Jonesieblog

I’ve been asked via a DM on Twitter for advice about purchasing a first mandolin for a beginner.  A proper response will need more than 140 characters, so here I am!

Firstly, I should congratulate you on having the good sense to consider learning to play the mandolin!  It is a fabulously versatile instrument, and is relatively easy to learn.

There’s a popular saying among mandolin players: “life’s too short to play a cheap mandolin.”  As a beginner, you won’t want to spend too much, of course, but it’s definitely worth spending enough to get a real instrument rather than a toy.  My first mandolin was a Tanglewood which cost about £160.  It made a pleasing sound and had decent intonation.  Before  that, I did initially buy an Ozark mandolin for about £70, but it was pretty much unplayable and sounded like a toy – I returned it to the shop.

I can’t overstate how important it is to buy a mandolin that will produce a decent tone – it is really motivating!  What constitutes a decent tone is, of course, subjective, so I would recommend that you go into music shops and pluck a few.  If you feel self conscious about doing that, ask someone in the shop to play them for you.

After 18 months learning the mandolin, I invested in an Eastman 515 mandolin.  At the time I felt very uncertain about spending so much on an instrument, but it was SO worth it.  The pleasure I get from it is hard to put into words. You develop a real relationship with a quality instrument as you play it over time.

If you just want a cheap instrument, go for a ukelele instead

Stumble it!

I observed the class of an experienced colleague today, at the invitation of my colleague.  He is very pleased with the way the class is getting on, and wanted me to come in and give the class a boost.

It was fascinating, as always, to observe a lesson, and I was indeed very impressed by how engaged and enthusiastic the youngsters were.

After the lesson, I recalled how, as a probationer, I was frustrated by the fact that some teachers seemed to have excellent behaviour in their classes effortlessly, whilst I had to work hard managing behaviour.

18 years later, I know that the effortlessness I thought I saw was just an illusion.  Experienced teachers are constantly managing the behaviour of their classes – principally by planning interesting, appropriately challenging lessons and by maintaining positive warm relationships with their students, but also by nudging youngsters towards positive behaviour and away from misbehaviour during lessons by the subtle use of body language, tone of voice, humour, praise, chastisement, physical proximity and so on.

For most of us it takes years to develop these skills, and we never stop working on them.  As a probationer it can seem like a massive mountain to climb, but over the course of a career it’s part of what keeps the job interesting!

There isn’t really a moral to this story: it was just a wee bit too long for a tweet

Stumble it!