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Sure, if you want to see my recommended way to work through the lessons you can do so here: https://mikeheddingmusic.com/guided/beginner-mandolin/
You wouldn’t have access to all the lessons with the Free Membership but you could still follow along if you like.
With the mandolin, you’ll be resting your right forearm on the mandolin which will allow your right wrist to move freely. So that becomes your “planting” point similar to banjo that will keep your hand in position.
It might still take a little practice to find the A and E strings accurately but keep if will be easier if you keep your forearm in a similar position each time you play.
Good luck.
– Mike
Yes, here’s a partial list of songs that use that same progression for reference:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alanwhite/73-songs-you-can-play-with-the-same-four-chords
If you have any other questions let me know.
Best,
MikeBoth the slide and your picking hand should be playing an 8th note rhythm. So don’t worry about if you wait till you end the slide to play the open 2nd string. Focus on the rhythm of each hand. You need both hands to operate independently which is tricky.
Yes, you’ll definitely want to play the open string after the slide. That is how you keep the “roll” of your right hand going. If you didn’t play the open string with the slide, your right hand picking rhythm would break.
With bluegrass style slides like these, you want to keep the rhythm going with your right hand. The slide is basically extra credit.
– Mike
Glad you enjoyed the lesson.
Sure. I can try and help.
You don’t need to necessarily wait till you get up to the 5th fret to play the open third string. You need your two hands to operate independently which is tricky.
Both the slide and your right hand are playing the (2 and) rhythm. You could work on playing each on it’s own and then try and blend them together.
If you get up to the 5th fret a little faster that’s fine too, just make sure your right hand is keeping a solid rhythm.
It’s a little hard to give you advice without hearing you play it but my guess is you could be sliding up too quickly which is throwing off the rhythm of the lick.
– Mike
Thanks for the question. You could certainly try playing the open first string.
Only downside is it would make the right hand picking pattern a little trickier. That’s why I didn’t write it that way.
You’d have two notes in a row on the first string if you used the open first string in 27.
But I’m sure with some practice you could figure out a picking pattern that would work for that. You could try bringing your thumb of your right hand up to play the open first string. Then keep the rest of the right hand fingering as written.
It’s totally fine to make adjustments to the tab though to fit your particular needs!
Let me know if that helps.
– Mike
Jon,
Thanks for checking out the lesson. Sure, you could use this tab to practice playing more “linear.”
All you’d need to do is look at the tab and grab multiple notes on same string rather than going “across” the strings. You’ll have to pick notes from multiple measures of the tab but it should be fairly easy to do.
Per your other question, that’s certainly a good spot to start but like all rules they’re made to be broken. If you always had to land on the root note at the end of every phrase, it would get a little monotonous.
But that’s definitely a good practice tool you could use to improve your ear training and make sure you really know all the root notes for each chord.
But once you get that down, it would also be good practice to expand out beyond that and give yourself the freedom to land on any note you’d like.
If you have any other questions let me know.
– Mike
Yes, you want to practice playing your slides, hammer-ons and pull-offs with either 8th notes, triplets or 16th notes..
If you’re hearing a swing feel though, that would more likely have to do with your right (picking) hand than your left. How you’re picking the notes would give it a swing feel or not.
But if you want to do 8th note slides, practice giving the first note just a little more value and don’t slide too quick. That will probably help you get 8th note versions rather than triplets/16th notes.
– Mike
Two things you could try:
1. Drop your thumb of your left hand down behind the neck. This will help you squeeze your thumb and index finger together to make the barre chord stronger.
2. Use the side of your index finger to make the barre chord instead of the flat part of your finger. If you use the flat part of your finger, you’re naturally working against the joints in your finger which makes it hard to get a good sound. If you use the side of your finger, the bend in your joints won’t affect the sound and you’ll get clearer notes.
– Mike
My guess is it will just take some more conscious effort and practice. This is a very common issue though many people have (myself included).
Instead of trying to “quiet down” your thumb, you could try the opposite approach for a while, bring up the volume of your index and middle finger to match your thumb.
Once you get all three fingers the same volume you could then work on turning the overall volume “up or down.”
It’s hard to say without seeing the banjo but it’s possible you’re hitting the string too hard which is making it sound “sharp.”
– Mike
I’d check out the Soundslice player I have or software called the Amazing Slow Downer if you want to loop certain sections of the practice track.
I’m not sure what you mean about creating loops of each of the exercises. I recorded the tracks playing through the exercises as written so it’d be difficult to create a loop with the recording without additional software like Soundslice or the Slow Downer.
I’d focus on 8 measures at a time when you’re practicing it and I’m sure you’ll get it up to speed with some more practice.
– Mike
Sure, let me think about how to incorporate that into a lesson.
What songs did you try to put the bluesy licks in?
It’s possible it wasn’t the correct song or it could be the “place” within the song that wasn’t working.
One lesson I’ve already got that some of the bluesy licks would work well in is Shady Grove (capo 2).
You could add a lick in measure 9-10. There’s a space in between the melody there for a nice lick.
Also at the end of your solos is a great spot to throw a lick. So instead of just ending in measure 17 you could add a measure or two and play a lick. This is very common in bluegrass and normally the vocalist would just wait to come in on the next verse/chorus.
If you have any other questions let me know.
– Mike
You can check out the full lesson here:
https://mikeheddingmusic.com/lessons/basic-right-hand-workout-beginner-banjo/
The Basic Banjo Rolls video is just the first part of the larger lesson “Basic Right Hand Workout.”
If you have any other questions let me know.
Best,
Mike
