About twelve years ago I decided to learn the mandolin.  I have owned a mandolin for thirty years but only played a few chords on it and some simple licks.  It took about a year to understand it enough to be able to go out and play it without making a fool of myself.

Although I would not call myself a bluegrass player I like the music.  Listening to David Grisman made me realize the potential of the mandolin as a lead instrument because he took it to places it had never been before.  If Bill Monroe is the BB King of bluegrass David Grisman is the Eric Clapton of bluegrass.  I have memorized a few of his leads and can play them pretty well but I could not spontaneously produce my own lead that would even begin to match his style. 

Another great inovative mandolin player is Sam Bush.  He is a contemporary of David Grisman.  If Grisman is the Eric Clapton of bluegrass Sam Bush is the Jeff Beck of Blue grass.  I like Sam as well as I do David.  Between the two of them you sure can stretch your horizons.   I have also copied a few of his leads but alas I can only copy these guys.

I have a deep respect for those who can play bluegrass music on the mandolin.

I have investigated a few different instruments in the mandolin family.  I will be putting them up on my site in the following weeks.