New instrument, new things to learn

[jpfeifer]

My wife surprised me with an early birthday present today. I'd mentioned to her some time ago that it would be fun to have a mandolin someday just to use it for recording, or play it with our group at church, etc.

I was floored today when she gave this to me. It's a really cool instrument and I've been having a blast all day learning new chords and getting familiar with it. It's really fun to play this thing.

For an starter mandolin it plays great and has a really nice sound. It's all Mahogany and has a really sweet tone. The brand name is Morgan Monroe. I think I'm hooked. I love playing this because it forces me to re-think everything. There are no familiar licks under my fingers, I'm forced to rely on my ear. There's a lot of great lesson videos on youtube that have helped me to get some basic chord voicings. The rest is all from trying to piece together voicings on my own, and this has been really fun. I can't wait to use this for some recordings to see how it sounds with other guitar tracks.

I feel very lucky to have a wife that supports my interest in music. I'm counting my blessings.

http://www.thefret.net/imagehosting/5249851da28a738.jpg

-- Jim

[Robert]

Congrats on the NMD! Sweet!

I have wanted a mandolin for a long time too. Maybe I should try your method and tell my wife...

[tjcurtin1]

Ah, yes, the mandolin..... It WAS next on my wish list, when I thought I had all the guitars I needed/wanted. It can go back on top now that I have the resonator......:thwap: It sure would make a nice present...

I remember fiddling with one (oops, bad metaphor - if that's a metaphor) in high school, and really liking it. Back then, the interest came from hearing Rod Stewart's 'mandolin wind'.

Anyways, have lots of fun with it!

[jpfeifer]

I've been having the itch to get a resonator too someday. For some reason my wife really wanted me to have a mandolin. She really likes the sound of them. I have to admit that I have had a lot of fun with it all day, just trying to find may way around. So far, I've figured out how to get my basic chord forms going and even that has been really fun.

Next I need to get a few scales under my fingers. It's really cool for some of the intervals like 6ths where you can grab them on two adjacent strings. It's much harder to do that on guitar because of it's tuning.

The only bummer is tuning it. They're very sensitive with the shorter scale, and also the floating bridge makes them a little tricky to set up. Once you have it adjusted they sound great.

-- Jim

[sunvalleylaw]

Very cool! I would love to add a mandolin some day. I bet you will sound great on it in short order!

[piebaldpython]

Congrats on the mandolin. Morgan Monroe makes really nice stuff. Hey, they make resonators too:
http://www.indianaguitarman.com/catalog.php?category=148

[warren0728]

cool mandolin....i do like the sounds you can get out of one of those....

[wingsdad]

Sweet mando, jim...congrats:beer:


... I remember fiddling with one (oops, bad metaphor - if that's a metaphor) ...
Actually, not bad at all, tj. The mando is tuned the same as it's cousin, the fiddle...er...violin.

... Rod Stewart's 'mandolin wind'.
:AOK: 'Maggie May' is loaded with really neat mando interplay with a 12-string acoustic git.


...The only bummer is tuning it. They're very sensitive with the shorter scale, and also the floating bridge makes them a little tricky to set up. Once you have it adjusted they sound great.

Once you the setup nailed, mark (outline) the position of the 4 corners of the bridge with a finely-tipped china marker (grease pencil) so if the bridge gets dislodged, it's a cinch to relocate it and recapture your intonation.

And when you restring, do it one-string at a time instead of all at once so the other 7 strings hold the bridge in place.

[jpfeifer]

wingsdad,

Thanks for the tips on the Mandolin setup and re-stringing.
I'm really having fun with this thing.

It's kind of cool to go through the process of learning chord forms and applying them to the mandolin. I'm using the same process that I use with guitar - learning movable chord forms based on the location of the root note. Once I know where the root is then it's easier to make chord progressions. I found a really cool chart online that shows a bunch of movable chord forms based on their function in any key, (I ii iii IV V etc) This has been a huge help in getting some progressions under my fingers.

-- Jim

[markb]

And when you restring, do it one-string at a time instead of all at once so the other 7 strings hold the bridge in place.

+1. Never take all the strings off anything with a floating bridge at once unless you really, really have to. I'd use a piece of masking tape on either side of the bridge base to keep it in place if tempted to remove all the strings.

[tjcurtin1]

Congrats on the mandolin. Morgan Monroe makes really nice stuff. Hey, they make resonators too:
http://www.indianaguitarman.com/catalog.php?category=148
Yes, they look suspiciously like the Johnsons.... and undoubtedly come from the same factory, as Wingsdad noted in another post.

[R_of_G]

Very nice addition. The mandolin is a beautiful instrument. I'd love to acquire one myself someday. Enjoy it!