calluses back so playing around will be good. 

UsuallyPickin - Posted - 07/04/2016:  05:38:45

Well ...YouTube for a gazillion video lessons Wikipedia for theory and scale explanations. Here's my take ..... Lean two octave scales , major and minor , along with the arpeggios ..... being tuned in fifths makes literally everything moveable . patterns , forms the whole shebang. Also I IV V are physical close as in one string "across" then two frets "up". Learn three and four tone chord forms and double stop scales. Right hand tremolo and cross picking should be part of your practice from the start. Fiddle tunes are the haytudes haha of country and bluegrass mandolin there is plenty of free tab and notation out there. The book Mandolin for Dummies, not free, is a thorough course on mandolin playing. If you want to go with classical listen to Thiele's Bach recording and Avi Avital. If jazz is your goal look into Jethro Burns. Keep in mind that a great deal of this is muscle memory so if you can make time to play daily it will all come into focus more quickly. Luck and patience..... R/

countrydirt - Posted - 07/04/2016:  05:47:09

Thanks Richard, that gives me some good ideas. It is summertime, so time is at a bit of a premium what with yardwork and all, but I can make a little time to do more than noodle.
BTW, my dad was from Paducah many years ago and I'm sure I still have some cousins around there.

UsuallyPickin - Posted - 07/05/2016:  05:26:37

You're welcome. I moved to Paducah in the late 70's and found it suited me........

TeachinMandolin444 - Posted - 07/11/2016:  11:01:28

I do teach online- see my listing on the teacher's page or PM me. 

Edited by - TeachinMandolin444 on 07/11/2016 11:02:21

fujers - Posted - 08/01/2016:  22:17:34

Well, I'm new here I just came over from the fiddle hangout yapping my mouth. You know, the mandolin is no different than the fiddle. One difference is you have you have frets and fiddle doesn't. But they are played about the same. I agree with Richard to some degree but I wouldn't let the small things get in your way of learning how to play.

I ask you, Can you play this tune below. It's easy to play and you hardly have to lift a finger to play it. If you can play this tune effectively you have it made the first step to being what you want to be. I also play mando and guitar and other things

Do not let the noise of the world get in your way because it will confuse you. Playing is what we are after and nothing else.

Study your scales and modes and you will know what playing is all about..study. Jerry

Ashokan Farewell