I'm trying to learn a new musical instrument!
By The Horse
@TheHorse (238268)
Walnut Creek, California
October 5, 2015 3:20pm CST
I've been playing guitar and bass for years, but I recently bought a really nice mandolin and am trying to learn how to play it well enough to call myself a mandolin player. I've actually noodled on mandolin for awhile, but I never put forth the effort necessary to be good at it. This particular instrument is a 1914 Gibson A-4 with a slight dip in the top. It's reinforced with a "sound post," which is enough of a "flaw" that it dropped the mandolin into my price range. Because it's 101-years-old, the instrument has a lot of "mojo," or soul, and that motivates me to play it every day. I'm not where I want to be, but I'm getting a little bit better every day. Do you have something that you've wanted to do but just haven't had the chance to try?
10 people like this
10 responses
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
6 Oct 15
It sounds as if you have a nice instrument. Gibson are always reckoned to have made the best bluegrass mandolins (just as C.F.Martin are acknowledged to have made the best country music guitars, though Gibson guitars are supposed by some to have a fuller sound and stronger bass).
Daily practice is certainly the 'sine qua non' of improvement and I'm afraid that I haven't picked up my mandolin for months. I also play (octave) tenor banjo and octave mandola and I think I've touched them more recently. I would describe my playing as just adequate to make a reasonable sound with the group I used to play with regularly but in no way outstanding!
3 people like this
@TheHorse (238268)
• Walnut Creek, California
6 Oct 15
Octave mandola sounds cool because it's "different." There are lots of guitars and guitar players out there. I took up bass because more bands need a bass layer than another guitarist. I also enjoy it. Mandolin is mostly for myself, though I fake it on mandolin in one band.
2 people like this
@albto_568 (1268)
• Costa Rica
6 Oct 15
I used to play the guitar, but never was so good at it, so I quit, I would like to learn to play it well, as to call myself a guitar player. As a matter of fact, violin is an instrument that attracts me too.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86575)
• United States
6 Oct 15
Suggestion: listen to Jethro Burns. You'll either learn a lot from listening to his mandolin playing or you'll say, "no way can I be that good." 
Good luck!!
Good luck!!
@xstitcher (39003)
• Petaluma, California
6 Oct 15
That's awesome. :) Hope all is going well with that. :)
@TheHorse (238268)
• Walnut Creek, California
6 Oct 15
@xstitcher Just trying to get a little better every day. I use Bach's Minuet in G as one of my practice pieces, though I play it in D.
@JadePlatypus (234)
• Australia
12 Nov 15
I learned the Clarinet as an adult- but dont play any more. A few years ago though, I thought I'd try a Mandolin, as I love the sound. However, the strings were even harder on my hands that my husbands steel-stringed Gibson acoustic which is hard enough for my inexperienced self. He manages to make it sound a bit magic I must say. He tends to play blues or southern rock/blues.
@TheHorse (238268)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Nov 15
@JadePlatypus If the mandolin has an adjustable bridge, you can lower the "action" on the mandolin enough that the strings wont be as much of a bother. If you practice scales for a week, you'll develop callouses on your left hand and you fingers wont hurt any more.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (238268)
• Walnut Creek, California
13 Nov 15
@JadePlatypus Finding an instrument you're comfortable with is important. I just sold a really nice Santa Cruz guitar because the neck was a bit too wide and deep for my left hand. I have average sized hands, and prefer the neck shape of my Collings OM-1 (shown in my latest post, by coincidence). If you have small hands, you need a "low profile" neck. They're out there.
1 person likes this
@JadePlatypus (234)
• Australia
13 Nov 15
@TheHorse my husband does like to show me his guitar-friendly fingers, which as well as being 'worn in' are also very long, unlike my own stumpy's. (That's my excuse for not playing well). Re; the mandolin, I gave it back to the original owner, who was having similar problems to me. Hubby did adjust the bridge for this guy, but I'm not sure how well it's all going.
1 person likes this
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
17 Jan 16
That's incredible. My mother could play any instrument that was put in front of her. Harmonica, piano, guitar and mandolin. I always thought it was amazing. Unfortunately, I didn't inherit the ability. I like to play around with the piano, but only easy pieces. My brother was the one to get the music gene. That boy can play a lot of instruments too. LOL He played flute,tuba,trombone, saxophone only a couple of times, guitar, and I think a few pieces on the piano.
@jstory07 (148720)
• Roseburg, Oregon
6 Oct 15
Just practice when you can and you will get good at it.
@Freelanzer (10782)
• Canada
7 Oct 15
I always wish i could play a musical instrument. I have a guitar and I tried but seems I am not just cut out for it. I also tried playing the organ but didn't do too well there either. Good luck.
@piyushk15 (86)
• Bhopal, India
6 Oct 15
I love playing Guitar, I learned when I was in college and always play something in the weekend along with my friends :)
