guitar playing will help your mandolin learning...

...and learning the mandolin will help your guitar playing.

I had trouble at first. All the time I spent trying to learn seemed for naught as I'd forget everything a day later.

Then, suddenly (and for no apparent reason) it started to stick. Now I can learn fiddle tunes at least as fast on the mandolin (they're logically laid out as the mandolin is a fiddle with frets *grin*).

You'll learn intervals like never before.

It'll open doors to playing with others.

Yes, the tuning is an upside down upper half of the guitar -- and that can be handy if you lose your way.....at first. But soon you'll be thinking on the mandolin and seeing the chord patterns on their own.

Chord theory is so much simpler with only four strings.

Just do it.