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Thread: CGda'e' tuning question

  1. #1

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    i finally got a set of strings to transform my charango into a 5c. mandocello. #the last time i got a similar set of 5c. strings i immediately broke the e'.

    question is:

    - is the CGda'e' octave progression correct?

    - where on a guitar would i find the bass C to start tuning my charango/mandolin?

    i hope i can make the transition - in terms of fingering positions - from 4ths to 5ths tuning. #it suddenly occurs to me (duh...) that the fingering patterns that i instinctively make in 4th's are going to fall short. #new chord structures... #why am i doing this?

    ciao - bill




  2. #2
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Bill:
    Are these nylon strings? What set are you using for the other strings?

    Jim
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  3. #3
    '`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`' Jacob's Avatar
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    The bass C of mandocello tuning is not found on a guitar in standard tuning. #
    The mandocello low C is four half-steps lower than the low E in standard guitar tuning.

  4. #4

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    jim - the strings are silverplated wound on nylon. they're described here:

    thinmanmusic.com charangolin'

    he has an interesting, alladin's cave of a site but i'm duty bound to say that he's just terrible at answering emails. i sent the money off to him and after 10 or so, progressively heated emails, 3 telephone calls from here to california and 30-something days (after which paypal say they won't intervene) he still didn't contact me. it was only after i gave up entirely that he said he would send them.

    jacob - that's interesting. now i know why the e' on the first set broke. i didn't know strings in the mandolin family went below the guitar E.

    how does one tune a 5c. mandocello?

    - bill

  5. #5
    '`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`' Jacob's Avatar
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    A five-course mandocello is called a liuto cantabile or a liuto moderno.
    Its usual tuning is CC-GG-dd-aa-e'e'.
    This combines mandocello and octave mandolin (octave mandola) tunings.




  6. #6

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    Isn't the charango scale a little short for this octave?

  7. #7

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    no, they've been adapted to the charango length. i've sort of lost interest in them, however. the idea of having to re-think in 5ths what i now instinctively play in 4ths has dampened my enthusiasm for change.

    also, i'm pleased with the reactions i've been getting lately with my charango tuned in g-b-e-a-d (thank you again, alex!). it sounds like something between a tenor lute and a mandolin and when confronted by someone who says "that's not medieval..." i show them an illustration from "cantigas de santa maria," say it's tuned like an early lute and call it a "vihuela de mano." as non sequiturs go, it's very satisfying.

    ciao - bill

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