I think this is the right forum for this. Anyway, here goes.
First, some background information:
So while flipping through channels a while back, I stopped at CMT (Country Music Television, for those of you who don’t know), and saw some sort of tribute to Bluegrass music. Having recently seen Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, I figured I’d watch for a while.
Anyway, up came this band called Nickel Creek, and they started playing this awesome instrumental piece. By far the coolest part was the mandolinist (is that even a word?), Chris Thile. I was blown away by his playing.
This inspired me. I now have decided to learn how to play the mandolin. I love the sound of the mandolin (both in the little bits of bluegrass music I have listened to, as well as in other types of music), and I must know!
This is where I turn to you. Other than some rudimentary research conducted on the 'net through the graces of Google I haven’t the slightest clue where to begin! So I ask all current and former mandolin players out there (if there are any) for advice. Lay your mandolin knowledge on me!
My sister plays the mandolin, she started by learning the violin first, then she picked up the mandolin in mere weeks. My understanding is that the mandolin is tuned the same way as the violin, so everything transfers directly to the mandolin without change. I suspect there are far more violin instructors than mandolin instructors…
I’ve played her mandolin, and I will warn you, the mandolin is a double-stringed instrument, and it’s going to require some hellaciously thick calluses on your fingertips. I have some pretty good calluses from playing guitar, and I couldn’t play it for more than a minute without serious pain.
Check out Steve Kaufman’s Four Hour Bluegrass Workout from Homespun Tapes. My boyfriend plays both mandolin and guitar and uses this particular tutorial a lot. He also uses video tutorial from folks like Doc Watson and Kaufman.
You can also check out this site for more info on flatpicking in general. Keep in mind that the mandolin is to the guitar as the piccolo is to the flute. Much of the essentials are the same but everything is smaller and higher pitched.
yep, tuned the same. violins and mandolins use a (top-to-bottom) G-D-A-E tuning. but, this is also the same as an upside-down bass guitar, so transfering from guitar ain’t too bad either. i would actually recommend going for guitar first, cause guitar is in that song too. that, and the mandolin has seriously small frets that is just hard to get your fingers on, and guitar playing will get you some calluses, so then you won’t cut yourself on those damn little strings.
My main problem with having to learn the guitar first is a serious lack of money (and a somewhat less serious lack of patience*), such that I don’t know if I could do both very easily right now. Plus, I don’t particularly want to learn how to play the guitar (weird, huh?). Perhaps my low threshold for pain will convince me otherwise.
this isn’t to say that I don’t have the patience to learn how to play an instrument at all. Rather, I know that once I leave college, my time in which I can learn something like this will be seriously reduced, and I don’t want to miss the opportunity.
I also was attracted to this style of instrument. In my case it was the Irish Bouzouki/octave mandolin ala Donal Lunny. I bought a mandocello which is like an octave mandolin except tuned a step lower GDAD for Irish music.
It was hell, I couldnt get a sound out of it and my flute playing hands complained bitterly and loudly! I am selling it tonight hopefully to someone who knows how to use it.
Now I’m looking for a nice Irish wooden flute to replace my stolen one…simple or 3-5 key would be perfect.