Anybody use alternate tunings on their mandolin?

[pete12string]

Does anybody use any alternate tunings on mandolin? On guitar, I use open G (Spanish) and open D (Vestapol) tunings a lot. I know there's nothing stopping me from trying out something like this - just wondering if other people use different tunings or have tried it out.

Thanks,
Pete

[Mike Black]

Czech out Radim Zenkl's Galactic Mandolin. He uses a different mandolin tuning for each of the 13 tracks.

[Mike Bunting]

I've been playing around with mountain tuning and deadman's tuning.

[Mando.Hobo]

I regularly use GDGD. It's good for having drone notes or a partial ... clawhammer style, I guess.

[TheArimathean]

What do these tuning names mean...?

[pete12string]

On guitar, Vestapol and Spanish refer to the relationships between the strings as opposed to the actual pitch. For instance "Spanish" tuning in G is simply open G (D,G,D,G,B,D) but if each string is tuned a whole step lower (C,F,C,F,A,C) it is still "Spanish" tuning but pitched at F. Same for "Vestapol" - open D (D,A,D,F#,A,D). It can be tuned down to C,G,C,E,G,C. It is still "Vestapol", but pitched at C.

I never heard of mountain tuning and deadman's tuning...

[mandroid]

5th tuning on my ukejo, 'Kawlija' (for it's wooden head) , is often F C G D..

[JGWoods]

I also use GDGD at times. I would prefer AEAE but need to replace the lower strings with ultra light pairs to keep the tension in an acceptable range so GDGD works out OK for general play. To play with my cross tuning fiddler friends I need AEAE. I did keep an old mandolin strung up and tuned AEAE for a good while when I was playing a lot of fiddle.

[JeffD]

I have a mandolin I keep in AEAE for old time fiddle tunes in cross. There are many alternate tunings for fiddle tunes.

Fiddle tunings include:

a - d' - a' - e' ' (Old-Timey D Tuning)
a - e' - a' - e' ' (Cross Tuning, A tuning, Open A, High Bass, High Counter or High Tenor, for Breaking Up Christmas, Cluck Old Hen, Hangman's Reel, Horse and Buggy, and Ways of the World)
a - e' - a' - c# ' ' (A tuning, Black Mountain, Rag Tuning, Calico Tuning, Open A Tuning, or Drunken Hiccups Tuning)
a - e' - a' - d' ' (for Old Sledge, Silver Lake)
d - d' - a' - d' ' ("Dee-Dad", Dead Man's Tuning, D Tuning or Open D Tuning, for Bonaparte's Retreat)
e - d' - a' - e' ' (for Glory in the Meeting House)
e - e' - a' - e' ' (for Get up in the Cool)
f ' - c' - g' - d' ' (Cajun Tuning)
g - d' - a' - d' ' {"Gee-Dad" or G Tuning)
g - d' - a' - e' ' (Italian tuning or That 'Ole Eye-talian tuning - the standard violin tuning!)
g - d' - g' - b' (Open G Tuning)
g - d' - g' - d' ' (Sawmill Tuning)

[Wolfboy]

d - d' - a' - d' ' ("Dee-Dad", Dead Man's Tuning, D Tuning or Open D Tuning, for Bonaparte's Retreat)

My recording of Coleman's March/Bonaparte's Retreat in the Old-Time section of Mandolin Café mp3-land is solo mandolin in Dead Man's tuning, to give you an idea of what's possible there...

[OkieWolf]

Hi folks. I'm a guitar player but I just recently bought a mandolin because I've always liked the sound and want to learn to play it. However, as you're aware, mandolin tuning is upside-down from a guitar.... or a guitar is upside-down to a mandolin, however you want to look at it

But because I've played guitar so many years it's difficult for me to try to readjust to the reverse tuning of the mandolin. So my question is.... does anybody tune their mandolin like a guitar? Instead of GG-DD-AA-EE what if I tuned it EE-AA-DD-GG ?

[mandroid]

Ok, what is Geoff Muldaur's Minglewood bluesTuning? he uses a non standard mandolin tuning on that song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUAgFvfoRY0

[David Houchens]

g - d' - g' - d' ' (Sawmill Tuning)

It may be a silly question, but what is the ' for? I'm figuring it's not meant to be a # or a b.
Sometimes these things fly right over my head. Probably why there's not much hair up there.

