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  #1  
Old 03-03-2017, 08:16 PM
Pgambon Pgambon is offline
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Default Mandolin tuning

I want to learn to play a mandolin, but the standard tuning frankly turns me off. My head is so stuffed with guitar scales and chord shapes. The obvious solution is to tune it like a guitars bottom four strings. Will this still sound like a mandolin or like a funky dude playing guitar parts on a mandolin? I'm confused.
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Old 03-03-2017, 08:25 PM
Bowie Bowie is offline
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I'd just give regular mando tuning a try. It took me 1 sitting to learn many of the basic chords, and I have zero patience. They're not complex.

Last edited by Bowie; 03-03-2017 at 09:44 PM.
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Old 03-03-2017, 08:47 PM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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Tuning the strings of a mandolin like the first four strings of a guitar is not uncommon. The mandolin in that tuning probably won't sound as good as it can, and you'll need to experiment with string gauges to come up with a set that works well with a fourth interval tuning instead of the fifth interval tuning that mandolin strings are designed for.

It's actually less work to just learn the standard mandolin tuning, believe it or not. Since it's in fifth intervals all the way across the four courses of strings, every chord shape can be duplicated anywhere else on the fingerboard. Plus the real strength of the mandolin is not as a chordal instrument but as a melodic instrument, and - again - that fifth interval tuning makes it very easy to find melodies.

But suit yourself.


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Old 03-03-2017, 09:03 PM
The Bard Rocks The Bard Rocks is offline
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Wades is largely right. Guitars would probably have been tuned in 5ths if they were much smaller and you didn't need to stretch so much. You will find mandolin chords pretty sensible and the notes are easily moveable to other keys.

But you can do it the way you want. It will work. With 4 strings to work with, chords are simpler than on guitar which is one of the reasons for the uke's recent popularity.
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Old 03-03-2017, 09:08 PM
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Yup, try it and see. You'll probably find that it doesn't sound so great, though, because the string tensions will become progressively too low.

I keep mine in standard G-D-A-E, or F#-C#-A-E, or F#-C#-A-B, though the B tuning is pretty floppy and if I were to keep it that way all the time I'd go to thicker strings on that note. But Wade is right, playing simple chords isn't really the strength of a mando, IMO, so it's not too hard to adapt. And the closer frets helps make up for the bigger intervals between strings.
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Last edited by JeffreyAK; 03-05-2017 at 09:49 PM. Reason: Correction
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Old 03-03-2017, 09:38 PM
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I have a buddy that tunes his like a guitar without the E strings. A D G B
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Old 03-03-2017, 10:45 PM
Misifus Misifus is offline
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For me, what made the mandolin an easy transition was that it is tuned like the lowest four strings of a guitar, just in reverse order. I think tuning a mandolin differently would take away, as Wade said, the melodic magic of the instrument.
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Old 03-04-2017, 07:19 AM
Steely Glen Steely Glen is offline
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I'm a guitar player who went through the same struggle. I learned basic mando chords and could play a passable rhythm in several keys (a "D" is passing, right?).

In the end, I sold the mandolin and went with a Tacoma Papoose. It's not the same thing as a mandolin by any means, but in a mix, it covers a lot of the same tonal territory. It's got 6 strings and is tuned like a guitar with a capo on the fifth fret. This is an unorthodox suggestion to mandolin purists, but it has worked really well for me.

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Old 03-04-2017, 07:30 AM
Silly Moustache Silly Moustache is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Misifus View Post
For me, what made the mandolin an easy transition was that it is tuned like the lowest four strings of a guitar, just in reverse order. I think tuning a mandolin differently would take away, as Wade said, the melodic magic of the instrument.
Exactly.

If you are going to play mandolin, learn the tuning, don't fudge it.

The chords and runs/licks etc., are just like guitar upside down.

Don't limit yourself, learn the mandolin.
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Old 03-04-2017, 09:16 AM
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The short scale of a mandolin makes "guitar tuning" not work so well and it compresses the span of notes the instrument covers over its full range. Especially up the neck, guitar shapes get pretty hard to play on a mandolin without your fingers deadening adjacent strings or not fitting comfortably between the frets without getting in each others' way.

I have an 8-string tenor ukulele, which is tuned in the same intervals as the top four strings of a guitar and has double (nylon) courses like a mandolin. That works fine but the scale is longer than a mandolin's.
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Old 03-04-2017, 10:01 AM
Pgambon Pgambon is offline
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Thanks, for the good advice and encouragement. I guess I will just "man up" and start with standard tuning?
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Old 03-04-2017, 10:42 AM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Building on Bob's response above, if you're determined to stay with guitar tuning (many studio players do this when they need to double on other instruments BTW, so there's no harm in it) you might want to look into a mandola - a slightly larger/longer-scale instrument traditionally tuned CGDA like a tenor banjo/tenor guitar/viola - and set it up in drop-G tenor uke tuning (GCEA low-to-high, essentially a standard guitar capoed at the fifth fret); IMO there are several additional advantages as opposed to setting up a mandolin in DGBE guitar tuning:
  • The low G allows you to cover the lowest notes of traditional mandolin tuning;
  • The longer scale provides added space on the fingerboard for chording;
  • Once you're above the ninth fret you're covering the highest notes most mandolin players commonly use anyway, and since it still looks like a mandolin the audience (and probably the rest of your band members) will never notice the difference - if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck...
  • The tone is bigger, fuller, and richer in the low and middle registers, and sweeter in the treble - think of it as a "dreadnought" compared to the standard mandolin's "00" tonality, relatively speaking...
As with a mando conversion you'll need a custom string set and probably a re-intonated bridge top - only you can decide whether or not it's worth the effort...
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Old 03-05-2017, 10:00 AM
cu4life7 cu4life7 is offline
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Mandolin turning is far more intuitive and better in every way than guitar tuning. I would suggest simply learning it. Part of the reason mandolin sounds the way it does is it is tuned in 5ths so double stops and scales form easy patterns. I think it would set you back to change its tuning. If you are that bothered by it, get the new goldtone guitar-mandolin thingy shown in the "other stringed instruments" section on the forum.

I would advise to bite the bullet and learn instruments in their standard tunings. Like I said, the mandolin in particular makes this easy.


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Old 03-05-2017, 11:57 AM
posternutbag posternutbag is offline
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There is nothing wrong with using alternate tunings on mandolin, and it doesn't make you "less" of mandolin player if you do. That being said, there are really three practical reasons why it isn't as great an idea as it first seems.

1) Tuning in fifths is great. Everything (scales, arpeggios, chords etc) is transferable all over the fretboard, so playing in odd keys is easier; no need for a capo. Once you get comfortable with the mandolin's EADG tuning, the eBGDAE tuning on guitar seems needlessly complicated.

2) The A strings on a mandolin are notoriously squirrelly. They are hard to keep in tune and often sound plinky. Tuning the strings all the way up to B will exacerbate this.

3) A mandolin has a really unique sound, and much of that characteristic tone comes from the double strings tuned in fifths. When you start changing the tuning, you begin to change the characteristic tone of the instrument. Again, that isn't a bad thing, just a thing.

The thing is, the mandolin is its own instrument. Playing guitar first will help speed up the process of learning mandolin, but ultimately you have to bite the bullet and learn to play the mandolin. This actually has very little to do with its tuning and quite a lot to do with the fact that it is a completely different beast with its own techniques and uses. They are two different instruments and should be treated as such.
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Old 03-05-2017, 12:02 PM
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One other option is a Mando-Guitar. Gold Tone makes them and they do give a mandolin -like sound but use 6 strings in standard or altered guitar tunings. No change in fingerings.

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