Multiple Instruments - Dangerous?

I think a second instrument is great for something to fall back on when your guitar is not going well.

I personally play recorder and a bit of harmonica when my guitar is bothering me to much.

get a saxamaphone, so satisfying to play! and uber cool!

but also mighty expensive...

As far as learning instruments with different tunings goes, I would see it as a definite advantage, as it forces you to stop thinking in terms of shapes, patterns and boxes, and makes you actually think about what notes you are playing and the theory behind them. I mean, as soon as you take your C-major scale away from the guitar it ceases to be "013,023,023,02,013,013" in your mind and genuinely becomes "C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-etc". Which can only make you a more versatile musician on both instruments.

yes! that is exactly what has happen to me.

the fret board really opens up and reveals many things.

I ran into a copy of Mel Bay's Mandolin teaching booklet.
very clear pictures for forming chords, tips on techniques, and a cool chord chart.
definately look for one.

Since the mando and guitar are very similar it shouldn't be much of a stretch. Itg might be more difficult if you tried say the tuba!

I play both tuba and bass. And mandolin too. Not a problem.

So now to the meat of this post: is it detrimental to attempt learning two instruments at once, becoming a jack-of-all-trades master-of-none sort of thing, or could the exposure to a different format and overall increased instrument play time be beneficial to one's musical development?

I've had guitar lessons, now have piano lessons and are starting vocal lessons after the summer. Besides that I play bass, bluesharp and synth. Is it detrimental to your guitar progress? Yes, ofcourse. Every second spend on something else means less guitar progress. On the other hand you'll find that you'll learn a complete new skill PLUS you can usually use things you learned on one instrument with the other.

In the end I guess it depends on your goals. I myself want to write my own songs, perform them myself where possible, and produce them myself. To do so I must have an understanding of other instruments, so it helps me. If you aspire to be the best guitar player ever then you should focus on that. The mandolin is in ways quite like guitar which means it won't be so detrimental but you won't learn as much new things compared to a key or wind instrument. The final point remains: do it if you like it, don't if you hate it.

What Arjen said, twice for good measure. :)

Besides guitar, I play bass a little just because I like to, and I sometimes (when I'm in a house that has one) use a keyboard to drone backing chords. Learning simple chords on a piano way back when is what made chord composition click for me.

Good afternoon everyone,

First post here and very beginner guitar/mandolin player.

I'll provide three reasons why learning guitar/mandolin is a great choice:

1. They are very similar:

Guitar string layout EBGDAE
Mandolin string layout EADG

4 of the 6 strings are the same, different octave however. Actually the G strings (played openly) are the same.

2. Never hurts to be diversified. Everyone gets tired of a one-trick pony.

3. As stated previously, it forces you to think in terms of notes, thus it encourages the learning of a little music theory.