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About Part 1
Part 1 of this project will focus entirely on the first bullet point of the project plan. So that means this part will be about knowing all parts of the mandolin, knowing how to tune one and knowing how to hold one.
I have had a look online and found a video that explains everything in a lot of detail. Therefore, I will be referring to it a lot and I have linked it to the side.
The Parts of the Mandolin
The image to the right shows a picture of a mandolin with all the different components labeled. They are as follows:
Body
The is the main part of the mandolin and is made up of three main parts, the top, sides and back. This is part responsible for amplifying and projecting the sound that goes into it.
Sound holes
These are the openings on the top side of the body and are what let the sound escape.
Tailpiece
This is the metal clip found at the bottom of the mandolin and is where the strings get anchored down.
Bridge
This is the floating wooden part on the top side of the body just beneath the strings. It is held in place purely by the strings and is responsible for transferring the sound from the strings into the body of the mandolin.
Strings
This is the part of the mandolin that you actually play. When you strum or pick them they vibrate, which is passed through the bridge into the body, which is what creates the sound.
Neck
This is the long stretch of wood that runs down the back of the fretboard away from the body. This is where you anchor your hand with your thumb, so that you can play different notes on the fretboard.
Fretboard
This is located on top of the neck and it is the stretch of darker wood that houses all the frets. This is where you are able to play all the different notes.
Frets
These are the metal slats that are along the fretboard and these let us know where all the different notes are. We keep track of this by numbering them.
Nut
This is the part that the strings are slotted into just before the first fret. This just keeps all the strings in place and helps keep them in tune.
Headstock
This is piece of wood at the top of the mandolin. It does do a lot other than hold the tuning pegs.
Tuning Machines/Tuning Pegs
The tuning pegs are the little pieces that come off of the headstock. You use these to tune the mandolin by turning them to alter the pitch the string produces.
Tuning the Mandolin
Tuning the mandolin is definitely not an easy task as all the strings are very close together and it is very fiddly. There are 8 strings in total and they are paired up to make 4 sets of 2 strings. Each of the 2 strings in the pair play the exact same note. This is what makes tuning the instrument so hard, as these two strings are so close together it is hard to play one at a time, but you are only able to tune one at a time.
Once you have mastered being able to play one single string whilst turning the tuning pegs, you need to know what the actual tuning of strings needs to be. It is as follows from top string down: GDAE. This means both top strings need to be tuned to the note G, both of the 3rd strings needs to be tuned to D, and so on going down the strings.
There are a few ways of doing this, for example, you can plays the notes on a piano and use your ear to find the note on the mandolin, you could even only tune one string using the piano and then match the other one in the pair to the string you've tuned. However, the easiest way to tune a mandolin is to use either an app on your phone/PC or buying a tuner that you clip onto the headstock. I've found a very good chromatic tuner app for my Mac that I am going to be using ton tune my mandolin. I have put a screenshot of the app to the right, it is called ZenTuner.
How to Hold the Mandolin
As the mandolin is such an awkward instrument to hold, you first need to get into a good posture. The best posture to have is a straight back with low, relaxed shoulders.
After that, you need to rest the mandolin between your legs, rather than sat on one leg like you would with a guitar, and have the neck at about a 45 degree angle. You can also use a strap to help keep the mandolin in place but it is important that the mandolin doesn't change height between sitting and standing.
Correct
Incorrect
In terms of where your left hand goes, you need to have the neck resting on the bottom knuckle of your index finger and have your thumb keep your have in place by clamping it to the neck. It is important to make sure have a gap between the crook of your thumb and the neck to stop you accidentally choking the strings. Then you need to use the tip of your finger to press the string against the fret.
For your right hand, you need to bring you arm over the mandolin to rest just infront of the strings between the bridge and the start of the fretboard. It is important that you play the mandolin at this point as if you get too close to the bridge it will sound too bright and tinny, and if you go too close to the fretboard you will end up getting a lot of clicks from the pick hitting the fretboard.
Correct
Incorrect
It is recomended that you use a pick to get the best sound out of the mandolin. There are a few different types of pick that you can use. The most popular ones are the triangle pick and the rounded pick. The rounded ones give you a warmer/darker sound and the triangular ones give a brighter sound.
To hold the pick you need to rest it against your index finger and lay your thumb on top of it. You need to keep it nice and loose so that it can flex when you play through the strings.
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