How is a mandocello tuned?

[desaljs]

Was poking around on The Mandolin Store web site and saw a listing for an Eastman mandocello. How is this instrument tuned? Is it tuned in fifths like a mandolin?

Sorry if this seems basic. I was also interested in what style of music would be played on one of these.

[Pete Martin]

Very carefully:))

CGDA, an octave below mandola.

[IanBowden]

Jim;

You tune it the same as a cello - A-D-G-C (high to low). It's a full octave below a viola (or mandola), or a fifth below an octave mandolin.

I've been attempting to play one for the past half year, after learning all of the mando chord shapes on an octave mandolin, which is tuned G-D-A-E, a full octave below a typical mandolin.

Apart from "learning" that the chord shape I've known as a 'G' is now a 'C' (I need to transpose on the fly!) the major thing I've realized is that full chords (i.e. all four string courses) are next to impossible. It takes brute strength that I don't have (even after 35 years of acoustic guitar playing) and I'm resolved to playing single or pairs of notes, occasionally three. Additionally, fast note changes are just about impossible, as the fret spacings are relatively long and that's complicated when combined with the relatively fat strings. So, I've resolved that the mandocello for me is primarily a background instrument in a band, or accompanying a singing voice or two in a relatively slow song.

Ian

[CES]

You can play pretty much any style you like, though the scale and difficulty with 4 finger chords would seem to offer some limitations, though the range offered may make up for those. If I weren't lazy I'd post a link to the D'Addairio site, where they have a clip of Mike Marshall playing a range from classical to Gator Strut to Wayfaring Stranger, all beautifully done. Of course, consider that he's Mike Marshall and his axe is a Monteleone, but it's a good demonstration of the solo capability of the instrument. I think most mere mortals would play as suggested above, with 2 and sometimes 3 finger chords, double stops, and for adding accent/runs (much more like a cello rather than a rhythm mandolin). Note that I don't have a M-cello in my signature, but I share the same curiosity and am kicking myself for not pouncing on a Sweetwater in the classifieds recently when I had the cash...as if I need yet another instrument to play poorly :)

[desaljs]

Thanks for the replies. I am running (not walking) in another direction. I have enough trouble with guitar and mandolin to keep me going for the rest of my life! I thought it might be tuned like a mandolin..........

[Keith Erickson]

Jim,

Don't give up!!!! We need more number to add to our ranks..... :cool:

[allenhopkins]

Thanks for the replies. I am running (not walking) in another direction. I have enough trouble with guitar and mandolin to keep me going for the rest of my life! I thought it might be tuned like a mandolin..........

Couple things:

1) There is a Cafe forum for citterns, bouzoukis, octave mandolins, mandolas and mandocellos (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=50) located just a little further down the page. There you will find many of the issues you've raised, discussed by those (like me) who enjoy the larger members of the "mandolin family."

2) If you want a lower-pitched instrument tuned like a mandolin, only an octave lower, consider (surprise!) the octave mandolin. It's pitched a fifth higher than the mandocello, GDAE instead of CGDA, and you can use the same fingerings you use on the mandolin. It does have a longer scale and larger-diameter strings, so you don't entirely escape the "problems" associated with these changes, but it may seem a bit more friendly. There are modestly-priced imported instruments sold under the Trinity College, Gold Tone and Johnson brands, that can provide an introduction.

You can play any music on the mandocello (octave mandolin, bouzouki, mandola) that you're capable of playing. Certainly it's not an identical instrument to the mandolin, and needs a modified approach, but once you're comfortable playing the treble instrument, you have the beginnings of the style and technique needed for its lower-pitched relatives.

The Eastman mandocello is a fine instrument, but for starters, I'd look at an Asian or Eastern European import octave mandolin, to "get your feet wet."

[desaljs]

Allen,

I did not see that section. Sorry for not posting this there. Now I can spend some time reading those posts.

I need to look before asking............

Thanks for the information!

[Timbofood]

Oh, come on you guys...

Jim, you turn the little buttons at the top!

Ba Dum, Ching!

[Santiago]

"How is a mandocello tuned?" Depends on who's tuning it. Usually it comes out pretty close.

[Red Henry]

Was poking around on The Mandolin Store web site and saw a listing for an Eastman mandocello. How is this instrument tuned? Is it tuned in fifths like a mandolin?

I've also had good results sometimes in using octave pairs for the E, G, and C strings. Right now I have a D octave-pair on one of my 'cellos, and enjoy it-- it adds texture, I believe.

Red

[Marcus CA]

If you want a lower-pitched instrument tuned like a mandolin, only an octave lower, consider (surprise!) the octave mandolin. It's pitched a fifth higher than the mandocello, GDAE instead of CGDA, and you can use the same fingerings you use on the mandolin. It does have a longer scale and larger-diameter strings, so you don't entirely escape the "problems" associated with these changes, but it may seem a bit more friendly.

I second those emotions. I bought an OM last summer and absolutely love it. Like many (most???) here, I started on guitar and came to mando a few decades later. With the OM, you basically fuse the mando and guitar parts of your brain, playing a mando-structured fretboard with the guitar approach of one fret per finger. Your pinky has to do double-duty more often than on guitar because of the extra two frets that come before moving up to the next string(s). When they're even possible, the four-finger chords get rather muddy, but the two-finger chords with an open string or two sound really nice. You kind of get that power-chord effect because the OM's sustain is more like a guitar's than a regular mando's.

Happy exploring!