Looking for open chords...and closed chords. Just got a new Eastman mandola and looking for the basics to get started. I have a couple from the cafe site and tenor banjo sties....just wondering if there are any suggestions.
Looking for open chords...and closed chords. Just got a new Eastman mandola and looking for the basics to get started. I have a couple from the cafe site and tenor banjo sties....just wondering if there are any suggestions.
Free Jazz Dola 'ii V7 I' and 'ii7b5 V7 i' transposable chord progressions 4 page PDF.
Also Dola Super FFcP warmup 8 page PDF.
This is a great chord finder, under mandolin tuning, you can choose GDAE or CDGA
http://4stringchords.com/
Barb
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Thanks...what I'm now trying is tenor mandola tuning also known as folk or Irish tuning and just using mandolin chords.
I'm finding it a little bit sloopy due to the lower tension....I have mediums on it now....do they make a heavier set? Or is the scale length wrong for this?
If you have it tuned GDAE an octave below a mandolin then it will be very sloppy IMO on a 16" scale Eastman. You're best bet would be to get a set of J80 octave mandolin strings, and then tune your mandola to CGDA as it was intended to be (my apologies if you're doing this already and I've mis-understood your post). If J80's are still too light (they're probably best on about a 17" scale mandola if your tuning CGDA), then J72's are just a touch heavier, while J78's are almost certainly too heavy for the scale length of your instrument.
BTW in CGDA tuning you still play mandolin chord shapes: it's just that you're not playing the same chords you would be on a GDAE tuned instrument. One way to think of a CGDA tuned instrument is as an octave mandolin with a capo on the 5th fret.
There are some useful open mandolin chords here: http://www.banjolin.co.uk/ also some mandola info. Also check out the "two finger chords" in the chords section of this site.
HTH, John.
What if I put heavier strings on it...build a set so-to-speak. Assuming it came with mediums, move it up a couple of gauges? It has a sound even sloppy (especially when chording) that speaks to me. Is there somewhere I can get individual loop end strings?
Yes you can get invidual loop end strings - here in the UK I get them from www.stringsdirect.co.uk - but before you do that you should probably get on a string tension calculator and work out what you need. I use the calculator here: http://www.pacificsites.com/~dog/Str...ionApplet.html
There are some example gauges and tensions on my site here: http://www.johnmaddock.co.uk/waldzither/html/index.html
However, note that 20" or maybe 19" scale at a push, are believed to be the shortest instruments you can tune GDAE and still be able to play the thing I ended up with .014-.054 on my 50cm scale instrument, and trust me you wouldn't want to go heavier than that. You might also be surprised at the tone you'll get from a CGDA tuned instrument - it's nothing like a mandolin - a lot deeper than you might expect.
HTH, John.
thanks...this is why we all love the cafe..
Mandolin Cafe Social Groups!
TEXANS
Weber Fans
Collings Mandolins
Iowans & Mandolins
Tenor Banjo Lovers
The Song-A-Week Social Group
This is what I have been referncing.....yes, its an octave tuning.
http://www.banjolin.co.uk/mandola/tuning.htm
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