How Hard Is It to Learn Mandolin? (Beginners’ Challenges and Useful Tips)

How Hard Is It To Learn Mandolin

How Hard Is It To Learn Mandolin

The mandolin is thought to be one of the more difficult of all of the stringed instruments. It is definitely one of the most unique, to say the least. The sound that is produced by the mandolin is very different when compared to its close relative guitar. While interest in learning how to play the mandolin is not really that high, you can still learn how to play it fairly easily. However, there are some challenges that some people have come across when it comes to learning to play the mandolin.

How Hard Is It to Learn Mandolin?

Beginners’ Challenges and Useful Tips

  • Mandolin has more strings than a guitar

As compared to a typical guitar which as only a single string per note, when playing the mandolin you have to learn to address two different strings to get the note right.

  • It can be tough to find a good mandolin teacher

It could end up taking you a while to learn how to play the mandolin, but with the right tools and you should not give up finding a could one on one instructor. There are some very good ways that anyone can follow in order to learn how to play.

  • The heavy strings of the mandolin can be harsh on the fingers

Since a mandolin is harder on the fingers it is best to start out with a lighter type of strings on your mandolin until you have built up a sufficient amount of calluses. Also, a unique tip for helping to reduce the pain in the fingers associated with the strings is to use the astringent Witch Hazel, which helps to reduce the sting in your fingers.

  • Bad habits are really easy to pick up with the mandolin

Developing bad habits when playing mandolin without having a professional music teacher. This is why one best way’s to learn to play the mandolin is with a one on one method of teaching. However, you also can learn how to play a mandolin by yourself with some self-taught methods.

3 Methods For Learning How To Play The Mandolin For Beginners

1) Artistworks

ArtistWorks.com is an online resource for people who are looking to learn how to play a musical instrument like the mandolin. The developers of the website established a network of more than 200 of the music industries leading musicians. Each of the musicians creates their own lessons on video and upload them into the massive database on ArtistWorks.com.

Mandolin with Mike Marshall

By clicking the “mandolin” inside the course bar on the website and one of the results is an artist Mike Marshall. As one of the most well-known string instrument players in the world. Over the past 35 years, Mike Marshall has been playing every type of stringed instrument such as the mandolin, guitar, violin, mandocello. Mr. Marshall has created hundreds of video-based lessons that have been uploaded into the massive online database on ArtistWorks.com.

As a paid member of the website, you will have full access to all of the video lessons of the musical instrument of your choice. The videos are all easy to watch on any of your devices that have a reliable Internet connection.

Mandolin with Caterina Lichtenberg

Another one of the hundreds of musicians that are part of the network that ArtistWorks.com has put together is a woman named Caterina Lichtenberg. Caterina is a world-class classical mandolin player. She has toured the as a soloist and she has recorded numerous amounts of music all over the world.

As part of the ArtistWorks network of musicians, she has created hundreds of lessons on video which are currently part of the massive video library on the website. Caterina started with ArtistWorks back in 2016 and has helped hundreds if not thousands of members learn how to play the mandolin using her lessons.

2) Udemy Mandolin Online Lesson

The Internet and the power of today’s more advanced digital technology learning how to play a musical instrument like the mandolin is so much easier today. Udemy is a unique website that is set up similarly to a college or university online that offers individual training courses that cover a wide range of topics.

Udemy_Mandolin

What makes Udemy unique is that each of the training courses is completely video-based and as a paid student you will have full access to all of the course material 24/7 and all you really need is to have a reliable Internet connection (on a computer, tablet or smartphone). Each of the lessons on video is presented by a professionally trained instructor who is considered a subject matter expert in the field of study and in the case of musical instruments they are likely well-known musicians.

Udemy is a useful resource that is actually free to access the website and to find a training video. By entering the “mandolin lesson” in the website’s search bar you will be shown a results page that displays all of the training courses that match your search criteria in the database. When you find the training course that matches your needs, you simply select it and order that course.

3) How-To Video Lessons on YouTube.com

In the digital age, the Internet has basically revolutionized how people learn to do things that they always wanted to do. YouTube.com is one of the world’s largest repository of homemade video clips on the Internet. YouTube has a massive database that houses more than a billion videos and growing daily.

By going to YouTube.com and typing “learn to play the mandolin” into the main search bar and hit enter. You will immediately be shown a results page with hundreds if not thousands of videos available for you to view. These videos range from getting to know more about the mandolin all the way to advanced lessons from a professional mandolin player.

One of the best parts about YouTube.com is that you can access the video 24/7 as long as you have a reliable Internet connection, regardless of what kind of device you are using. You are not tied to a computer if you have a tablet or smartphone and a browser you can connect to YouTube.com and you can access the video lessons.

The Difficulty and Hardness of Learning Mandolin

When it comes to learning how to play the mandolin there are definitely some challenges that you will likely to be faced with and in this article, we pointed out a few of them in order to possibly help the reader to avoid them or to be better prepared when they might possibly pop up. We also included some very good options when it comes to methods of learning how to play the mandolin online. Before long you should be on the right path to be ready to play the mandolin.

Leave a Comment