Pick Directions /// Mandolin Lesson

[@tombolt6789]

These are simply magnificent. I deeply appreciate the time and effort you take to put these videos together. I play banjo, violin, and Classical Guitar. This has been a wild ride for me and I have sampled other instructions on KZbin and I, personally, find that you are a magnificent instructor. In my lifetime of music instruction, I have had a lot of bad teachers and I have had a lot to overcome, and I am still overcoming, especially, the Guitar and the banjo. I si ncerely hope you do not give up on providing this service. Thank you for all you are doing.

[@robtsologtr]

👍🏼👍🏼Since 1979 I’ve been teaching Mando & flatpick guitar at Elderly Instruments and have been labeled as an alternate picking Nazi for insisting students follow the picking scheme David succinctly presents. Everyone out there, listen to David!😀. Master this, then special case exceptions will be less of a challenge once you have a foundation to build on.

[@DavidBenedictMandolin]

Ah thanks, Robert! Yeah, I feel the same passion for this topic, haha! Hope things are well in MI!

[@robtsologtr]

David Benedict Mandolin I always tell students that the reason the right way is the right way is because in the long run it’s the easiest way. Why would anyone choose to make things more difficult?

[@allenronaldson4381]

Robert McCloy agree wholeheartedly, Another thing I’d like to hear David talk about is his actual pick mechanics. What are the different ways the masters hold the pick. I’ve been a guitar player for 44 years, and over the years I morphed into a hybrid “chicken pickin” style, and then about 4 years ago I went all in on TR, Clarence, Grier, and guys like that who alternate between floating their hand like a Mando player and anchoring the pinky. I really got into Emery Lester, who like me was a Tony Rice disciple, anchors his pinky on Mando quite a bit. I’d like to hear your feedback too Robert. Thanks!

[@robtsologtr]

Ronnie Allen Early on, I anchored my picky - but moved to a floating right hand years ago, inspired by Norman Blake’s beautiful legato. Another approach, used by Dan Crary is to lightly touch the bridge with the heal of your hand. I honestly believe I can hear when someone uses either planted pinky or Crary anchoring techniques. My preference is a continuous flowing motion, not thinking down/up - envision tracing a clockwise circle for repeating 1/4 notes, or a figure 8 with 1/8th notes. These are very small loops, but the theory is to maintain momentum. I want to avoid a down/up start/stop - like a door (your hand) swinging back and forth on a hinge which will produce a stiff, mechanical shift. Think of the point where a piston rod attaches to a cam shaft. The offset of the rotating cam shaft results in that attachment point tracing a circle, while driving/reversing the piston direction. Momentum is preserved, resulting in flowing legato. I have a slightly arched wrist, and slightly rotate my forearm to execute these motions.

[@ssmabecrelis6443]

Quite frankly one of the best mandolin technique videos on youtube... Well done!

[@DavidBenedictMandolin]

Ah, that’s very kind of you to say! Hope you’re doing well, man!

[@stoneoriole]

i used to watch people play and see their hand keeping the up down movement and was baffled by it. this is so enlightening. thank you

[@christopherreily1895]

Such an amazing teacher and picker! Great lesson David.

[@DavidBenedictMandolin]

Thanks so much, Chris!

[@manuelacevedo6144]

How to tune a mandolin

[@RebeccaCabaltica]

really great! what is the song at the end?

[@KidsCabaltica]

Great stuff!!! can someone tell me what the song at the end is?

[@allenronaldson4381]

Great stuff maestro!

[@estano9111]

great lesson

[@harpbaby1]

Love, love, love this. This is now part of my practice regimen. I always wondered how players could play by just keeping the hand moving. Didn't make sense to me until now.....Thanks so much David!

[@DavidBenedictMandolin]

That’s awesome! So glad it helped!

[@ottodonaldson]

Aweesome!!! Very well explained. Thank you

[@yoniudkoff3577]

Great stuff!!!! Thanks!

[@vololudo4671]

And this lesson is exactly why I subscribed and support you on patreon! Thank you and keep up the great work

[@DavidBenedictMandolin]

Ah, thanks so much! Really appreciate the support!

[@reckonimokie123]

Excellent excercise

[@DavidBenedictMandolin]

Glad you like it!

[@KhoaNguyen-vd4ui]

this is really useful for me. thank you so much ^^

[@DavidBenedictMandolin]

Glad it was helpful!

[@JustFiddler]

1:41 The God of mandolin😊❤

[@MrEmperorBlack]

Great content!! Would love to see you expand this to how APT applies to triplets!

[@DavidBenedictMandolin]

Coming soon!

[@amphialus22295]

@@DavidBenedictMandolin I'm also really curious about tripelets. I've seen other videos talk about the need to do Down Up Down Down Up Down to keep the downstrokes on the beat, but they don't explain why as well as you do in this video!

[@stevenacord7642]

Hey man sweet 👍

[@coffeeblues1857]

Thanks these are great. The killer for me is with hammer on pull offs and slides. I just have the damnedest time keeping the up and downs in order 😢

[@willieanderson1527]

How do you deal with 16th notes using alternate picking...when you have equal numbers of 8th and 16th with a smattering of quarter and half notes¿

[@DavidBenedictMandolin]

Yeah, good question! I think about it as sliding scale. If you're dealing with 16th notes, the we'd still want to alternate down and up starting with a down on the beat. And then we'd just play 8ths and above with downstrokes. There's always examples that break the rule, but this is a good place to start with. Happy picking!

[@paulschmidt7473]

What do you mean, "metronomes people used to have", I STILL HAVE ONE, and it still works perfectly never mind it's 45 years old. Incredibly the samemodel is still available for sale today, and looks identical.

[@DavidBenedictMandolin]

Nice! The analog way!

[@PhunkyPharmacologist]

During the intro, is that "Old Tyme" by Mike Marshall, Béla Fleck, and Edgar Meyer playing in the background? Or a tune inspired by/similar to it?

[@manuelacevedo6144]

How to tune a mandolin

[@Ballhogmusic]

Always never don’t alternate!

[@iknowyouarebutwhatami]

This is great stuff