View Full Version : Gdae/eadg
How did you first learn to remember the strings on the mando?
For me, I came up with "God Darn Area (of) Effect". I know it won't make sense to most - but I play a game called Everquest where that means sumpin. I know it's stupid - but the first day I started learning I came up with it - and it stuck.
It's four letters long. I should need a trick?
hendrix2
Oct-25-2006, 5:09pm
I play guitar for many years now, and as you probably know a guitar is (normally) tuned : EADGBe. so when I started to play mandolin last year I memorized it as the opposite of the four lowest guitar strings.
So: EADG --> GDAE
B. T. Walker
Oct-25-2006, 5:12pm
Gosh darned apple eaters. You get the drift.
johnwalser
Oct-25-2006, 5:19pm
Being slow witted enough that EVEN four letters is a stretch for my ever diminishing intellect, I came up with " Every Artist Does Great".
John
ShaneJ
Oct-25-2006, 5:20pm
My trick is "GDAE". http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
JEStanek
Oct-25-2006, 6:23pm
I put on my most outrageous Crocodile Dundee / Steve Irwin accent and say G'Day!
Jamie
red7flag
Oct-25-2006, 6:28pm
Each is a fifth. Start with G and work from there.
Tony
JEStanek
Oct-25-2006, 6:48pm
This may help some... Maybe not others...
I just think of G'day, mate!
arbarnhart
Oct-25-2006, 8:02pm
Give Dad An Earful
Wish I'd said that! (look left - that's been there from day 1)
I have 4 kids, so it just seemed right...
I started playing fiddle as a little kid. It seems like I've always known what note those four strings are tuned to. I recently found my old original violin method book. Its first lessons have the reluctant young player sawing away on, say, a D string for what seems like hours. Whole notes for many measures, working to perfect tone, then half notes and then quarters. Then he does the next string, and then the next. Hard to forget their names after that.
Peace - Jon
Wish I'd said that! (look left - that's been there from day 1)
I have 4 kids, so it just seemed right...
Uh huh, that's where I found it.
Walter Newton
Oct-25-2006, 8:45pm
In Simon Mayor's first mandolin book, for learning the lines of a treble staff he suggests "Eating Gerbils Brings Dire Flatulence".
Hoovetone
Oct-25-2006, 9:07pm
Eat A Dead Goat #Start with the first string # E A D G - also the B part of "Rawhide"(key of C) and the progression of "Salty Dog"(Key of G)-G Em A D G.
It's four letters long. I should need a trick?
I was thinking that. Didn't want to say it. ;-)
Seriously, though, Like hendrix2 above, I learned it after the guitar, EADGBE, and after bass, which is EADG, so it was not an issue.
I learned guitar strings, however, as "Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie."
ApK
This may help some... #Maybe not others...
That's great. I'm not much a drinker, soyou'll have to tell me, is each of those bottle a fifth? :-)
siren_20
Oct-25-2006, 10:03pm
The best way to remember "GDAE" is to remember that it's the tuning for both mandolins and violins. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif
F5G WIZ
Oct-25-2006, 11:25pm
I put on my most outrageous Crocodile Dundee / Steve Irwin accent and say G'Day!
Jamie
Me too.
MandoJon
Oct-26-2006, 3:59am
It's never been a problem but then maybe I subconciously do the 'upside-down guitar' thing that somebody mentioned (being a guitarist as well).
Of course, if you know the circle of fifths then you only need to remember to start on 'G' - BUT if you DON@T know the circle of fifths, well you've just learnt about a third of it.
mingusb1
Oct-26-2006, 7:20am
The best way to remember "GDAE" is to remember that it's the tuning for both mandolins and violins. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif
It seems that the fiddlers I play with are rarely in "standard" tuning. Those crazy oldtime players!!!
How about:
Good
Dogs
Aren't
Everywhere
In memory of my recently passed pal Sonny.
Z
jim_n_virginia
Oct-26-2006, 7:29am
Hey I remember it as a Austrailian G'Day too! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif
And once you remember the strings the next trick the teacher taught me was
G 1st string, 1 flat in the G scale
D 2nd string, 2 flats in the D scale
A 3rd string, 3 flats in the A scale
E 4th string, 4 flats in the E scale
Now thin info is completely useless if you are playing in the key od F, B and Bb http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
Walter Newton
Oct-26-2006, 7:39am
I think you mean sharps...
gnelson651
Oct-26-2006, 7:48am
Memorized the circle of fifths....
Shana Aisenberg
Oct-26-2006, 8:52am
A few years ago one of my fiddle students came up with Good Dogs Always Eat http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
Seth
wmferg
Oct-26-2006, 11:38am
Great Danes Are Enormous!!! That's the one I started with - and it stuck. It makes sense!
Mike
BauerHaus
Oct-26-2006, 12:25pm
GOOD DOGS ARE EVIL.
It doesn't make any sense, and I don't think about it anymore, until someone types GDAE. Then it comes right to my mind. Ha!!!
