https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/blackberry-blossom-intermediate-mandolin
Hands down, this is one you’ve got to know. Plus, it’s an incredible exercise in and of itself! This is the basic melody to Blackberry Blossom which is intermediate in nature. Don’t forget to check out the advanced version I remade from my old YouTube video!
Hey Ben,
How are you stabilizing the neck? I’m trying to mimic the way you’re holding the mandolin, but stretching my hand to reach my pinkie to the seventh fret smooshes my palm by the knuckle into the back of the mandolin neck, radiating pain into my index finger. Any tips?
Hey @timothygrant87! Welcome! Have you watched my hand position lesson yet? https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/hand-positions-overview-mandolin-beginner
Hi @BanjoBen! Thank you for the reply! I did watch the hand position video, but it was very right hand oriented. I actually searched through your forum and found a video on picking speed from Annie, who was playing Cherokee shuffle, and that response video you sent was perfect! Thank you!
Hey Ben,
reading Timothy’s message and then your answer, I think he is talking about his hand on the neck and you were talking the pick hand.
I too am having issues with my left hand on the neck reaching with my pinky and also bending my left wrist under the neck where my palm is on the neck. that is my issue too. Do you have a video or lesson that talks about the left hand especially when fingering .
Thanks
DLS
Hi Dean!
A few Questions…
Is your index finger still fretting when this happens?
Is your palm normally touching on the neck?
Can you make a video of your normal hand position when this is happening and post it?
Dave
I’ve been practicing this with the 140bpm track. I’m trying to understand the initial count in. It starts off with a slow 1, 2 (Half note speed? Why? What’s the point of this?), then a faster 1, 2, 3 (Quarter note speed, this makes sense to me), and then the tune starts on the 4 that isn’t counted out loud. Why are we starting on the 4, when there are 3 pickup quarter notes? Logically, I am expecting a count of 1, 2, 3, 4, 1 - and then playing the first pickup quarter note.
I often have a hard time figuring out when to start my part with a backing track, so I feel like there is something I’m missing.
Thanks for trying to explain, but it still doesn’t make any sense to me. Particularly, if the counting doesn’t coincide with the beats in the song, how is the count-in communicating when someone should start playing? At least if it were started with potatoes, I’d know to start my 3 pickup notes after the first set of potatoes and one note into another. With a (seemingly) random count-in ending at 3, I don’t see any cue to me to start playing.
Like I said, I just be missing something!
I think what @Fiddle_wood is saying is basically that the counts in the track are the same value as a typical “1 2 3 4 1”, but less frequent (i.e. counting where the 1, 3, and 1 would be, and renaming them to 1,2,3.)
Usually in jams though, I hear potatoes more often than count-ins for fiddle tunes. I think you’d be fine in a jam playing your standard potatoes, cooked as needed, as long as you feel where to start the melody. 
If that’s what he’s trying to say, I’m still not getting it.
Did you happen to listen to the counting on the 140bpm backing track and compare it to the tab? Would that count have provided you with all the information you needed to land your first pickup quarter note in the right spot on the first time ever listening to the backing track? If so, can you explain your thought process.
For example, you hear the 1,2, then the 1,2,3. What math or conversions have you done in your head, or what about the count tells you that right now is the time to lay down that first pick-up note.
How would this count in change if there was only 1 pickup note, say 2 8th notes, instead of 3 quarter notes?
With potatoes, I’d definitely be fine. They are logical structures that conform to the measures. I don’t see how a count of 1,2,1,2,3 is logically connected to a quarter note starting on the 2nd beat of a pickup measure.
I feel like this count-in is the equivalent of playing the following potatoes:
dah dutta dah dutta dah dutta dah
And then playing the 3 pickup notes.
Instead of:
dah dutta dah dutta dah
and then playing the 3 pickup notes.
Am I looking at this count in all wrong, is it not supposed to be the equivalent of potatoes? Or it is, and I just am completely not understanding it.
It’s really simple, honestly- the pickup counts are to convey the tempo of the song and where you are in the measure. Because I know where we are in the measure, I can compare that and match it up (not consciously necessarily) with where the “1” of the first measure in the break is, if you will (that is, in this example, the first G note on the E string- excluding the pickup notes, thinking about that strong “1”.) Upon hearing the count in beats, it should be natural to tell from that pattern where the next “1” is.
You are fine.
This particular count in is uncomfortable and I tried to help you be able to use it.
As long as you know where the beat actually is and belongs you’re on the right track.
In an actual jam the three pickup notes on the instrument are likely to be all you will get to kick off the music unless the venue is strictly for beginners.
Great, I get that.
Still missing how you are able to tell where we are in the measure from the counting that was done. I don’t see that correlation or connection of a 1,2,1,2,3 count indicating we are 3 beats before the start of the song.
I believe it should be natural, which is where I’m having the problem. To me, it would be natural if the next ”1” is 2 beats after the last 3 counted aloud, not 4 beats after. There is a total disconnect for me on how you naturally go from a count of 3, plus 3 pickup notes being followed by the first beat of a measure in 4/4 time.
Natural for me would be:
1,2,3,4,1 then, on the next beat, play the first pickup note that would have fallen on the 2 count, and “naturally” falls in the 2nd beat of the measure.
I don’t understand why the count does not correlate directly to the beat of the measure.
The pickup notes are half the value of the count-ins- your intuition is correct, the “1” of the next measure is the second beat away. However, the pickup notes are a smaller value than the count ins, which means we can fit them in before the next “1”.
In other words, the first pickup note starts on the second half of the “3” count, and the two others take up the “4” count. Then, the melody lands on 1.
Weighing in here. I listened to the count in, and it made sense to me. Think of it as if he’s counting 1 & 2 & 3, but the “&” is silent. Then he starts his 3-note intro on the “&”, or 1/8th note, after three. If you continue to count, you’ll count 4 then the next 1 hits on the down beat of the first full measure.
Ok, I think I get it. I’ve been looking at it all wrong. The 1,2,3 isn’t timed with quarter notes, they are the length of half notes.
So it could have been counted like this:
1 and 2 and 3…
Then, the 3 pickup notes would be on the “and 4 and”.
I see it now, thanks! I was going under the impression that the counting matched quarter notes.
Yes, thanks, that’s what I was missing. I somehow had convinced myself that the count in speed was matching quarter notes, but it wasn’t. I think the initial very slow 1,2 threw me off.
Ha! you’re not alone. I thought the same thing.
I did this on purpose. Confucius say man who walks straight road does not break in shoes.
I’ve been working on learning and chopping the chords for this. I’ve got the A part down pretty well, and I’m getting ready to take a stab at the B part.
I’m specifically looking at the B7 chord. I believe the fingering shown in the video is 4465? It’s not a super easy transition to the E minor chord I am using (957x), and then back, but it is doable.
Is there a better fingering for the E minor chord I could use to make the transition easier? Any suggestions, or should I just go down this path and get it down with these chop chord fingerings?