You Can Play the Mandolin

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Practice your scale over and over, using just a downstroke on your pick to strike each note. Then try playing the notes by alternating up and down strokes with your pick. Don't forget to hold your pick properly and to move only your wrist, not your arm, as you strike the strings.

OK, so you've practiced (and practiced, and practiced some more), and you're feeling pretty slick, eh? You say you can play the D scale forward and backward over and over without the slightest stumbling or hesitation? Great! Now let's learn how to use that amazing scale of yours.

As I said, scales are the building blocks with which you create melodies. Once you get comfortable with the D scale and develop a "feel" for the notes—how they sound, and where they are on your mandolin's fingerboard—you'll be ready to experiment a little. Try going partway up the scale and then back down. Or play the first few notes and then skip a note or two before completing the scale. Play every other note.

As you become more and more adventurous, you'll discover familiar melodies right at your fingertips! I'll give you an example. Play the first three notes of the scale: D (strike the third, or D, string open) . . . E (third string, second fret) . . . and F# (third string, fourth fret). Then play your D string open again, and repeat the four notes.

Recognize the tune? Well, it should sound like "Frere Jacques," otherwise known as "Are You Sleeping?" The rest of the melody (and thousands of others) can be picked out using only the eight notes of the scale. Go ahead . . . see how many other songs you can put together with your D scale.

With a little practice and fearless experimentation, you'll soon be amazing yourself and impressing your friends. And just think: This is only the beginning! You and your mandolin have just barely begun to get to know each other. There are lots of good books out there that'll help you two become better acquainted—and don't forget that the very best way to learn how to make any kind of music is to get together with other folks who play. (In fact, this is especially true for the mandolin, which, because of its relatively high pitch, sounds much better when played in concert with a broader-ranged instrument, such as a guitar.) So go ahead and join in. Don't be shy . . . everybody starts out as a beginner!

Good luck, and keep pickin'!

EDITOR'S NOTE: One excellent book on learning to play the mandolin is Bluegrass Mandolin, by lack Tottle (Oak Publications, $8.95). The book, which comes with an instruction record, is available at most libraries and bookstores.

Wayne Erbsen is director of the Appalachian Music Program at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina. Mr. Erbsen is also the author of a number of books on playing various instruments and music: Painless Mandolin ($12.95, with cassette), Clawhammer Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus! ($6.95), Starting Bluegrass Banjo From Scratch ($7.95), Bluegrass Banjo Simplified!! ($12.95, with cassette), The Complete & Painless Guide to the Guitar ($6.95), The Backpocket Bluegrass Songbook ($3.95), and The Backpocket OldTime Songbook ($3.95). All are available for the cover price, plus $1.00 postage per order, from Wayne Erbsen, 825 Bee Tree Rd., Swannanoa, NC 28778.

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