mandolin Reflection #6

I have continued to work on the mandolin independently from a teacher for now. I have been looking into getting lessons, but it's very hard to commit to staying after when I have so much work and since I don't drive the limited bus schedule limits me. However, I have been practicing playing at least one song a day, and I think that soon I am going to start using mandolin sheet music. For Christmas I received an instructional video on mandolin techniques which I will be putting to use, though I haven't had a chance yet. A good experience I had recently in learning about performance and playing the mandolin was playing with a musician I know. She is from Switzerland and works as an engineer, but she also tours and plays as a musician --http://www.myspace.com/skintrail is her website, and she has played concerts and even some festivals. My mom is friends with her sister, so she came over to my house with her family after playing a gig at Liam MacGuire's. She wanted to see the mandolin, and she had brought her guitar so we played together, which was wonderful -- she just told me the chords and I improvised pieces to go along with her, and we actually sounded really good together. It was a bit scary to try and keep up with a legitimate musician, who is a musician as one of her jobs and sources of income, but after a few bars of the first song I was able to play really well with her and sing a bit. It was a good learning experience for playing with other people, even if it was a bit nervewracking. We played about 5 or 6 songs, so we were playing for a while. It was helpful to see a professional playing and what techniques they use (she was playing guitar, but the same techniques apply until you get to more complicated mandolin, which I am not attempting yet), and the experience of getting to play with a real musician. Altogether, I thought it advanced my mandolin self-teaching. I am going to sign up for lessons again after ToK is finished.