[mandroid]

often there is an octave number with the note name , so perhaps the ' is a one?

so the 2 D's are in unison , the G's are an Octave apart.

[shins]

I sometimes use old time fiddle tunings, most commonly ADAE and AEAE

[OkieWolf]

But what is the reasoning behind the GG-DD-AA-EE tuning as opposed to typical guitar tuning of EE-AA-DD-GG

[mandroid]

G,D,A,E, 5th, is A Violin tuning interval set ; C,G,D,A is Viola, Cello, and a tenor guitar/ banjo tuning.

Want to Tune like a Bass Viol EADG to not have to Re train the guitar brain, fine..

another Tenor banjo/guitar tuning is D,G,B,E.. FWIW.

[objectsession]

I played around with some different tunings before on some of my pieces - something like EG CD GG CE and F#D DB AF# -C# (the "-" is a broken string I didn't replace ). Not as complicated as it sounds (nothing like the Radim Zenkl album) since it was mostly open strings and really constrained so it really wasn't like standard mandolin playing. Also, I was just starting and not really trying hard to play correctly, so they performance is probably pretty bad, but I guess that's what the pieces are about.

I'm sticking to GDAE tuning for the time being though.

But what is the reasoning behind the GG-DD-AA-EE tuning as opposed to typical guitar tuning of EE-AA-DD-GG

With GDAE (fifths) tuning, you get a wider range without moving your hand up the fretboard but can still reach all the notes within that range since the mandolin has a short scale length.

[OkieWolf]

Obviously I realize that if I reverse the tuning I'll be learning wrong as compared to typical mandolin players and tuning. But I'm still trying to understand the reasoning behind the GG-DD-AA-EE tuning as opposed to typical guitar tuning of EE-AA-DD-GG.

[mandroid]

one the interval between strings is 5ths, the other the interval is 4ths

neighboring strings on 7th fret vs 5th are same name note as the next higher open string ..

I think 5th fret is a 1/4, 7th fret is 1/3 of the octave, which is 1/2 the string scale length ..

[OkieWolf]

Ok, I get that. But isn't it still going to sound like a mandolin even if guitar tuned?

[objectsession]

Ok, I get that. But isn't it still going to sound like a mandolin even if guitar tuned?

It'll still sound basically like a mandolin although tuning in EADG will bring it way out of the intended range for the instrument. Something like ADGC would be closer. The further you go from GDAE, the more you should think about having the proper string gauges and being concerned with having proper intonation moving up the fretboard.

See the edit of my post above about why the mandolin is tuned in fifths.

[MikeEdgerton]

Ok, I get that. But isn't it still going to sound like a mandolin even if guitar tuned?

Perhaps to a non mandolin player. I played guitar for 40 years before I took up the mandolin. To me the mandolin was easier but that's to me. Your may not feel the same way. A great way to get started for a guitar player is to get your hands on Dave Nichols DVD at www.custompearlinlay.com. It's an introduction to the mandolin that you can relate to. I have no financial interest in that by the way. It's basically the workshop he does at bluegrass festivals.

[Tobin]

But I'm still trying to understand the reasoning behind the GG-DD-AA-EE tuning as opposed to typical guitar tuning of EE-AA-DD-GG.

I don't understand the reason for asking the question. It's not a guitar. It was never meant to be a guitar. Why should there need to be an explanation for not tuning it like a guitar?

It's basically a plucked version of a violin, (hence the similarity between the words violin and mandolin). It was always meant to be a parallel to the violin, not the guitar. Ergo, the tuning will be in fifths like other orchestral instruments of the violin family. That's what a mandolin is.

Sorry if this is being overly blunt, but if you want to play guitar tuning, stick with the guitar. If you want to play the mandolin, learn to play the mandolin. If all you're looking for is something that plays like a guitar but has a higher register, you may want to consider that funky Gold Tone mandolin-guitar thingy that we discussed in this thread. At least one celebrity plays one so he can pretend he's a mandolin player, so you'd be in good company.

[Eric C.]

Capo your guitar on the 7th fret. "Might" sound mandolinish.