Hi WillCoop
I have just been working real hard on āunlocking the neckā for the past several months. Usually practicing for an hour or more per day. Really that is most all I have been working on this past year.
I have to say that I can now play in any key anywhere on the neck and can move all around with my eyes closed so now I am trying to come up with the next step trying to add speed and better pick technique and better use of blue notes.
Excellent!! I am sure you will reach your goal.
Hard to say. I am not convinced that I can ever become very good at playing. But after playing the mandolin for a dozen or so years and not really progressing that much I decided it was going to take more serious effort to even get close to being a decent player.
Certainly learning to play all around the neck is a good step forward. I never had much success by memorizing fiddle tunes.
Hopefully, you still enjoy playing. I have been playing Mandolin for just over a yearā¦ and progress is slowing down but still measurable for me most days.
Keep the faith. 
Maybe try something completely different to freshen up the routine - if you feel you are stuck in a rut.
Yeah, I enjoy playing more than ever. I have all of the Gibson Brothers albums and I enjoy playing along with their 186 songs even occasionally spending two or three hours a day during this pandemic. No problem playing an hour or more per day but it may be that I started way to late in life or am missing some innate ability that the pros have. I know I will never be a speed picker but I was kind of hoping to get to the point of playing well but slow.
Really my theory last year is that people who are good at playing an instrument have a deep understanding, and playing an instrument is no different than speaking a language. A person can learn a few phrases of Spanish for example but to really be fluent requires you to be immersed in the language. So that is why I spent most of the previous year just learning the fretboard.
It took me a few months to memorize where everything is and the other ten months learning to move without having to think about it which I estimate that I am still only at about 80% or so and can easily spend another year on achieving.
Currently it is a question of where to go from here. So far I still have trouble identifying and copying what I hear in the more complex licks to get that Bluegrass sound. I have not had much success with learning stock licks and then inserting them into my solos -some because they are too fast and some because they do not seem to fit well.
Lately I have been adding in more work on picking/timing technique and I started using the very common run you hear in most bluegrass/ country music 1-3-5-6-8 notes of the key
What a great summary - and I am immensely pleased you are still enjoying your playing! I 100% agree with you about playing and I, like you, do wish I could play faster.
That said, I had a friend who was a very talented multi-instrumentalist and singer. We were in the Air Force togetherā¦ and while I was working in Finance, HIS JOB was to play keyboards in a Rock band!
Anyway, I just thought to mention to youā¦ that like the language exampleā¦ sometimes the few words are the most effective. I think it is common for all of us to get caught up in speedā¦ and I, myself admit I want to play faster.
That said, some of the must beautiful notes and music are basic or āconversationā like.
Have you ever seen that clinic that Wynton Marsalis didā¦ with a bunch of young men at a university (in New York, I think)? He discusses this point quite eloquently - the conversation to listen and to respond.
Found it! Hope you enjoy @C-Stewart - even if it is Jazz, you will see it is pertinent and relevant to any type of music. I think it is 30 minutes but well worth it.
Interesting video -thanks.
Oh Forgot to mention that i had to have a carpal tunnel procedure on my left wrist that put me out for a month or so but has allowed me to play more and with no pain -so that was a big help.
What are you working on?
Well, my starter Hallowback Banjo died during the last contestā¦ so I have been hanging onto my Mandolin.
I practice the two-octave scales in all the major keys and build up my catalog of tunes. Ben does such a great job of putting skills inside them that I feel like I work on good skills inside the songs themselves.
For example, Wreck of the old '97 is great for scale runs. The intermediate version of Liberty is chock full of pull-offs. Heck, I did get my submission of "Will The Circle Be Unbrokenā done for the Cabin Fever but - not knowing the tune, I only had a few days to get the basic up to a decent speed. Now, I can get through the 2nd intermediate but trip up on the 3rd āBeefed-upā solo. There are many such examples as I keep trying to learn and expand my basic knowledge and tunes catalog.
So, I did co-write my first Bluegrass-style song with @Grace (and a few others)ā¦ a hymn called āThe Day Death Diedā after Easter. The TEF was posted here.
I wrote parts for Melody (to be sung with the words others help me write and @Grace started to sing), Mandolin, Bass and Guitar.
I never got around to the Banjo lead but alas, that project slowed to a halt as @Grace and I - we ran out of ways to collaborate. It is a constructed song without players who can pull it all together.
That was fun. I hope to write again soon.
Finally, I have been out of work since the end of January. By Godās grace, I accepted a new position in mid-Marchā¦ until COVID-19 hit Michigan full force.
Thankfully, after 4 startdate reschedules, I just confirmed on Friday afternoon I will start on MONDAY!
Conversations like these are what I like most about this forum. Thanks for sharing such good ideas everyone!
I could not open the Tef file and found no words for the song but found your āWill The Circle Be Unbrokenā -it was good you seem to be coming along pretty fast.
I wrote a BG song many years ago but have not managed to write another since then.