Steve
Jim MacDaniel
Oct-26-2006, 1:11pm
Here's my trick: the instrument is tuned in fifths, so as long as I can remember that the big strings are tuned to G, I'm golden. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
mandroid
Oct-26-2006, 1:14pm
Got GDAE, key signature order of #'s, 1-4 #down. #
the last known location of my keys and
reading glasses remain a problem.
beadgcf/fcgdaeb
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif
Joe Dodson
Oct-26-2006, 4:09pm
Someone around here has "Give Dad an Earful" as their signature line. I liked that, and it's stuck with me. As a dad, I'm constantly getting an earful about something or another.
I just tune the one string to the fork and work from there.
jim_n_virginia
Oct-26-2006, 7:05pm
I think you mean sharps...
DOHHH! Your right I mean sharps!
guess it's BACK TO CLASS! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
Larry Simonson
Oct-26-2006, 7:19pm
Lots of good memory aids have been offered (mine was "Gad Durn Atomic Energy")so I thought I would suggest a bad one.
If you take the number of strings on a mandolin and add 6, then square that result, you will have the frequency of the big strings (296 Hz). Now, multiply that by the 'fifth' factor of 1.49828 and you get the frequency of the next thickest strings, multiply the 296 Hz by the 'fifth'factor squared and you get the frequency of the next strings and finally multiply the 296 Hz by the 'fifth' factor cubed and you have the frequency of the thinest string. Now, knowing all the frequencies you can match them up in a table of 'equal tempered chromatic scale frequencies and you will see that the strings, in order, are G, D, A, and E. Note how simple this is as there are no derivatives, integrals, or logarythms involved. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
C. Carr
Oct-26-2006, 7:23pm
I put on my most outrageous Crocodile Dundee / Steve Irwin accent and say G'Day!
That's mine as well! Alway's say G'day to my mandolin. Its the simple things that work.
Regards,
Charlie
Lots of good memory aids have been offered (mine was "Gad Durn Atomic Energy")so I thought I would suggest a bad one. #
If you take the number of strings on a mandolin and add 6, then square that result, you will have the frequency of the big strings (296 Hz). #Now, multiply that by the 'fifth' factor of 1.49828 and you get the frequency of the next thickest strings, multiply the 296 Hz by the 'fifth'factor squared and you get the frequency of the next strings and finally multiply the 296 Hz by the 'fifth' factor cubed and you have the frequency of the thinest string. #Now, knowing all the frequencies you can match them up in a table of 'equal tempered chromatic scale frequencies and you will see that the strings, in order, are G, D, A, and E. #Note how simple this is as there are no derivatives, integrals, or logarythms involved. # http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Well, duh, there's no need to state the obvious. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
sean808080
Oct-26-2006, 8:20pm
This may help some... Maybe not others...
bwahahahaha! make mine a double mate!http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/uploads/post-12-20104-GDAE.jpg
dough-re-mi
Oct-27-2006, 10:04am
Once you use the letter names of the open strings even a little, remembering them will not be an issue.
On the other hand, if you don't find yourself needing to know the letter names of the open strings (I don't know how that could be...) then you won't need to remember them.
You can't NOT remember the names.
Jim MacDaniel
Oct-27-2006, 12:56pm
This may help some... #Maybe not others...
bwahahahaha! make mine a double mate!http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/uploads/post-12-20104-GDAE.jpg
I recommend Eau de Vie for a less harsh "tone" on the E string...
Jim MacDaniel
Oct-27-2006, 12:57pm
Adjusted for double-courses (or double-vision)...
JEStanek
Oct-27-2006, 1:23pm
For Scottish tunes I can only play a single course... Acchhhh!
Jamie
epicentre
Oct-27-2006, 2:29pm
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif Good donuts are excellent.
Thanks my son in law for that.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif
I was taught...
<span style='font-size:13pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:blue'>G</span></span>rateful <span style='font-size:13pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:Purple'>D</span></span>ead <span style='font-size:13pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:red'>A</span></span>re <span style='font-size:13pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:green'> E</span></span>verywhere
Jim MacDaniel
Oct-27-2006, 3:45pm
Jamie -- here is the perfect mandolin for that set of strings, Fylde's Single Malt Touchstone (http://www.fyldeguitars.com/index1.html)...
JEStanek
Oct-27-2006, 4:59pm
That looks smoky, peaty, and I bet it has a rich flavor... I mean tone!
Jamie
Repent34
Oct-28-2006, 3:37am
Great Danes Are Enormous!!! That's the one I started with - and it stuck. It makes sense!
Mike
ditto
PhilGE
Oct-28-2006, 10:03am
Here's one I just came up with for the Circle of Fifths. As a father of young kids, it's not that hard to imagine! The first "sentence" is from 0 sharps to 6 sharps. The second sentence is from 5 flats to 1 flat.
Charles, Go Downstairs And Eat BreakFast. Drink Applejuice, Eat BreakFast.