Violin and mandolin

Subject: Violin and mandolin
From: Dan
Date: 27 May 99 - 06:38 PM

My daughter plays violin/fiddle and wants to try something else. She has heard that there is a certain tuning for a mandolin (or perhaps mandola) which is the same as a violin. Can somebody tell me about this? If it's true, would this be an easy way for her to jump to another instrument?

Subject: RE: Violin and mandolin
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 27 May 99 - 06:48 PM

GDAE (upwards)

Subject: RE: Violin and mandolin
From: Jon W.
Date: 27 May 99 - 06:53 PM

The tunings are the same for violin and mandolin, the big difference is a completely different way of using the right hand. I wish one of my violin playing daughters would try mandolin. Good luck.

Subject: RE: Violin and mandolin
From: bill\sables
Date: 27 May 99 - 08:14 PM

Dan, As Jon W said violin and mandolin are the same tunings The octave mandola and irish tenor banjo are the same notes only one octave lower so the left hand fingering is similar in all four instruments. The problem comes with the right hand. I play mandolin ,tenor and mandola but I can't get the hang of bowing a fiddle, I think it is possably because with fiddle the right wrist should be loose and flexable but with the others it should be more rigid. Cheers Bill

Subject: RE: Violin and mandolin
From: katlaughing
Date: 27 May 99 - 11:42 PM

Anybody know of a good site with the chords for a mandolin? Just got bet's restrung and tuned up for her at oour odl fiddle maker's and now she and I are wondering about that. It's the old "potato bug" she inherited from mom.

Since she strums and fiddles I figure she'll "ambiwristrous":-)

kat

Subject: RE: Violin and mandolin
From: catspaw49
Date: 27 May 99 - 11:55 PM

Hi Kat....Try the Mandolin Cafe...I think it's at www.mandolincafe.com....whatever, it's not too hard to find. Also, have you seen the "Case Chordbook" series? Basically good stuff.

catspaw

Subject: RE: Violin and mandolin
From: katlaughing
Date: 27 May 99 - 11:58 PM

Thanks! 'Spaw! I will check them both out. Bet will be up for our debut performance on June 12th, so we'll see what she "kin do" after that.

katlaughing

Subject: RE: Violin and mandolin
From: Benjamin Bodhránaí
Date: 28 May 99 - 03:58 AM

I picked up the mando as my instrument of choice a few years ago, as I couldn't sing and play bagpipes or whistle, and I never seemed to be able to get the hang of guitar.

Anyway after sweating over it for some time and not telling anyone I was doing it, I brought it out at a jam with my band, at which point my fiddler, who also plays guitar (a little classical bu mostly rhythym) grabbed it and started hammering out jigs and reels with no apparent difficulty. Needless to say this was a little dispiriting, but sort of answers the question of swapping between instruments. In Adelaide, South Australia, quite a few of our fiddlers are alos mando players.

There are actually a whole range of mandos along the same line as the viol family, to the point of mandolin orchestras being around in some parts of the world, as well as the octave-mandolin, and the mandolin guitar (never seen one and don't know what it is).

Seems everyone has had as much fun making modfications to the mando as they have the guitar!!!

BB

Subject: RE: Violin and mandolin
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 28 May 99 - 07:54 PM

Katlaughing,

If you look at the tuning for a mandolin, it is an inversion of the lowest four strings of a guitar. Therefore, you can invert any guitar chord and get the same chord on the mandolin. Of course, mandolin players eventually found some easier ways to do some chords, but for starters, that will carry you through many a song.

Roger in Baltimore (who stopped playing mandolin when his four year old son sat on Roger's $10 hock shop special)

Subject: RE: Violin and mandolin
From: katlaughing
Date: 28 May 99 - 08:15 PM

Ah...I'll make sure bet sees this, RiB. Thanks and.....did the ten year old suffer any permanent damage?*BG*

kat

Subject: RE: Violin and mandolin
From: jeffs
Date: 29 May 99 - 12:26 PM

Fiddle and mandolin are tuned the same (at least in standard tuning). The differences are dealing with frets, the pick, and chords. Chords are supposedly a good reason for taking up mandolin since it makes finding harmony parts easier.

jeff "double stops R us"