Oct 16, 2010 · In Europe, however, mandola refers to what we in North America call an octave mandolin and they read treble clef except the music is actually in the same key. Yikes!! My current problem is that I can read pretty decently on mandolin but have to relearn to read the c-clef on mandola but still maintain my brain for reading mandolin.

Dec 8, 2015 · The mandola and mandolin share three courses: G, D, and A. But the mandolin has a high E course, while the mandola has a low C course. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Personally, I like the mandolin for playing in the keys of D and A, while I think the mandola is better suited to the keys of C and G.

Jan 19, 2012 · The word "mandola" is NOT back-formed from the word "viola." The mandola is the ancestor of the mandolin and all other mandolin-family instruments. "Mandolin" comes from "mandolino," which means "little mandola." In America, the GDAE instrument is almost invariably called an "octave mandolin."

Aug 21, 2023 · I'm working on restoring an old German bowlback mandola from the 1930's, scale length 420mm (16.5 inches) to be tuned CGDA. I'm more used to dealing with mandolins, so all the string gauges mentioned here (and available as string sets) seem remarkably heavy - giving tensions around 25lbs per string.

Dec 14, 2008 · 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 pos

Feb 8, 2010 · It was FT76 strings for mandola, not FT74. And I can't find J80 strings in the D'Addario pdf catalog I have. The J76 strings have about the same string mass as the FT76s. Mandola strings making bass(C) on a 15.875" scale will pitch down (assuming the -same- tension) to octave mandolin bass(G) on a 21.1" scale. Quite close to your 20.5" scale.

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Jan 31, 2007 · To me a mandola tuned CGDA should have a scale of about 17" and a body to match, and the mandocello's scale (Gibson's was 24.75") should be at least 27" and have a body to match as well. ph º º º º º º º º º º º º º º º

Jan 8, 2025 · CGDA mandola is in the wrong key for this music (practical advice based on personal experience). CGDA mandocello (open or capo-2, capo-7) works as an octave mandolin and as well as Natalie Haas' CGDA cello for playing Irish-type tunes.

Jul 8, 2008 · Some people think "tenor mandola" is CGDA, because it's like the tenor banjo or tenor guitar, others use "tenor mandola" for GDAE and "alto mandola" for CGDA. My own inclination is to say "CGDA" or "GDAE" where that's not too much of a mouthful, and otherwise "octave mandola" and "alto mandola", these being the only non-ambiguous terms. Martin