Mandolin: Practice and Learning Tips

Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 19:18:30 -0600
Subject: Re: Neobluegrass Video Sampler

Greetings again Suze:

Share with me a bit here...I am a person who has NO background in music. My
area has always been in the visual world. Along with learning the Mandolin,
I am also learning how to read music, timing, the whole shmeal. What sort
of "Training Track" would you recommend?

I'm not sure what you mean by "training track"...however, if you mean background, I'd say that any beginner can start with crosspicking exercises...we even have free ones listed on our site. Crosspicking is loads of fun and allows you, as a mandolinist, to play solo pieces without accompaniment. Far more entertaining if you find yourself playing alone alot.

I hope to be able to be competent at both flatpicking and fingerpicking. I
would like to be able to take what I will have learned and play other
stringed instruments and possibly also the piano.

I'm happy to hear that...I personally love both mediums and feel there's a place for both on mandolin. Again, when soloing, fingerpicking fills in more harmonic support. Flatpicking is also fun and can be challenging to master. If you practice fingerpicking on your mandolin, you'll find that picking up other instruments such as guitar, dobro or banjo will become quite a bit easier.

I have a teacher (not many in my area for the Mandolin), but he has a very
informal, piecemeal approach and I seem to work best when there is a clear
path to a goal. Any advice?

My suggestion would be to create your very own roadmap...one that encompasses all of your goals as a mandolinist.

For instance, you can list out daily exercises and songs that keep your skills honed. You can write down your goals of future songs you hope to learn. You can keep a journal of your progress and tabulate your own ideas...along with writing down the time you spend practicing will help you focus on how to bracket your future time to ensure that you're always progressing.

Hope something here helps, Mickey

Here are some further tips gleaned from our Free Lessons Section on our website:
Practice Tips As far as practice goes, it's most important to have a daily procedure to follow:

1. Always keep a roadmap in front of you...this can be in the form of books, videos and your own handwritten list of goals. This way you'll always have a reference point of where you've been and where you're heading. By assessing your accomplishments daily, you'll find even more inspiration in knowing that you have measurable progress in your efforts. By keeping a list of what you hope to accomplish in the future, you'll also always have something to aspire to...giving purpose to your studies.

2. Keep a list of exercises and songs to practice daily. This will reinforce what you've learned and will increase your dexterity to take on even more difficult pieces later.

3. Always bracket your time for practice...if you can only afford 1/2 hour daily, that's fine. Only make sure that you're at the very least practicing daily within set periods of time.

4. Take your time with your progress. Do not become frustrated when you find that you're not progressing. What may seem like slow progress is in reality the period of time necessary to absorb a solid foundation.

5. Always cross reference your previous lessons with your current lessons. For example, make sure that you're not finding yourself falling into poor posture and position habits. Go back to earlier points on proper positioning to ensure you're on the right track.

Thanks,
Suze
P.S I understand that you must get tons of e-mail so I can be patient.