I play mandolin as a (very) amateur musician. It’s a fun hobby, mostly old-time fiddle tunes and some bluegrass and Celtic. From time to time, I go to camps or workshops to try to get better. I was at one this past week with Mike Marshall, who is a very famous and accomplished mandolin player.
Oh no, bummer! I totally recommend asking a pro "can you hear me play for a little while and suggest what I should work on next?". It unlocked my progress.
When I did that with Tony Trischka, he identified (correctly) note separation as the reason I wasn't sounding as good as I could. Consistency between notes is key to sounding smooth instead of rough: consistency of volume, of starting time, and duration. This kind of work is like working on yourself to be better in business -- getting consistency of execution so you're not burning out, you're not different people on different days, you're making your decisions the same way, etc.
You might also want to work on repertoire: learning other people's solos note for note. It's great ear training to do this by ear, but tab works in a pinch. This is like case studies in business school -- you think about what the situation was (what chord were they playing over here? from what melody note to what melody note?) and can then extract plays and ideas for your own use (this is a good two bar A phrase for songs where the melody starts on the 5 note before it goes to the IV chord).
And, when in doubt, play with other people often. You can read all the business books you like, but getting amongst it teaches so many more lessons. As a learner musician at home, you can stop and start and speed up and slow down, maybe even pause and redo a bar -- but not if there's a band that'll be on the next chord in the song in one bar's time.
Oh no, bummer! I totally recommend asking a pro "can you hear me play for a little while and suggest what I should work on next?". It unlocked my progress.
When I did that with Tony Trischka, he identified (correctly) note separation as the reason I wasn't sounding as good as I could. Consistency between notes is key to sounding smooth instead of rough: consistency of volume, of starting time, and duration. This kind of work is like working on yourself to be better in business -- getting consistency of execution so you're not burning out, you're not different people on different days, you're making your decisions the same way, etc.
You might also want to work on repertoire: learning other people's solos note for note. It's great ear training to do this by ear, but tab works in a pinch. This is like case studies in business school -- you think about what the situation was (what chord were they playing over here? from what melody note to what melody note?) and can then extract plays and ideas for your own use (this is a good two bar A phrase for songs where the melody starts on the 5 note before it goes to the IV chord).
And, when in doubt, play with other people often. You can read all the business books you like, but getting amongst it teaches so many more lessons. As a learner musician at home, you can stop and start and speed up and slow down, maybe even pause and redo a bar -- but not if there's a band that'll be on the next chord in the song in one bar's time.