# Octaves, Zouks, Citterns, Tenors and Electrics > CBOM >  Mandola chord charts

## Mace

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.

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## Ted Eschliman

Free Jazz Dola *'ii V7 I'* and *'ii7b5 V7 i'* transposable chord progressions 4 page PDF. 
Also Dola *Super FFcP* warmup 8 page PDF.

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## Barbara Shultz

This is a great chord finder, under mandolin tuning, you can choose GDAE or CDGA

http://4stringchords.com/

Barb

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## Mace

Thanks...what I'm now trying is tenor mandola tuning also known as folk or Irish tuning and just using mandolin chords.

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## Mace

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?

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## Tavy

> 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.

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## Mace

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?

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## Tavy

> 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  :Disbelief:   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.

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## Mace

thanks...this is why we all love the cafe..

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## Barbara Shultz

> Thanks...what I'm now trying is tenor mandola tuning also known as folk or Irish tuning and just using mandolin chords.


Can you clear up exactly how you are tuning this?  Are you saying you've got a mandola, but have it tuned like an octave mandolin, ie one octave lower than the mandolin?  

Barb

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## Mace

This is what I have been referncing.....yes, its an octave tuning.

http://www.banjolin.co.uk/mandola/tuning.htm

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## Tavy

> This is what I have been referncing.....yes, its an octave tuning.
> 
> http://www.banjolin.co.uk/mandola/tuning.htm


Assuming your instrument is the 16" scale Eastman mandola (have I got that right?) then it should be in standard/alto tuning of CGDA.  Otherwise you'll have strings like a wobbly ships cable  :Grin: 

HTH, John.

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