How To Play Mandolin: Split String Technique

If you remember earlier on in this DVD, I said something to you about learning major skills in close positions. In other words trying to avoid playing open notes in that automatically brings in to play using your pinky Morin and the need to develop the strength in this finger which is the smallest and the weakness of the budge. And it courts me, I learn an exercise, I think it went something like this, when I took a couple lessons with David Cressman back in the mid 70s. Doing simple like this (Demo) This exercise, this start at back and fort, so what I am doing here, I am keeping my middle finger on the 5th fit of the G string. And I am going up in the 9th threat on the G string with my pinky to the 5th, 8th to the 5th, 7th to the 5th, just alternating, with the 5th (Demo) Every other not. Do not do it too much though you can hurry yourself, and then you will be playing for awhile. But take it easy, but do a little bit of that, that will helps strengthen your pinky. Another thing that I mentioned in passing was Jessie McReynolds’ split spring technique. When over a little cross picking, but the splint string is a very really cool sound. He found a way to play three notes using two adjacent strings and the way he did that was say where in the key of G and this is a double stop that works in the key of G. It is really the first two notes of a G cord. A G and a B, well he found a way for instance here getting that the fifth note of the cord, the D note in the play to get all few of these notes but suing only two strings. So what he did was there, there and this is really quite hard and takes a lot of getting you. Your fingernail can be long and it cannot be too short to be able to, make sure he keeps this top B string here, second for the A string to where it sounds good. And then he sticks his fingernail in with his pinky and plays this bottom a string at fifth fret to get a D note. (Demo) So, if you play it real slow, G, B, D. It is a full cord that way and then you kind of play around with that in an open A, and (Demo) With your index. Give me one stroke but playing two notes, by hammering on with that index, (Demo) Then you can play other positions and other keys and just basically experiment around with it. It sounds nice on the more kind of country sounding regress songs slower temper songs.