Complete novice

[Slqwolves]

Hi guys, I have received my very first mandolin today.
I am a complete beginner and very excited about this beautiful instrument.
I have a regular electronic tuner but don't know which mode I should put it on. Do I put it on the guitar setting? Thank you

[derbex]

Welcome to the wonderful world of mandolins

Do not use the guitar setting on your tuner, use either the chromatic setting (which just tells you what the note is as you pluck it) or, I guess the violin setting if it has one. The mandolin and violin are tuned the same.

The notes you want are G D A and E, G on the thickest strings E on the thinnest pair.

[Denny Gies]

Welcome to our wild, wacky world. You are in for a ton of fun, some sore fingers, a barrel full of frustration and ultimately more joy than you can imagine. You'll have to stick with it to develop your skills but the work is well worth it. And, most importantly, have fun.

[Radish]

And while you're here, check out the Newbies group: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/group.php?groupid=76.

[JEStanek]

Welcome to the Cafe and enjoy your new mandolin!

Jamie

[Swimbob]

Welcome Slqwolves. Everyone has to start somewhere and this is a great place to start.

Like Radish says, go to the Newbies social group. We get to listen to and share our misfortunes and victories with like minded learners. We get to learn a new song every month so you're not pressured to move too fast. You'll get great feedback and all the support you could ask for. This is one of the best online forums I've ever been involved in.

[Northwest Steve]

Lots of great resources - Here is one that I recommend to get started

http://www.mandolessons.com/

[Randi Gormley]

And with that tuner ... make sure it's set to A=440. sometimes when messing around trying to find the 'on' button, you can hit the button that allows you to move the tuning scale. A=440 is standard.

[Slqwolves]

And with that tuner ... make sure it's set to A=440. sometimes when messing around trying to find the 'on' button, you can hit the button that allows you to move the tuning scale. A=440 is standard.

Thank you very much Randi

[Br1ck]

And may I be the first to urge you to make sure your mandolin is set up properly. If you bought from anything other than a shop with a repair department or an online Mandolin Cafe sponsor, it is probably not. Don't try to fight a poorly set up mandolin.

Now you can't call yourself a complete novice. You know the most important thing.

[Rob Meldrum]

To make sure your mandolin is set up properly send an email to rob.meldrum@gmail.com with Mandolin Setup in the subject line. I will email you my ebook on how to set up a mandolin using just ten dollars worth of tools. It's hard to beat the price: free.

Join thousands of satisfied users!

Rob

[Stacey Morris]

Welcome Slqwolves! A lot of fun (and frustration) can be had with a mandolin Enjoy the learning.