Conservation of Energy

I've been putting in a lot of work to try to develop my mandolin skills this year, and I've noticed a couple of key improvements. Recently I've been noticing that my left hand fingers don't gallop about the fretboard quite like they used to - they move much more quietly and calmly from place to place, in what I think of as an orderly fashion. This makes it easier to play faster and it also makes playing itself much less effort, and more enjoyable. I am able to use less downforce on the string too.

I've also noticed my right hand developing the ability to get more sound out of the string with less force, which also contributes to an increase in speed as well as improved tone.

I think the specific exercises that have got me this far are the ones on Mike Marshall's Mandolin Fundamentals DVD, but also the work I've put in on learning breaks by famous players and new arrangements of fiddle tunes has helped a lot too. I still have a long way to go, but it's encouraging to see progress.

Study technique

As a follow up to the last post, I've found it was a really good idea to follow a planned approach to developing my technique. I've only really been able to actually improve my playing by studying and repeatedly working on technique exercises. While it's a lot of fun and useful to work on music theory and add new pieces and licks to my repertoire, without a strong foundation of technique I found playing the mandolin to be hard work.

And when I get out there under the lights (when they have lights), the only thing that stands between me and miserable failure is technique. A while ago I bought a DVD that I didn't have high expectations from, this one:

Mike Marshall's Mandolin Fundamentals For All Players #1-Building Technique Through Exercises and Melodic Studies

I hadn't done much technique work previously, but I followed Mike's advice carefully and persevered diligently for several months, and it has made a huge difference to my playing. The main difference is that I actually enjoy playing a lot more now, knowing that I'm capable of making those licks and runs under pressure, and I have some technical expertise left over for improvisational flourishes and unexpected situations. Thank you, Mr Marshall.