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Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 21:49:28 -0600
Subject: mandolin to mandola

Hello,

I've been playing the mandolin for about two years and I'm thinking about getting at Trinity College TM-27 Mandola. However, the tuning of C,G,D,A is throwing me for some loops. I am self taught and know very little about the actual construction of music and I'm wondering how this new tuning is going to affect all the chords that I've learned so far. Aren't some mandola's tuned G,D,A,E just like the mandolin and can I tune the Trinity College this way, or should I just learn the new chords?

Tom Nixon

Greetings Tom,

You'll find that the very same chords you learned on mandolin can be transferred to mandola...only, the chords are now a different triad. For instance, if you've learned the G Chord Progression on the mandolin, you'll be able to utilitze this very same chord pattern on mandola. Only, on mandola, in the CGDA tuning, the G chord progression becomes a C chord progression. So, the G to C to D chords become C to F to G chords...this also applies to melodies. If you learned a melody in the key of C on mandolin...the melody will now fall in the key of F on the mandola. Thus, everything you now know on mandolin does transfer to mandola...you only have to know how to transpose a fourth to remember what chords you're playing or which key you're playing in...mandolas are not meant, nor designed, for G D A E tuning...if you'd like to stay in the G D A E tuning, I'd suggest that you consider an octave mandolin. There will be a trade off on the octave, from mandolin or mandola...and that is the stretch required to play closed position chords or advanced melodies. You'll have to learn new chord inversions and placement of fingers for the very same patterns you already know on the mandolin...

Hope this helps,

Mickey

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