About 5-6 yrs ago a friend talked me into buying a Mandolin, because I love the sound. Then add my hubby who thinks that if I own several, it will make learning somehow faster. I have 4, one was specifically built for me last spring and is awesome! But, all this said, I have a hard time practicing, making a special time to practice. I just renewed here. I took a few lessons from a good man in Corpus Christi, last spring. But I won’t go back until I improve to make it worth my time and his. I can slowly pick thru a tabbed song. I have learned some 2 chords, 3 fingers is a stretch and discouraging. I really want to learn but life seems to get in my way and I don’t get any practice in, every day. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Motivation to Practice
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As a banjo player, he’s my 2 cents worth…quit practicing & start goofing off.
You love the sound, so why not explore all the sounds you can make? There’s no rule that says you have to play anything specific. Play what your fingers want to play.
As for “making a special time to practice,” good luck with that. I’ve been trying for 3 years to say, “this is my special time to practice,” but something else pops up.
So every spare moment becomes practice time. I suggest you leave your mando out of the case and located where you can pick it up on a moments notice. Grab it, play whatever is in your mind at the time, then put it down & do what you have to do. A couple hours later you can grab the mando again for a few minutes. Pretty soon you’re getting an hour of practice every day!
“How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.”
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This could be a long discussion, but I’ll start with a few things that help me. The proximity principle: I keep my instrument close so I can reach it when I’m sitting down, I even got a wall hanger from the General Store, I put myslf in the proximity of the music by listening to what I’d love to learn, I go to Bluegrass concerts, and watch Ben videos. Lastly, I love to talk about it, the woods, the strings, the sound, and of course the journey we’re all on. All of these things…eventually, helps me to pick up my instrument and get better.
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Hello Lyn, welcome back to the board! From guitar practice, what I could say is, do a 2-month dedicated daily practice spending as much time as could be allocated (an hour to few hours). Speed is not a criteria, reading tab and playing is, however. Download tef reader and use Ben’s video lessons and tabs on beginner and/or intermediate level reducing tempo to your comfort level. This 2-month may not be very enjoyable but once you pass this phase, playing will become fun. After that, you can practice whenever you feel like.
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Lots of good advice here, but I particularly like Banjoe’s suggestion of goofing around and the many suggestions to keep your mando out and accessible. One thing I’d add to those is to learn the following chords: G, C, D, and Em (E minor), Use them when you’re goofing around. They will all sound good together and you’ll make beautiful music as a result.
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@Lyn How about committing to 10 minutes a day? At least at the end of the week you will have practiced one hour. And it’s very likely that some of those 10 minute sessions end up going longer once you get started and have your mandolin in hand.
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