Questions tagged [mandolin]
The mandolin is a fretted stringed instrument from the lute family. Mandolins typically have a pear-shaped body and a straight fretted neck, having four sets of paired strings tuned in unison. The common tuning for a mandolin is identical to that of a violin: G-D-A-E. Mandolins are both plucked and strummed and figure prominently in traditional folk music and some baroque music.
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Most violins have the same shape, mandolins have many different shapes, why is that?
There are mandolins with f-shaped holes, oval holes, round holes; bowlback mandolins and flatback mandolins; archtop mandolins and flattop mandolins; mandolins with a pear-shaped body (A-style) or ...
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Finish cracks between sides and back?
I recently bought a seven year old used mandolin online. It has edge binding where the sides meet the top but not the back. Where the sides meet the back, the finish has little cracks along that seam, ...
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Playing mandolin just strumming [closed]
I don't understand how to play chords on mandolin, the most of the tabs avaiable are with mandolin chords but I know it is possible to play a song just strumming, and I find that way so much easier... ...
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Is strumming and finger picking universal for all the instruments?
I am self taught Ukulele Player and playing Ukulele for almost one and half years now and can play almost all the open chords. Learnt everything with internet resources. And this is my first string ...
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What is best practice for tuning a mandolin?
I've been playing mandolin for years, and I tune it with no particular problem (insert mandolin tuning joke here). But, while in theory I believe it is impossible to tune a mandolin or other stringed ...
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Is it possible to get a mandolin style tremolo on an acoustic guitar?
Somewhat inspired by my other question about the pipa
I believe the Mandolin's unique sound comes from the tremolo made possible by double coursing. Is it possible in principle to get a similar sound ...
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Is detuning a bowl back mandolin's strings necessary?
I have been reading here the questions and answers regarding, de-tuning, or loosening the strings on a guitar every day at the end of each practice session. From the many answers it is clear to me ...
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Fretboard map - Notes and octaves
I'm currently developing a music player that displays the tab from a midi file similarly to guitar hero. This for mandolin.
The midi parsed file out is something like this
"notes": [
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Do faster tremolos with a pick require developing muscles in the wrist and how long does it take?
I'm trying to develop a faster tremolo. I'm playing an oud with a risha pick. I'd (hopefully) like to get to this speed of tremolo. My tremolos aren't as fast as I want and become inconsistent at ...
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Why are tortoise-shell picks prized?
As a mandolin player, I have discovered that the type of pick (plectrum) one uses makes a noticeable difference to the sound. I personally prefer thick (1mm) plastic picks, like Golden Gate, to get a ...
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Bell like tone on my octave mandolin
While playing chords on my octave manolin, I'm hearing a strange bell-like almost harmonic sound mixed in with the note.
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Which mandolin chords should I teach a young girl?
I was asked, today, to teach a little girl mandolin for a couple of weeks during the summer. When I was being taught (last summer), my teacher taught me simple two-finger chords such as these:
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Mandolin Tuning Trouble
I'm new to mandolins and I just got a mandolin that I'm trying to learn how to play. I was tuning it but the inside G string is too low, I tried turning the knob to make it higher to get to the right ...
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What are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd position on a Mandolin?
What are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd position on a Mandolin? "Position" means what? position of fingers? or position of frets?
This is what I have understood:
1st position means the index finger covers frets ...
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Which type of strings to use on an inexpensive mandolin?
I just received an inexpensive mandolin to see how I would like playing it before I buy a better quality instrument. I am sure that the strings that came on this instrument are of poor quality and ...
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Is it more difficult to learn to play mandolin after learning guitar than if starting from scratch since the tuning is opposite?
My main instrument is guitar. I have played electric guitar, acoustic guitar, classical guitar and 12 string guitar and the patterns and fingering is pretty much the same. I have tried playing a 4 ...
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Right hand position for mandolin
On a mandolin should the meaty part of you hand below your palm, gently rest on the bridge or the strings behind the bridge, or should it not touch at all?
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Can Em/G be substituted as Em on the Mandolin as an open chord
The tuning on a mandolin is GDAE I believe. Despite this though, I see sparse mention on any mandolin chord charts of playing the Em chordas 0220 (from G-E). Yet these are all Em notes.
I know that G ...
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Is my mandolin broken?
I read here that playing a string on the 12th fret will produce a note that is an octave above the note produced by playing the same string open (with no frets held down). For instance, if the bottom ...
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How to find equivalent notes on different strings of a mandolin?
I have just started learning mandolin and I am working my way through St. Louis Blues. The music that I am using includes the tablature as well as the music.
The tab for one section shows:
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