Essential Techniques for Mandolin

As an absolutely new mandolin player, I was very happy to see all of the material online (Youtube and other sites), but frustrated by the lack of technique these videos actually show. They are great for learning some tricks or songs, but I haven't seen any yet that really teach proper technique - probably because most people find it boring and it doesn't draw a lot of attention.

I purchased this DVD despite other reviews that state this is not for the beginner. I am happy to say that after three months of playing, starting with this video was a great idea. The video teaches proper techniques (hence the name) including pic stroke theory for jigs, reels, etc, proper hand positions, hammer-on, pull-off, fingering positions, and more. Learning proper technique before you develop the bad habits saves the frustration of re-learning and allows you to develop faster.

Chris does an amazing job of going through things a couple of times, first pretty slow so you can pick it up, then faster for the more intermediate player. This makes it easy to listen, then practice, then play along with the slow parts. Playing through it fast gives you the idea of what it should really sound like and sets a goal to work up to. That combined with the printed music in standard and tab notation really helps pick up the songs, scales, and arpeggios quickly.

This is a very entertaining DVD and worth the price just to see Chris Thile perform. His relaxed and friendly manner made playing along extremely entertaining. He plays each song first slowly then builds so it is easy to catch up or play the slow ones until your skill progresses. I absolutely loved some of the addition solo performances at the each and it makes you really want to be a better player.

The dvd was a gift for my son. He is a big fan of Chris Thile from Nicklecreek and had discovered the dvd when he began playing the mandolin recently. He was very pleased with it.

I once found myself arguing with someone about musicians. It had been my belief that the best musicians start playing when they are young. Often there is a musician in the family, often there is a strong teacher. How often for us aging musicians to see with shock someone still in their teens playing better than we could ever imagine. Such is the shock in seeing the young Chris Thile in this fascinating DVD.
He is a remarkably open and generous person. He keeps no secrets. He demonstrates the importance of pick direction, left and right hand position, holding the pick, scales, and cross-picking, as well as demonstrating how to play a number of tunes. If it sounds like a little, it is not. Thile is clearly as capable a teacher as he was a student and no mandolinist will come away from this DVD without something.
A word of warning, though, that this is probably not appropriate for beginners. While there is important information here, the pieces presented will challenge even the most dextrous of players. The problem is that Thile's playing is so strong, many may feel that this style is an unreachable goal. Nevertheless, for those who want to know, this is an invaluable record of an extraordinary musician.

I'm a beginning mandolin player and while I take lessons from a professional musician, I pick up something new from this video every time I view it. It works on every level and I'm sure I'll be learning from it for years to come!