I made the transition from guitar chord strummer to mandolin melody player about 25 years ago when our band's previous mandolinist made it obvious he was a drunken madman who should have been walled into his parents' house at birth.

We were slow to realise his limitations, which was consistent with my ability to learn the new instrument. I bought an el-cheapo basic model and locked myself away with the first Planxty album until I could play the hornpipes without causing too much anguish to the rest of our band.

The action on the thing was too high and the sound was kind of 'sour', but it took about two years for me to get better than it, then I bought a better one, a Washburn, which lasted another decade or so. Then I upgraded again to a custom made teardrop beauty made for me by Graham McDonald www.mcdonaldstrings.com and it's been all sweetness and light since then.

... unless you want to play waltzes! Then it's time to learn fiddle.

The message is to aim to be a little better than your instrument, if you can. You'll know when you get there, and the joy of playing a better instrument makes you want to go one step further.

Bruce