u/globetrotterdk

I read notation and am just starting on my journey with the mandolin. The mandolin is my first serious attempt to learn a stringed instrument. Tabs are ubiquitous in instructional books for a reason. Many people find tabs to be a boon, but I personally find tabs in the main to be a crutch to lean on, but my eyes invariably gravitate towards them.

What do you do? Using a marker is a bit drastic, as tabs are useful, on occasion and marker seeps through the pages. Something like masking tape might help, but one risks the tape taking off some of the page if you try to remove it, and makes each page of the instructional book twice as thick...

Anyone out there Tomplay interactive sheet music for other instruments? I think that it is sooo much better than 8notes. I use it for a number of instruments and am trying to start an advocacy campaign for Tomplay including the mandolin. Perhaps you play another instrument that Tomplay supports and would consider trying Tomplay so that you could suggest that they include the mandolin? There is so much music in the public domain, and it ticks the boxes for classical, folk, country, and rock genres. Please consider supporting a campaign to get mandolin as a supported instrument on Tomplay.

No real experience with string instruments. For a long time strings didn't make sense. Then something clicked and I understand the logic now. Unfortunately, I now have problems with the string pairs. I started with lead mandolin, as I read music and am used to arpeggiating chords, should it be necessary. However, looking at the string pairs constantly to see where to place the pick is slowing me down. How do I find the correct string pairs without looking?

I purchased a demo / pre-used Recording King RAM-3-BK mandolin. When it arrived, the first thing I did was try to tune it, and broke a string. While there could have been something wrong with the strings, my point of reference is that (for whatever reason) my Strobo Clip HD tuner didn't detect the mandolin properly, despite being set on the mandolin setting.

So as a result, I have two questions. What kind of tuner do you recommend for a mandolin? What strings do I need to restring the mandolin - must be available within the EU, to be of use.

Sorry for being vague, but I remember a bassist flogging a book some years ago directed towards bassists learning notation. I don’t need general music theory, as I play other instruments, but I am first now getting to grips with the bass clef. Any ideas? My only “requirement” is that the book is available for purchase in the EU.

BTW, has anyone come across bass sheet music that includes notation for five and six string basses?