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Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2004 08:10:54 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: mandolin question

Mickey,
I recently bought a mandolin and am trying to teach
myself to play. I have a lot of musical background so
I am just trying to figure out the specifics of this
instrument. My basic question, which I have not been
able to find the answer to in instructions I've seen
both in books and on the internet, is: when picking a
melody, should I hit both strings in the pair or just
the top one? And on an upstroke, do I again hit both
or just the bottom? When doing tremolo, should I hit
both strings in a down-down-up-up pattern? I realize
that these are maybe silly questions but I don't have
access to a teacher and the books seem to be
overlooking this aspect of a first encounter with a
double-stringed instrument. Any help you could give
would be great, and thanks for the lessons on your
website, they're really helpful.
~Robin Openshaw

Greetings Robin,

Yes you would strike both strings at the same time...both on the downstroke and the upstroke. Now, you don't have to be exacting about this...for many times, when I watch my own picking hand closely, I notice that the up picking motion only hits one of the pair at the bottom. It doesn't seem to affect the tonality in any way...the intention though, is to strike both strings almost all of the time...even when performing a tremolo.

Mickey

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