Mandolin - Tuning

Tuning

A variety of different tunings are used. Usually, courses of 2 adjacent strings are doubled (tuned to the same pitch). The most common tuning by far, GDAE, is the same as violin tuning:

  • fourth (lowest tone) course: G3 (196.00 Hz)
  • third course: D4 (293.66 Hz)
  • second course: A4 (440.00 Hz; A above middle C)
  • first (highest tone) course: E5 (659.25 Hz)

Other tunings exist, including "cross-tunings," in which the usually doubled string runs are tuned to different pitches. Additionally, guitarists may sometimes tune a mandolin to mimic a portion of the intervals on a standard guitar tuning to achieve familiar fretting patterns.

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