Mandolin player surrounded by guitars

[Austringer]

Hello, folks! I'm actually new here, even though I've been a Creek fan since late 2004. On to my issue...

I started playing mandolin roughly a year ago, but only seriously started trying to learn this past August when school started. To learn music, I joined prep orchestra 1, the guitar ensemble at my school. It was great to learn to read sheet music and all and have time to practice every day, but now I'm starting to feel held back by all the guitar stuff.

I'm the only mandolin (and now mandola) player at my school of around 3000 that I know of (and believe me, I've looked), so the only ways I'm learning mando tecnique is via books and experimenting.

It's getting to be just a little frustrating. Does any one else have this problem?
Anyone have any suggestions?

Oh yeah, and kudos to anyone who knows what my username means.

[JeffLester]

Don't really have any suggestions, but just wanted to point you in the direction of Mandolin Cafe (http://www.mandolincafe.com) , the place where anybody who's anybody (mando-wise) hangs out. :-)

[Gwaihir89]

I actually have the same problem. I have to teach myself. There are no real mandolin players around where I live and if there are, they are usually just people who are offering a few lessons to make some extra cash. They don't really care about the instrument much less really know about it. Chris's video did help me out a lot. I got such an improvement out of it. I have to resort to books though and I may be getting better, I may not be.

[Red Zep]

Chris's video was way too advanced for me when I bought it... of course that was about 8 months ago.

It goes like this:

''Here's how you hold a pick. See? Okay good. Now that you've got that down, let's play Ode to a Butterfly at full speed. When I do the chops, thats when you solo. Try and keep up.''

On a serious note, lessons would be nice and all, but just be glad there aren't as many mandolin players as there are guitar players. Everyone and their mom plays guitar nowadays (I blame the internet). I think you should teach yourself as much as you can from the beginning and then when you feel you need lessons you should do that. Don't rely on lessons right out of the box... there are plenty of great musicians who have taught themselves. Like JeffLester said, www.mandolincafe.com is a great place to start and they even have a few lessons you can read and try. Good luck.

[meghan-knowles]

I definately feel your pain!! I started playing mandolin August 2005, and the exact same day I bought my mandolin I moved from Texas to Telluride, CO, where there are mandolin player a-plenty. unfortunately, none of them seem to be at all willing to play mandolin with anyone but themselves. So I'm stuck with books and experimentation, too.
but like the others said, mandolin cafe is excellent :]

[Austringer]

Thanks, guys.

Lessons would be great if I had more money... as it is, I'm considering selling much of my art to raise money for another mandolin as my little beginner mando is developing a bent neck.

And books and videos are fine and all, but I learn better when I have someone to actually watch, discuss technique, and practice with. Heck, they could be a beginner. Just having someone to interact with would be nice. You know what I mean?

Oh, and I love cafepress. I've used a couple of their things for practice. Lovely site that is ultimate mando love.

[Onomatopoeia]

Hi all,

Fairly new here also. I just bought a mandolin about 3 months ago, big impulse buy, but I fell in love with the sound. Played some guitar but was having trouble with barre chords, and also finding time to practice. Back in high school I played violin, but had left it behind. I still remember the notes, though, so it's helping with learning the mandolin. Lessons are not feasible right now, but I did get a lot of help from the DVD that Chris did.

Afraid to ask, but does anyone know about Michael Kelly mandolins? Saw their website.

My dad told me he had bought a mandolin many years ago and was playing it in the Navy, so I was really psyched! I think my brother has that one.

Thanks for the tip about mandolincafe, I'll check it out!

Cheers!