Re: Octave Mandolin or Bouzouki
Staying in the same tuning is a thing I did, too, when I switched to bigger instruments. But there is a limit around approx. 22" when those 2nd-fret-to-5th-fret stretches just become too long, and that applies for melody and backing likewise. That's one of the reasons why bouzoukis mostly have open tunings: 2nd(E string)-to-5th(A string) becomes 4th(D string)-to-5th(A string), for instance.
Another reason is that bouzouki players love to let open strings ring out (and who doesn't), and open tunings open the door to that. OTOH, they nail you to one or two keys and hamper transposition, that's why bouzouki players invented the capo (kidding, but they invented the technique of quickly shifting it in mid-play).
You can compare playing techniques on both between Frances Cunningham (she plays a big 10-stringer, not even trying at long stretches) and myself (OM and other related GDAE instruments with mandolin fingering).
the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world
Bookmarks