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Thread: Alternate tunings that work well in Key of C?

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    Default Alternate tunings that work well in Key of C?

    Curious to know if anyone likes any particular alternate turnings to give a dronier and different sound to a bluegrass tune in C.

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    Default Re: Alternate tunings that work well in Key of C?

    GCGC is fun, and I've never tried it but GCGE would be quite interesting!
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    Default Re: Alternate tunings that work well in Key of C?

    Update, I just tried GCGE and it is *very* fun. Thanks fore the inspiring question!

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    Default Re: Alternate tunings that work well in Key of C?

    Oh, yes. I whole-heartedly agree, there’s a banjo tuning too with G and C in it that sounds great!
    Reminds me of spicy mediterranean food!

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    Default Re: Alternate tunings that work well in Key of C?

    Quote Originally Posted by Gina Willis View Post
    Curious to know if anyone likes any particular alternate turnings to give a dronier and different sound to a bluegrass tune in C.
    I routinely string, tune and play my mandolins in open C (aka slak-key C, taropatch C, etc.) tuning, G-C-E-G.

    To get good tone this requires slightly heavier 1st and 2nd courses, I use custom ordered plain loop end .015" for the first course and .017" for the second course. I use standard mandolin set wound strings for the 3rd and 4th courses. Oh, and be aware, most standard mandolin A and E strings won't tolerate down tuning and re-tuning back up to normal pitch very often. So while you can try this tuning by tuning your A and E strings down, you may break some or all of them on the way back up. Most wound D strings tolerate the trip down to C and back to D much better.

    G-C-E-G tuning is similar to strings 1-4 of a 5-string banjo tuning with a capo at the 5th fret.

    While this tuning is an open C, it of course can be used for playing in any key. The high G is 8 half steps lower than the E in standard 5ths mandolin tuning, so the high range of G-C-E-G tuning is 8 frets lower than standard 5ths tuning.

    Functionally aside from the lower range, the G-C-E-G tuned mandolin does pretty much the same job as a 5ths tuned mandolin... Most people I play with don't realize I'm not using standard tuning. The tuning lends itself more to chord melody work, and playing closed chords up the neck is pretty natural. Double stops, vibrato and other normal mandolin techniques are equally easy and natural.

    Here's a recent example of this tuning...

    Blue Bayou
    Last edited by dhergert; Dec-15-2022 at 3:17pm.
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    Default Re: Alternate tunings that work well in Key of C?

    Quote Originally Posted by dhergert View Post
    I routinely string, tune and play my mandolins in open C (aka slak-key C, taropatch C, etc.) tuning, G-C-E-G.

    To get good tone this requires slightly heavier 1st and 2nd courses, I use custom ordered plain loop end .015" for the first course and .017" for the second course. I use standard mandolin set wound strings for the 3rd and 4th courses. Oh, and be aware, most standard mandolin A and E strings won't tolerate down tuning and re-tuning back up to normal pitch very often. So while you can try this tuning by tuning your A and E strings down, you may break some or all of them on the way back up. Most wound D strings tolerate the trip down to C and back to D much better.

    G-C-E-G tuning is similar to strings 1-4 of a 5-string banjo tuning with a capo at the 5th fret.

    While this tuning is an open C, it of course can be used for playing in any key. The high G is 8 half steps lower than the E in standard 5ths mandolin tuning, so the high range of G-C-E-G tuning is 8 frets lower than standard 5ths tuning.

    Functionally aside from the lower range, the G-C-E-G tuned mandolin does pretty much the same job as a 5ths tuned mandolin... Most people I play with don't realize I'm not using standard tuning. The tuning lends itself more to chord melody work, and playing closed chords up the neck is pretty natural. Double stops, vibrato and other normal mandolin techniques are equally easy and natural.

    Here's a recent example of this tuning...

    Blue Bayou
    Pretty much the same job? Then, what is that "job? Personally I would get utterly confused with a tuning where the intervals invite chromatic fingering and the scale invites diatonic fingering.

    My original motive for taking up the mandolin in 1967, after 10 years of guitar, was fiddle tunes, polkas, and simple rags, like Grizzly Bear and Beeswax. One of my favorite fiddle tunes is Brilliancy (which I recorded with a 4 piece BG band in 1969) which would force me all the way to the 17th fret. Another one is Benny Martin's Fiddler's Waltz, reaching the 19th fret!

    Your tuning might work very well on song melodies, which, as a rule, have rather limited ranges. Also, perhaps, on "chord melodies" if there is some lower instrument present, like cello or guitar, to provide a bass part.

    That people don't hear the difference from a fifths-tuned mandolin is of little significance. The point is what particularly exciting possilities your tuning offer. On Flatpicker Hangout you can find (under "Media") my rendition of Mozart's Alla Turca. Most people believe I'm playing a mandolin there -- it's a guitar recorded at half speed.

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    Default Re: Alternate tunings that work well in Key of C?

    Quote Originally Posted by ralph johansson View Post
    Pretty much the same job? Then, what is that "job? Personally I would get utterly confused with a tuning where the intervals invite chromatic fingering and the scale invites diatonic fingering.

    ...

    That people don't hear the difference from a fifths-tuned mandolin is of little significance. The point is what particularly exciting possilities your tuning offer. On Flatpicker Hangout you can find (under "Media") my rendition of Mozart's Alla Turca. Most people believe I'm playing a mandolin there -- it's a guitar recorded at half speed.
    Interesting thoughts. I'd suggest your perceived problems with GCEG tuning are based on your orientation. 5ths tuning has always been a fiddle/violin family preference, and there's a lot of traditional strength in that. Did you ever play fiddle or violin before taking up mandolin, or do you now?

    And to be fair, I'd suggest orientation is also the reason I've stayed with GCEG tuning. While I played mandolin in 5ths tuning for a number of decades starting in the '70s, I never connected with it, in fact it was an irritation. In contrast, for me, GCEG tuning provides a practical and logical progression for notes and chord patterns all over the neck -- which interestingly is also often what 5ths tuning folks say about their tuning.

    Aside from being in context with this thread, my intent in discussing GCEG tuning is not to try to convert anyone who's sold on their current 5ths tuning. It's just to make it clear that GCEG, and potentially any usable alternative tuning, are viable for mandolin playing for people who want alternatives to try. (And, fwiw, I'd include Chicago and 4ths tunings as viable alternatives too.)

    My point is that 5ths tuning doesn't have to be the standard by which every mandolin player has to live. That 5ths tuning is a convenience for violin family players is obvious, but for others it may not be so convenient.

    Edit: It's worth mentioning (again) that the autodidactic component of learning to play any instrument in any alternative tuning is one of the inherent caveats. If a person is game for that in learning alternative tunings like GCEG, it's an open field (pun intended ).
    Last edited by dhergert; Jan-07-2023 at 7:52am.
    -- Don

    "Music: A minor auditory irritation occasionally characterized as pleasant."
    "It is a lot more fun to make music than it is to argue about it."


    2002 Gibson F-9
    2016 MK LFSTB
    1975 Suzuki taterbug (plus many other noisemakers)
    [About how I tune my mandolins]
    [Our recent arrival]

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