Howdy,
I have been playing the mandolin since about 2005 in a bluegrass group in College Station, Texas. Before that I played guitar but I have not really progressed well on any instrument and do not consider myself a musician really.
My band plays regularly about once a week at a practice or some gig like retirement communities, charity events, etc… and sometimes I practice in between.
I am currently trying to push myself to practice every day and get some structure and method instead of just playing the same old same old and never learning new tricks.
I think I do not have great dexterity and do not seem to be able to get past maybe 150bpm on most fiddle tunes (unless I simplify them) I guess I am somewhere between beginner and intermediate.
I am a big fan of the Gibson Brothers and I have been working on “unlocking the neck” by listening to their music and
picking the melodies all around the neck instead of just the first 6 frets.
I have trouble adding in fills in general and understanding how to (somewhat) duplicate what I hear and or translate it to a speed that I can manage.
Learning the 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 pattern seems to be helping and also makes it easier to find double stops
It is still hard for me to keep track of what chord I am playing over and for example playing a random G lick when the chord is being played.
Anyway that is where I am at and just wanted to say hi.
Here is a picture of my mandolin:
