Mando

[ejwhite09]

So I got a cheap mandolin a few years ago, and I basically just learned some chords on it, and bs my way through, but I'd like to start actually playing this instrument, any tips on where to start?

[bigdaddyguitar]

check out "Mandolin Cafe " . It's a pretty good forum . When I was learning mando years ago it really came in handy . There"s also a lot of good mando books on Amazon .

[monk]

Try this:

Jethro Burns Mandolin Lesson Recordings

[stevedenver]

i too play mando and am familiar with both links-mando cafe is quite good
have the jethro book and cd too-its pretty good and will teach you many good tunes-however there was something about jethros sound that always seemed a bit dry to me-but-its still good and will teach you many basics

the best IMHO is jazzmando.com or mandozine.com -but there is at least 2 dedicated jazz mando sites with soem great stuff-scales, exercises and songs !

while the vast majority of tunes seem to be old time, blue grass etc, folk trad-i really love jazz on the mando in particular-just has the right middy sweetness

here are my basic tips
practice slowly-this helps your muscle memory -i find it critical as a guitar player in order to shift gears- ie fret spacing, string spacing etc

second-learn the open and closed g scales to start-very handy-and after the scale -trey the scale in steps, instead of 12345678-
try this old exercise-it too will help to burn the scale into your auto response-123-234-345- etc-and back down

third-learn a maj, min, and 7th for every chord-in a movale position-this too is pretty easy once you memorize the chord form

forth play songs as you already seem to be doing-this also helps simply with ease

there really is no subsitute for quality time-

i learned many bluegrass and old time songs-these too really help as they helpyou get used to coordinating the melody with the whereabouts on the fretboard-i cant tell you why but it gets very easy to find a meldody in almost any key and any position after you learn about 20 songs-
arkansas traveler, irish washer woman, whiskey before breakfast, old joe clark, etc-all will actually help you get a better feel


and start saving your $$$ as the better mandos cost as much as good archtops-and-they really do sound and play better


and
WHO is that in your avatar-absoutely gorgeous (from what i can see of the tiny pic)!

[Shadow of the Sun]

If you're playing mandolin as it's typically tuned, you can take any piece of music for violin and transfer it over to the mandolin. If you get some violin method books, you'll be able to pick up the music really quickly.

[kznkax789]

WHO is that in your avatar-absoutely gorgeous (from what i can see of the tiny pic)!