That would be akin to eating picante sauce made in New York City. 
Up the neck (mandolin)
In that case I guess I would like to see it also.
Maybe a version of that nice Blackberry Blossom you did played “up the neck”
I plan to start working on that, actually, but for banjo. Mandolin isn’t exactly my forte.
Suppose you are in a group playing and the singer can only sing the song in a key you don’t normally practice it in.
If you know how to find a melody (or improvise) in the different positions (1st, 2nd, 3rd…) it is far easier to play along.
Taking a break/tune/song and learning it out of the different positions (and finding points where you can switch positions to attain certain sounds) greatly enhances your ability to play along. It’s about more than just learning scales…As you noted yourself in another thread: "Lately I have been trying to spend at least 30min each day… learning to play on different parts of the neck, (learning the pattern) That has been a pretty big help for me."
Using Liberty as an example…what if it’s being played in C? Will you capo to the 10th fret?
If you play w/o capo Part A down on the G & D strings (same fingering) you still have to go higher and change positions for Part B…It’s not wrong, but it is a change in the sound of the tune , as is the key change.
Being able to change positions makes it fairly easy for me to play Liberty in C and keep the A part as the high part.
As a side note: Normally in the key of D the first melody note of Liberty is an F# …are you using the A as an intro note? If not I’d be interested to hear what your using as a melody…I’m always up for learning new ways around things.
Thanks for the post! A couple things: first, please watch my unlocking the neck and two octave scales lessons and let me know what you think. Second, I agree with @C-Stewart in that fiddle tunes may not be the best way to illustrate this. Let me think about it a little. We can definitely do it with a fiddle tune, for sure, and it would really help build your finger strength and stretching.
I do not think people typically sing fiddle tunes.
Certainly if you can change keys on the fly than more power to you. The only thing the capo adds is covering the open notes so if I where playing liberty I would still have to move it up or change the relationship of notes on the fly.
But I can still play it in C in the first position moved down one string it least for my version. But if I came across a tune that I could not capo I would have to pass till I had an opportunity to work it up in the new key. I can barely keep up if I know the tune well much less change to a different key on the fly.
Like I said advanced fiddle players can do this but had the impression the Op was not at that level and so was suggesting more practical excersises that would move them forward.
And yes, a cheat to play tunes in unexpected keys.
I would say that most songs are different than fiddle tunes (maybe because they are made for voice) they do not jump around as much or perhaps it is a style thing or they are just much slower.
But just in my experience one would have an easier time playing non fiddle tunes up the neck and this is a regular part of my practice. I think Ben’s best instruction in the beginners section is to “unlock the neck”
Personally I managed to play for the past dozen years in first position but you miss out on a lot of the more blugrassy color that many mandolin players want. Ben also has a good lesson on double stop chord transitions. (It could probably be expanded on)
I also think that ear training is very important. To hear what is being played where and the steps between notes and also chord changes. To that end I have recently been trying to spend at least 20min per day (usually) playing along with my favorite songs and picking out the melody at various positions.
This is also a very good exercise if you are going to jams because there is often no written music and the caller may only say the key.
I also have a dvd where the instructor shows all the double stops associated with the G chord shape and wonder if associating double stops with the scale shape might be useful. My understanding of how to incorporate higher double stops is lacking and have trouble finding them up the neck.
Here is a video of how I go about practicing sorry I ramble sometimes because I am not used to having to narrate.
Thanks for all the feedback. To better illustrate my original request, take for example, The Tennessee Waltz. It is fairly straightforward in the first position. One can get some nice slides, hammerons, tremolo, etc… but if you watch Sierra Hull’s version on YouTube you can see how she plays it utilizing every position. She’s not changing the key of the song but utilizing the higher octaves. (I hope this is the correct terminology) see the following link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU1cWO_38Bw. I would like for Ben to take a multistep approach, over several lessons, using one song. Begin at a basic 1st position approach and progress through several lessons adding his bells and whistles. Working his way up the neck to the final lesson that would incorporate all the lessons into one final version. I think this would be really helpful. Thanks again and thanks for your consideration.
That would entail a huge amount of work on Ben’s part for what might be limited results on your end in my opinion.
I’d suggest maybe trying to tab out Sierra’s break that you like and seeing how far you can get…then asking here for assistance on places that get you stuck, and you just can’t figure out.
Yes, it takes some time, patience, & perseverance…but I believe you would learn far more this way, might surprise yourself on what you and figure out on your own with some effort, and the experience would be a far bigger help in you being able to figure things out in the future.
Thanks for your comments. I am sure it would be a lot of work to put this type of lesson(s) together. Hopefully, I would not be the only one to benefit from his efforts. Ben is constantly adding new lessons to his site and I thought that he might be interested in some customer feedback/suggestions. The site is very helpful and I really enjoy and appreciate Bens dedication and abilities. I am a firm believer that “you have not because you ask not”… Either way, I am a huge fan and supporter. God Bless.
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hey Jeff, it’s all good.
If you’re not comfortable with experimenting as Chris has suggested, or trying to work anything out on your own, you might take a look through the Advanced Mandolin Checklist
There is a lot of 2nd & 3rd position stuff to learn there.
Here is a tab lesson on that waltz
Pays to learn how to google
this one off mando cafe Chris? (downloadable PDF)
https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=133741&d=1430857125
(Your link didn’t show up)
Thanks,
I forgot to paste it.
Waltzes would work well and I would guess there are a lot that would have high parts. I guess Sierra is playing a Mandola. Some of that goes above the 12th fret which is a little tricky on a mandolin.
I do not see any waltzes for mandolin in the lessons list (maybe just missing them)
I do think waltzes are particularly good for beginners interested in bluegrass.
I suppose that one problem might be that a lot are copyrighted.
But still, I think that you would gain more by watching Sierra play it and duplicating it on your own than simply memorizing some tab version.
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There are a one or two in each level of the “Mandolin Checklists”
Amazing Grace, Old Rugged Cross, Away in the Manger…
No your supposed to tab ot out yourself as a learning experience, or wad someone else doing that?
Ahh, yeah they just did not stand out as being waltzes -Old Rugged Cross seems particularly applicable
Has some high parts, cross picking, slides, tremolo.
My wife who is a much better fiddle player then I am a mandolin player started at age 8 in the Suzuki method which emphasized learning music the same way we learn language by hearing it and duplicating it -learning to read it comes later.
Just my opinion but I started off doing the fiddle tune tab thing and it is really more an exercise in memory finger placements. Like wanting to learn a song in Spanish by copying a Spanish singer. You don’t even have to know what the words mean or anything about the language.
I am sure that Sierra could play it a hundred different ways and they would all be top notch.
Here is Chris Thile playing it on a mandolin in D.
I know that I have taught some fiddle tunes in two different octaves…hmmm.