Mandolin Family Buying Guide

We are often asked what’s a mandolin, tenor mandolin, mandola, octave mandola, tenor mandola, bouzouki, short scale bouzouki, long scale bouzouki, cittern, or mando-cello?

Eagle Music demystify and explain all the different mandolin types.

Whether you are looking to start playing Bluegrass mandolin, folk, classical music, jazz or other styles, or playing melody tunes or chord accompaniment, Eagle Music will help you to make the right choice.

Types of Mandolin and the kind of music that is played on them.

There are many types of mandolin that have been designed to suit specific kinds of music, these mandolins will in general have either eight, or ten strings. However, there are crossovers where one particular type of mandolin can be suitable for more than one genre of music. We shall try to keep explanations relatively simple and deal with each of them in the notes below.

An important point to note for beginners is that some mandolins are shaped in what is called ‘A’ style and some mandolins are called ‘F’ style. The term style refers to the shape of the mandolin. Some ‘A’ style mandolins have ‘F’ holes, some ‘A’ style mandolins have oval or round soundholes, and like wise ‘F’ style mandolins can have have ‘F’ holes, oval or round sound holes. Another point to note for beginners is that any kind of music can be played on any style of mandolin.

The text below provides simple explanations of all the popular mandolin types. In many cases you get the sound that you want with the strings that you fit, and how you tune them, relative to the scale length. We have many books, cds and dvds to take you from beginner to advanced player.

Mandolin

You may fancy playing mandolin but think “oh no, eight strings!” But It’s easier than that. The strings are tuned in unison pairs as follows: ‘G’ 4th pair, ‘D’ 3rd pair, ‘A’ 2nd pair, and ‘E’ 1st pair. Exactly the same tuning and fingering as the violin. When fiddle players choose to play a mandolin they just have to master the use of a plectrum. You can start by learning half a dozen simple chords (these can be played using two fingers) and progress from there with simple scales and polka type tunes. If you have already played guitar or any other stringed instrument, it’s even easier.

The mandolin is mainly chosen for playing tunes, and is picked with a plectrum. The most popular types are the ‘flat-back’ models to which the Gibson ‘A’ style is the most popular. The Gibson ‘F’ style is the one with ‘scroll’ type shoulders: you see many bluegrass mandolin players using this style. The round back ‘Neapolitan’ mandolins, however nice sounding, are more difficult to hold (They slide away from your body). They are less popular today.

Mandolin Starter Packs for Beginners

We have dedicated starter packs for Irish mandolin and you can start at a lower budget level with say a Tanglewood or Ozark Starter Pack or an excellent higher priced improver package from Eastman Strings.

Mandolins for Improvers and Professionals

We stock some of the world’s highest quality mandolins including hand built models from Jaroslav Prucha, Phil Davidson, Erin and Steve Agnew and Excellent hand built models from eastman Strings.Also excellent value master crafted models from Tanglewood and Ozark.

Folk Style Mandolin

This style of music is played on the ‘A’ style or ‘F’ style mandolin. The ‘A’ style mandolin with a round or oval sound hole will give you a mellower sound. The ‘F’ style mandolin has a brighter sound and will give you more projection. The mandolin is normally played with a flat pick, but it can be strummed for accompaniment, it is your choice.

Mandolin in other styles

Classical and Jazz mandolin This style of music is played on the ‘A’ style or ‘F’ style mandolin. The ‘A’ style mandolin with a round or oval sound hole will give you a mellower sound. The mandolin is normally played with a flatpick, but it can be strummed for accompaniment, it is your choice.

Octave Mandola - Octave Mandolin

This instrument is a larger version of the standard mandolin. The most popular way to tune it is in unison pairs. ‘G’ 4th pair, ‘D’ 3rd pair, ‘A’ 2nd pair, and ‘E’ 1st pair (This is the same tuning as the mandolin above, but an octave below. We fit heavier strings to allow for the fact that it is an octave below the mandolin and has a longer scale length).

The octave mandola is a good compromise between mandolin and bouzouki. The scale length is easy enough to master when playing tunes, but equally it’s a great sound for chord backing. There are many other ‘modal’ ways that you can tune a mandola. Selection of correct gauge strings is paramount for intonation and instrument stability. Some players ‘octave string’ the 4th and 3rd pairs (see bouzouki write up for explanation of ‘octave stringing’).

Bouzouki

The string length of the bouzouki is even longer than the octave mandola. It’s much harder to play tunes on this instrument so the most popular use is for chord work and accompaniment. The long string length produces a ‘zingy’ sound, and to make it even more ‘zingy’ many players ‘octave string’ these instruments as follows. 4th pair of strings tuned to high ‘G’ and low ‘G’, 3rd pair of strings tuned to high ‘D’ and low ‘D’, 2nd pair tuned in unison (two ‘A’s), 1st pair tuned in unison (two ‘E’s).

Note:- A thinner plain string replaces one of the wound strings on the 4th and 3rd pairs, these thinner plain strings are tuned an octave higher. The above tuning is the normal standard tuning. Many bouzouki players tune as above but drop the first unison pair of strings down to ‘D’. Some players choose ‘modal’ tunings eg. D, A, D, A.

Cittern

The cittern has a scale similar in length to the octave mandola but usually with ten strings, not eight, and tuned modally (to a chord or drone). Strictly speaking, modern citterns are a remake of a medieval predecessor of the guitar, but musically, they really belong in this group of instruments here. It’s usually tuned to some kind of open chord either GCGCG (C chord) or GDGDG (G chord). It’s used mostly to play an accompaniment of melodic runs along with a bagpipe-type drone. Its ten strings make it very versatile for chord work or for melody playing. The strings are usually tuned in pairs, but sometimes each pair will comprise of two strings an octave apart, like the bottom four strings of a twelve-string guitar. We sell a lot of citterns to guitar players who have maybe enjoyed experimenting with open tunings.

Tenor Mandolin

This instrument has a scale length longer than the mandolin but shorter than the octave mandola. It is normally tuned in unison pairs as follows, ‘C’ 4th pair, ‘G 3rd pair, ‘D’ 2nd pair, and ‘A’ 1st pair.

Here we’ve provided you with some Q&A’s to further assist your buying decision.