Re: Better for Skill Development: GDAE Only or GDAE + CGDA?
I second Jim's idea -- if you envision your top three strings (A-D-G) strings as the bottom three strings of a mandolin, you have an instrument that's three-fourths the same tuning! So your shapes are in the same position, just moved over one string. It takes a bit of practice, but I think thinking this way can benefit both your fingerboard recognition and ear. I play tenor banjo and alto mandola in the C-G-D-A tuning, and bass E-A-D-G, so I'm used to switching. When I make mistakes, it's usually due to switching mandolin and guitar tuning, not mandolin and mandola tuning!
One suggestion, if you're playing music that requires reading: take the instrument out of the mix, and find a good sight-singing method -- if you can read intervallically, you can apply that skill to any instrument.
Exploring Classical Mandolin (Berklee Press, 2015)
Progressive Melodies for Mandocello (KDP, 2019) (2nd ed. 2022)
New Solos for Classical Mandolin (Hal Leonard Press, 2020)
2021 guest artist, mandocello: Classical Mandolin Society of America
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