Great job Landy! You did fantastic. Especially for someone just getting their feet wet into performing. I really enjoyed it. Nice way to do that song.
Don’t worry about using 2 finger chords. They sound fine. There’s a time and place for everything. In fact, Chris Chile & Mike Marshall did a song called “What a Blast” that is exclusively 2 finger chords (granted, some have like a 8 fret stretch) - and mando players don’t come any better than those 2. Sap - I agree with you. Chop chords (or 4 finger chords) assist with being able to make the mando percussion (often in bluegrass). If you don’t need to do that, who cares.
Although I’m by no means a great musician, I get asked quite a bit by new players if they are good enough to play with others. This is how I explain it.
When you play music with others, it becomes a social event. Many things go into making the jam succesful - and only 1 of those things is instrument skill. The more things you bring to the table, the better time everyone will have. You certainly need to know the basics (ability to play chords) - but there’s so much more.
-Ability to sing (and, above that, sing harmonies).
-Knowing songs (chords as well as words).
-Good attitude. I can’t tell you how many jams of very good musicians I’ve left becouse it just wasn’t fun.
-Be a good listener. Pay attention to the music and play what fits. Don’t step on other ppl’s solo’s.
So, to sum that up, yeah Landy - you’re ready to play with others. Easily. You may not be able to go Bill Monroe on them - but who cares. Most musicians play for the same reason we all do. It’s not a pissing contest on who can run through the fastest licks. That’s the beauty of music - once you find the basics, you can make the magic. Never be ashamed of what you can’t do. You’ll wow them with your voice. Let the rest of the circle wow you with their solo’s. It will all fit.
Oh, and Sap, you’d asked a few questions. Although I do play Bluegrass, it’s not what my band does. We’re a bar cover band. So we do a lot of classic rock, country, funk. Got about 80 songs in our set list and play what fits the venue.
I have a few mando’s. My stage mando (in my picture) is an Ovation MM-68. Great mando for gigs. Almost can’t be broken. Helps with beating the drunks away. The Turkey Creek in the video is made by a guy up in Morrison. It’s #17. I also have a beater Kentucky I use for camp trips. My favorite is my 1958 Gibson A40. Love that one. Maybe I’ll play that in the “next round”.
I don’t know if I’d call mando my main instrument. Depends on the setting. I’ve played guitar longer - but becouse of my band - I tend to play the mando more now. I suppose, it just depends on what I’m doing. Some would say that piano is my main instrument. I took lessons for 12 years growing up.
Good stuff all. I look forward to more!
