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Mandolin. ?

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(@rodders)
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Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 1086
Topic starter  

You know I thought about buying a mandolin then I saw this

Do I really want to re-learn everything ?
I mean I love the sound it makes but to be honest I don't think I can be bothered with it.
Does it have to be tuned G D A E ?

Be excellent to each other & party on dudes!
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=686668


   
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 Bish
(@bish)
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Joined: 18 years ago
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Does it have to be tuned G D A E ?

Well, I didn't even know that much about Mandolins.

Great find there, Rodders.

Bish

"I play live as playing dead is harder than it sounds!"


   
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(@demoetc)
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Joined: 21 years ago
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People have tuned it in a version of the top four strings of standard tuning.

The regultar tuning though, it sometimes makes you think of other things simply because it's different. Either way though, it's a great high register instrument for jamming, writing or recording.


   
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(@vic-lewis-vl)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 10264
 

Isn't that the same tuning as a violin? Hey, if you did get one, Rod, you could always ask Chris to play powerchords on it - he'd just have to hold it upside down!

(For those who didn't get it - Chris (Dogsbody) is a lefty - and the mandolin's tuned like the bottom four strings of a guitar, but in reverse......)

:D :D :D :D

Vic

"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)


   
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(@demoetc)
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Joined: 21 years ago
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I think Margaret posted this a while ago - well, the page it came from:

Alto guitar a d' f#' b'

"Same as the ukulele tuning but with a low fourth string. This is the same as the first four strings on a guitar one fifth up."


   
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(@elecktrablue)
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If I can do it, you can do it!!! My sister bought me a mandolin for Christmas a few years ago, and it opened up a whole new world of music! GDAE is Standard for a mandolin, but you CAN tune it to various alternate tunings. Here are some of the better tunings, IMHO.

It will really give your mind a workout for a few days (or weeks!), but it's worth it! And the fretboard is MUCH smaller and the frets are MUCH closer together than on a guitar. Here's my little red mandolin! It's a Santa Rosa A-style. The F-style has the pretty "curl" at the side! You've got eight strings, tuned in pairs. You really don't have to re-learn everything, just figure out what you already know and apply it to the mandolin. It's really not that much different from going from guitar to bass, which I also did a year or so ago. What you know about the guitar is easily applicable to either instrument!

I HIGHLY recommend getting one! It'll add a whole new dimension to your music! :D

..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ .·´
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´ -:¦:- Elecktrablue -:¦:-

"Don't wanna ride no shootin' star. Just wanna play on the rhythm guitar." Emmylou Harris, "Rhythm Guitar" from "The Ballad of Sally Rose"


   
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(@demoetc)
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My mistake, it was Elecktrablue's post I saw awhile back.


   
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(@kaspen)
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Dude, if it's tuned to g-d-a-e it's like a guitar upside down, how hard is that to learn??


   
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(@off-he-goes)
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Joined: 20 years ago
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I've recently decided to buy a mandolin at the end of the summer. I got more summer work then I had expected, so before university starts again I'm treating myself. I only know 4 or 5 chords know, so it should be fun.

Vacate is the word...Vengance has no place on me or her...Cannot find a comfort in this world.


   
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(@vic-lewis-vl)
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Joined: 20 years ago
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Dude, if it's tuned to g-d-a-e it's like a guitar upside down, how hard is that to learn??

Not hard at all.....for a lefty.....

:D :D :D

Vic

"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)


   
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(@kaspen)
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Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 57
 

That's not the point, dude. Just imagine that you're playing the chord on the top four strings on a guitar, but upside down. You don't have to do a Hendrix and turn the whole instrument around, just tilt your head and play it. If you know the chords well on the guitar it's no match to find the chords on a mandolin. I was playing songs the first time I touched the instrument, it's not like learning how to play the trumpet.


   
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(@elecktrablue)
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Honestly, it's not that hard to do once you get your mind (and fingers) around it. If I can do it, absolutely anyone can! You're already ahead of the curve because you're a guitar player. I do believe that, if I hadn't learned to play the mandolin (which totally intimidated me at first, but I felt like I HAD to at least try since my sister gave it to me!), I probably wouldn't have learned to play bass and I probably wouldn't have learned to play the dulcimer. Learning to play the mandolin gave me the confidence to try to tackle the others.

..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ .·´
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´ -:¦:- Elecktrablue -:¦:-

"Don't wanna ride no shootin' star. Just wanna play on the rhythm guitar." Emmylou Harris, "Rhythm Guitar" from "The Ballad of Sally Rose"


   
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 Bish
(@bish)
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You're already ahead of the curve because you're a guitar player.

Well that leaves me out to dry. Ok then, guess I'll go find some bongos. :D

Bish

"I play live as playing dead is harder than it sounds!"


   
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(@chris-c)
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It will really give your mind a workout for a few days (or weeks!), but it's worth it! And the fretboard is MUCH smaller and the frets are MUCH closer together than on a guitar. Here's my little red mandolin! It's a Santa Rosa A-style.

Beautiful mandolin you have there EB. :D

+1 to the value of having one.

For anybody with largish hands the fretboard is not just smaller, it's insanely tiny! :shock: So I found that it had some good spin-offs. Firstly it encouraged me to move my thinking away from just playing chords, but also it's a wonderful tool for developing accuracy. And after a few minutes on the mando, when I go back to the guitar the fretboard suddenly feels as wide as freeway. :D

Oh, and it's fun too. :wink:

Cheers,

Chris


   
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(@threegtrz)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 105
 

I got one in December. I have been playing rock guitar since 1975, but when I picked up the mando, I got addicted real quick. There's all kinds of stuff from Zep, Mellencamp, REM, Steve Earle, etc that will turn you inside out (in a GOOD way!) once you get the mandolin parts (which are really easy most of the time). I'm 6 months into it, and now those bluegrass pickers don't sound so alien to me; I rather like hearing them!

I mess with mine so much I have been neglecting my guitar playing at times!


   
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