I attempted to learn guitar a long time ago. I had the basic cords and the calluses on my fingers but my guitar was a cheap, sucky thing that sounded bad so I got discouraged. My mother had bought it as a gift and didn’t know anything about buying a guitar, it was slightly warped which didn’t help ut I didn’t want to complain about it because for her it was an expensive gift. I had a friend with an Ovation that I could play a little better. The neck on mine was a bit too wide to be comfortable for my hands and the body a bit too big as well, I am a small person. I couldn’t afford a nice guitar and eventually I let it fall by the wayside.
I really, really want to learn to play an instrument. I did learn some piano but piano’s are rather large and not portable and again I could not afford one to be able to keep practicing. I do have a keyboard but it really isn’t the same as a piano for me. So I became interested in the mandolin. I like the sound, especially in celtic music and it’s small enough so that I won’t have the same problems as with the guitar. I didn’t really want to spend a lot of money on an instrument and find that it wasn’t for me so I just waited until “someday”.
A recent thread about guitars linked to Musician’s Friend website and I looked out of curiousity and they had a mandolin for $30! I figured that even if it’s not a great quality, the price is right to just try it out. The reviews said it was pretty good except for the strings that came with it which tend to break quickly (mine did). So for under $100, I got the instrument, a nice case and some instructional materials, and fortunately extra strings. I have a guitar playing friend who’s going to help me restring it and tune it.
So my question to you all is what advice, websites, books, cd’s, DVD’s, songs would you recommend for a complete beginner? Anything I learned on guitar years ago has probably been wiped from my memory and I only remember a tiny bit about reading music so consider me someone with no prior musical experience.
I have a related question, if you don’t mind – it might help the OP dig up more material to play:
Can arrangements for the mandolin be transposed to the ukulele … and vice versa? I was thinking that the Hawaiian version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” that appeared on ER a few years back would be simple and nice on the mandolin.
Mandolin Cafe is a good starting point. They’ve got chord lists, some simple exercises, and a huge tab archive to go through. The only problem is that looking up various chords can be a bit of a pain – doing a Google search for “mandolin chords” tends to work better. But speaking as someone who tried to teach himself the mandolin and only partially succeeded, there’s not really a substitute for a good teacher.
and would seem to be Fairly close in pitch range to a Mandolin – though the tunings are generally incompatible, an arangement for Mandolin would probably be quite nice.
What do you do? Practice! I found the double strings distracting at first and I have no pick technique to speak of, so I’m not a good model, but what a great instrument.
I got that Rogue mandolin too (for chanuka)! I got it in black, from Musician’s Friend, for $29.99. Sounds like garbage, the thing has the worst composite top that I’ve ever seen on an instrument, but it is nice to have and hang on the wall with the guitars and the uke. I’ve learned the basic chords and it is pretty fun to do the little bluegrass thing.
I started on the Mandolin Cafe easy chords page and now I’m moving on to some 4 finger chords, for that added “bite” needed for fast strumming.
The “Over the Rainbow” mentioned above is by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. There are some tabs and chords out there for it – I’m not going to link directly due to the legality issues – but the chord progression would be easily applicable.
Get hold of TubaDiva and the two of you can play the theme music from Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Seriously, now, I recommend that you check out Frets Magazine. Their website is here. Caveat: I’m a guitar player, so I don’t know how good their coverage is of other stringed instruments, but it seems to me it’s pretty balanced. Recently they had a cover story about a ukelelist who was wowing large audiences with his playing and recordings.
I second the suggestion of Mandolin Cafe. If there’s anything you want to know that isn’t there, the people in the Forums can either tell you or show you where to find it.
(When you visit the site, be sure to check out the Mandolin Haiku Hall of Fame. I have two there, under the name “bunnylady.” )
Another great resource is the CoMando listserv (www.co-mando.com). It’s a somewhat more advanced level of discussion, but there are some amazingly talented and knowledgeable people who post there.
If you show any interest and/or aptitude for the mando, I strongly urge you to get a decent one, which the Rogue emphatically isn’t. I started with one, but the frets were like speed-bumps and the tone was tinny. I upgraded to a Mid-Missouri for about $300, which was worth every penny. Mid-Mo’s are no-frills instruments, but they’re solid wood, made in America, and sound better than nicer-looking ones costing much more.
And finally, to hear what a really good mandolinist sounds like, try “Not All Who Wander Are Lost” by Chris Thiele, the “Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza,” and anything with Sam Bush or Mike Marshall.
Yeah, I didn’t expect that for $30 it would be a performance class instrument but I figured it was good enough to try it out and see if I like it, Once I get better at it, I do plan to get a better instrument.
Thanks for the advice and tips everyone.
Talk about weird coincidences, I was flipping through the TV stations a little while ago and some show was playing the Ukelele version of Over The Rainbow during their closing montage scene. I had to stop on that station and listen until the song was over. Now I am trying to imagine it on the mandolin.
