1 Reply by mactekvic

(87 replies, posted in Other string instruments)

That's right Mikeller! I think there are a lot of duffers out there who hug their mandolins before putting them to bed!

I have an announcement to make here, where I hope it will be received well...

On January 25th  Mandolin Music at   http://mactekvic.com   went live.

We all know how frustrating it is to google 'mandolin tabs' only to have guitar tabs or mandolin method product websites returned. Who's seriously tabbing for us out there? Well, I'm not a professional but I invested in the software and the site so that others like me can come and collaborate and improve their skills and repetoires.

Please come and say Hi in the forum and I would love for you all to make the site your own little corner of the internet for mentorship and encouragement. I hope to expand it to include collaboration between flatpicking guitarists and mandolin players but for now it's decidedly mandolin oriented. Oh, and I think ALL music genres can be arranged for the mandolin and I'm open to ANY offer of including what YOU want to play. I can even collaborate with you to help you put it into the sheet music quality tab format with accompanying midi you see on the site for free if you'll allow me to put it in the tabs index.

Hope you'll all at least stop by and say hello.

Vic

Go to forum: Other string instruments

2 Reply by mactekvic

(87 replies, posted in Other string instruments)

mikeller wrote:

Hi Gang
NIce to see that there are other duffers out there. I find the B chords give me greef.
I've been jamming with people that know guitar very well, if you know the pantatonic scale of the tune there playing you  can pick away and acully sound as if you know what your doing. Try it.

That was the first lesson in the Jay Buckey mandolin course I purchased (worth EVERY penny!). My husband has taken to calling me a Freak. After 2 months playing I'm playing lead runs like crazy - blue notes & all! Jay Buckey instructs "Think Melody of the tune". I just try to play the notes of the singer's melody. Everybody recognizes the melody for the vocals! My husband tells me it helps him on rhythm guitar remember when to make the changes. No more counting phrase beats in his head.


"In playing old time music there's a really fine line between sounding good and not being able to play at all."
Ron Thomason - Dry Branch Fire Squad

Go to forum: Other string instruments

3 Reply by mactekvic

(87 replies, posted in Other string instruments)

For the poster who says he doesn't think he can play with big hands: My husband has huge bear paws, he plays rhythm guitar but he wails! on our Fender A mando! He can do ALL the bar chords with his meat hooks! And, the GDAE string layout makes doing lead runs in any key so much more intuitive in going from string to string than on the guitar (in my opinion). Don't count it out just because you've got big hands!

YES! I've been playing since August and I absolutely love the sounds I can make with my little MK Dragonfly Custom F5. At first I bought a Fender A Acc/Elec. but the overtones were really harsh, I couldn't make clean changes or get clean pressure on the low G string with any other finger down. Plus, I've got small hands. I was seriously limited in the chords I could make until I researched and found the MK had the radiussed fret board. I still have trouble with bars but I can make all changes much cleaner and the sound is so sweet. Make you cry. Last night I found an F I can make. !!!!! I was overjoyed! With the mandolin I don't feel limited. Technique I can improve with time. To be able to make reasonably clean sounds right away only happened for me on the mando. Jay Buckey's instructional materials helped me and within a week I was playing AND Singing (at the same time!) 5 whole songs.

I played classical piano for 5 years as a kid but knew I'd never play Carnegie Hall. I really wanted to play Rock & Roll but back then there weren't any teachers near me. I played guitar in my 20's, long enough to get really sore & really discouraged with my spastic fingers. I picked up the violin last year only to run all the stray cats out of my yard and my neighbors out of their yards. Mandolin was my only hope for finally being able to play with my husband and friends. I can't tell you what a joy to have found, at this stage in my life, that I can make music with my husband when he plays acc. guitar. We play every night! Right now we're practicing Bluegrass standards but he'll go off on a Dead tune or a classic R&B progression and, (now that I found that F) I'm right in his back pocket!

We've come to Chordie often and I've just subscribed. I'll be working on our songbook and check back with you all at this forum. We nightly sit and try to figure out tunes and I'll try to contribute some mandolin tabs for our arrangements when I can. My husband tells me I'm too technical but I'm sure I'm not the only one wired that way. It's the fun and commeraderie of it that juices me.

Have fun!

Mactekvic

Go to forum: Other string instruments