Information AboutMandola |
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The mandola (US and Canada) or '''tenor mandola''' (Europe, Ireland, and UK) is a fretted Stringed Musical Instrument . The mandola has four double courses for a total of eight strings. The instrument is tuned in fifths, to the pitches of the Viola (C-G-D-A low-to-high), a fifth lower than a Mandolin ; the courses are tuned in unison rather than in octaves. The scale length of the mandola is typically around 16.5 inches (420mm). The mandola is typically played with a Plectrum (pick). Like the Guitar , the mandola is a poorly sustaining instrument — a note cannot be sustained for an arbitrary time as with the Viola , although the technique known as Tremolo (tremolando), a rapid alternation of the plectrum on a single pair of strings, allows the approximation of a long-sustained note. Also like the Guitar , the mandola can be Acoustic and/or Electric . Similar instruments are the smaller Mandolin (tuned as the violin to G-D-A-E), the Octave Mandola (in Europe, Ireland, and the UK — the same instrument is called the '''octave mandolin''' in the US and Canada) tuned an octave below the mandolin and having a shorter scale length than the equivalently tuned (G-D-A-D or G-D-A-E) Irish Bouzouki , and the ''' Mandocello ''', which is classically tuned an octave below the mandola (like a cello), although in practice the instrument is often restrung and tuned as the Irish Bouzouki . Much rarer is the upright ''' Mando-bass ''' or '''mandobass''', tuned the same as the double bass viol. Few have been produced since the early 1900s . All of these have 8 strings in 4 pairs, with each pair tuned in unison, other than the 4-stringed mando-bass. Mandolas are not uncommon in Folk Music and sometimes used in Irish Traditional Music , although far less often, in the latter case, than the octave mandola, Irish Bouzouki , and modern Cittern . Some Irish traditional musicians, such as Andy Irvine restring the tenor mandola so it may be tuned as a Mandolin , whilst others ( Brian McDonagh of Dervish being the best known) use altered tunings such as DAEA. EXTERNAL LINKS
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