Mandolin: Developing Fretting Hand Technique

Subject: mandolin question
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 16:01:48 -0500

I have been using your mandolin lessons and I may have overlooked it somewhere, but I was wondering what are the proper fingers to use beyond the fifth fret? Do I move my whole hand down or do I just reach with my pinkie finger? Thank you very much for this website. Despite my question I feel like I am improving dramatically. Thanks again. Peace.

Greetings,

Yes, this is one of the problems with learning from written music or tablature, which fingers to use for which notes. I do have a small formula written out before some of the pieces as follows:

As a general rule, use the following finger placement chart...be aware, this can vary depending on the song or scale pattern...

Frets 1 - 2 Use the first finger (index)
Frets 3 - 4 Use the second finger (middle)
Frets 5 - 6 Use the third finger (ring)
Frets 7 - 8 Use the little finger (pinky)

Be sure to stay in touch with us on your progress...Mickey

Subject: SMALL HANDS
Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2004 17:00:23 -0600

I've just started playing the Johnson Mandolin and I am having difficulty with my left hand. I have child size hands. Stretching my hand to make the beginning chords is almost impossible. To be a good player how many inches should my hand stretch too? Thanks, Fran Schmidt

Greetings Fran,

There's not a lot of stretch required for the beginning mandolinist...especially when learning your first position scales and chords...

It is of utmost importance that the fretting hand is positioned correctly to ensure that the fingers have full freedom to stretch when necessary...

The optimal position would be to keep the thumb behind the neck...not riding on the top...this ensures that the fingers can reach the upper registers...when the thumb rides on the top of the neck, the fingers have a limited reach...

Hope something here helps...Mickey