I just jammed with a great bouzouki player

[Huda]

Hi all,

I just got back from jamming with a spirited bouzouki player from Manchester. His name is Mike Tabor and his bouzouki has the most interesting voice. He tunes his Irish bouzouki in CFDA with octave strings. However, the octave stings are reversed. That is, when you pick a downstroke, you hit the treble C before you hit the bass C. Then you hit the treble F before you hit the bass F. His Irish bouzouki has a nice Greek voice.

So now I would like to get my Irish bouzouki to sing in a similar voice, but I can't imagine learning a new tuning. I am just now starting to feel comfortable with GDAE and the last thing I want to do is learn CFDA.

So, bottom line, how do I get that nice Greek CFDA sound while still playing in GDAE?

Is it possible?

Thanks,
Huda

[zoukboy]

Are you sure that wasn't CFAD? That's the normal Greek 4 course tuning. It's the same intervals as the top 4 strings of the guitar but down a whole step.

[Paul Kotapish]

I usually tune my "bouzouki" in OM tuning, with the low two--or three--courses are in octaves, with the treble string as you describe, so that you hit the high string first with a downstroke. gG dD aD EE. That high A string is pretty vulnerable, though. I love the way it sounds, but I have to be careful not to hit it too hard.

That setup with the high strings in on top of the courses sounds much better to me than hitting the bass string first. I think this was of stringing is fairly common, actually.

[Huda]

Hi all,

You're right - it's CFAD. I made a typo.

I currently have tenor banjo strings on my OM. The light gauge works well, but now I am thinking about putting thicker OM strings on.

My plan is to use 4 thin tenor banjo strings and 4 thick OM strings. It will look like this:

(G) *G* (D) *D* (A) *A* (E) *E*

The parentheses denotes thin tenor banjo strings and the asterisks denote thick OM strings.

The point is that each course is in unison. They are not octaves apart from each other; they just use different guage stings.

In addition, the lighter gauge string comes before the heavier guage sting. In other words, you hit the lighter gauge string first with a downstroke

What do you guys think?

Thanks for all of the input, everyone.

[zoukboy]

Hi all,


The point is that each course is in unison. They are not octaves apart from each other; they just use different guage stings.

In addition, the lighter gauge string comes before the heavier guage sting. In other words, you hit the lighter gauge string first with a downstroke

What do you guys think?

Thanks for all of the input, everyone.

You may experience some intonation problems by having two different gauges tuned to the same note. Why not try octave stringing if that's what you liked about that other player's sound?

[Huda]

Hi,

I do like the idea of octave stinging, but I don't have the right strings in my possession right now. However, I do happen to have tenor banjo and official OM stings. You work with what you have, right?

Anyway, I'll let you all know how the tuning sounds and if there are any intonation problems.

Thanks!