help! i need mandolin advice

Subject: RE: help! i need mandolin advice
From: Jim Cheydi
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 11:30 AM

EJ, I'm told you've been known to bash one out on the mandolin now and then. Probably explains the glasses.

JC

Subject: RE: help! i need mandolin advice
From: GUEST,andy mööer
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 11:18 AM

well thanks and thank you! You see I'm acually a 'fece of forefinger pick holder ' and I can get a bit of speed but not enough volume that way, kind of late in my playing to be changing pick technique and I've been reluctant, cos my playing is ok but I know I can do better, so here I go.Myself and pick fingers thank you all for your advice. Andy.

Subject: RE: help! i need mandolin advice
From: Áine
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 10:55 AM

Thanks, Jim!

-- Áine

Subject: RE: help! i need mandolin advice
From: English Jon
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 10:49 AM

My my... you live and learn. Movement from the wrist.

EJ

Subject: RE: help! i need mandolin advice
From: Jim Cheydi
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 10:43 AM

If you bear in mind that your picking movement comes from the wrist, not the hand and then you can't rest your hand against the bridge (cue English Jon making jokes about limp wrists).

Watch the way rock guitarists play and you'll get an idea of hand positioning.

Subject: RE: help! i need mandolin advice
From: Áine
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 10:22 AM

Thanks to andy for asking this question, and thanks to everyone who gave such good advice. I'm a beginning mandolin player, and I've developed the same habit of resting my right hand on the bridge.

Although I know I shouldn't be doing it, I find it very hard to relax my right hand when I'm practicing. Does anyone have some advice for me? Maybe I'm just trying too hard not to make any mistakes. Funny thing is, I don't have the same problem when I play my guitar.

Thanks again, Áine

Subject: RE: help! i need mandolin advice
From: mooman
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 08:02 AM

As a mainly mando player I'd go along with what Malcolm said. I tend to rest the heel of my hand lightly on the strings on the tailpiece side of the bridge which doesn't appear to affect tone ...at least on my mandolin. Try not to make a fist if you can help it, a relaxed hand will help a lot. If you rest heavily with any part of your fingers or hand on the soundboard itself it will tend to dampen the tone a little. A light touch on the top with your pinky is unlikely to cause much problem as Malcolm already said.

Happy playing

mooman

Subject: RE: help! i need mandolin advice
From: Jim Cheydi
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 07:10 AM

Bless you sonny. You have a kind face.

Subject: RE: help! i need mandolin advice
From: English Jon
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 07:06 AM

Cheydi's playing is actually a lot better than it sounds.

EJ

Subject: RE: help! i need mandolin advice
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 06:38 AM

I'd say much the same as Jim, specifying the side of the top joint of the index finger, which is the way Mario de Pietro ("The Mandolin Virtuoso") used to recommend in his mandolin tutor books.  Try to keep your other fingers quite loose; making a fist will reduce flexibility.  It's also best to avoid touching the bridge if you can, as this tends to mute the sound.  Try resting your forearm lightly at the end of the body, on or to one side of the tailpiece (many instruments have special rests attached there); I do find that I have to rest a finger or two on the soundboard some of the time for stability, which is not ideal, but works.  Again, some instruments have raised scratchplates which provide a good anchoring point when you need one.

Malcolm

Subject: RE: help! i need mandolin advice
From: Jim Cheydi
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 06:00 AM

Anyone who's ever heard me play mandolin would probably tell you not to take any notice of anything I tell you but I'll try anyhow. I find that holding the pick between thumb and the end of my first finger works best for control, speed and all round thrashability.

Subject: help! i need mandolin advice
From: GUEST,andy mööer
Date: 21 Jun 01 - 04:56 AM

hello and thanks for the click! I have'nt made a thread here since the 'mostly finnish' one. anyway I've been playing mandolin for around 8 years and the whole time I've been re-enforcing bad habits. a few of these things dont worry me, or do'nt impede my playing but ONE thing really bothers me, Its the way I hold the pick, I would like to know in what way other players hold their picks.(recently) I've been trying to hold it between my thumb and middle part of my finger(making a fist)and resting the heel of my palm lightly on the bridge. Is this a no no?? or a yes yes?. I know that there is a point up to which it's just a matter of preference. does this method sound dangerous??! Or does anyone have any pick-holding tips that have helped them with both speed and precision????? I would greatly appreciate any responses. Andy