Mandolin Basics by Beth Isbell Mandolin Tuning (from low/big strings to high/little strings): GG DD AA EE How to change strings on the mandolin - short instructional video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Hk34p2OBA How to adjust the bridge/action on a mandolin - short instructional video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21PlyVkQMl8 Quite a few free video mandolin lessons (& some you'd have to buy - just skip those): http://www.freeguitarvideos.com/mandolin/catalog.html Here’s a really cool site for learning/finding Mandolin chords (or any 4 string instrument) http://4stringchords.com/ When it comes up, click on the word Mandolin under the picture of the Mandolin … Check that it shows the tuning to be GDAE … then look at the fretboard which is sideways across the top of the page – underneath it on the right pick a chord root & then pick the form/extension you want (e.g. major, minor, maj 7th, etc.) … and select the starting fret for the root note (e.g., 0 for open, 2 for 2nd fret, etc.), and it will show you what strings/frets to play on the sideways fretboard across the top of the page!
Note-for now you can skip the next two sections & go straight to the Comin Round the Mountain song below, but make sure that you eventually come back & read this section Turning these open chord shapes into moveable/bar shapes to sound other chords: You can also move these chord shapes up & down the neck to get different chords … BUT you will have to use your first finger to BAR across all 4 strings and then use your second and third fingers instead of your first & second fingers (as in the diagrams) …
make sure that your second & third fingers are the same number of frets above your first finger BAR as shown in the diagrams … So, for example, if you take the first diagram which is a G chord – move it up two frets (but using your second & third fingers to fret the notes shown) and then put your first finger across all four strings two frets below the first fretted note you come to … then you get an A chord, move this whole shape up two frets for a B chord, & up one more fret for a C chord, up two move frets for a D chord, etc. Same concept would also work to bar/move these other open chords forms – just bar across all four frets & make the same shape above it as shown in the diagrams … so if you bar the C Chord shape & move it up 2 frets you get D chord … if you take the D chord shape & bar it & move it up two frets you get an E chord, … if you take the F chord shape & bar it & move it up two frets you get a G chord … etc., etc., etc. Notice that in music there is no sharp/flat note between B & C or between E & F …ever! So the notes will always go A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G# back to A/octave (also note that a sharp note is one fret above the name of the note & is also the SAME as the flat note – which gets its name from the note above it – so, eg, A# and Bb are the VERY SAME NOTE … if someone says play an A#, it’s the same as a Bb, … or if they say play a Bb, it’s the very same as an A# … (they do it this way because certain songs are in sharp keys and other songs are in flat keys … but really they are the SAME notes!) Also, just fyi, the letter name notes without sharps or flats are the White keys on a piano … A B C D E F G … the sharp/flat notes in between are the Black keys on a piano! Learning the notes on each string: The low string (biggest/fattest) is the G when played open … as you play notes one fret higher each note sounds a higher pitch … so here are the notes … Open – G 1 – G# or Ab (# = sharp … b = flat) 2–A 3 – A# or Bb 4–B 5–C 6 – C# or Db 7–D 8 – D# or Eb 9–E 10 – F 11 – F# or Gb 12 – G (note – this is exactly one octave higher than the first open G note) And from here on as you move up, these notes repeat in the same order So if you play an open G chord shape – you can play any of these other chords by simply using your first finger to BAR across all four strings at the fret of the chord name you
want to play (e.g., to play an A chord – bar the second fret & then add the open G chord shape notes above it) The second string is a D string – so from the open note D … moving up you get D, 1 = D#/Eb, 2 = E, 3 = F, 4 = F#/Gb, 5 = G, 6 = G#/Ab, 7 = A, 8 = A#/Bb, 9 = B, 10 = C, 11 = C#/Db, 12 = D again
The third string is an A string – so from the open note A … moving up you get A, 1 = A#/Bb, 2 = B, 3 = C, 4 = C#/Db, 5 = D , 6 = D#/Eb, 7 = E, 8 = F, 9 = F#/Gb, 10 = G, 11 = G#/Ab, 12 = A again
The fourth/last/highest string is an E srting – so from the open note E … moving up E, 1 = F, 2 = F#/Gb, 3 = G, 4 = G#/Ab, 5 = A, 6 = A#/Bb, 7 = B, 8 = C, 9 = C#/Db, 10 = D, 11 = D#/Eb, 12 = E again
Let’s Play a Song – Comin’ Round the Mountain: This song just uses your OPEN chord shapes - first in Key of C , … or below in Key of G … you probably know how this song sounds already, so just strum like you think it should go! …
Here’s another classic that is easy to play using open chords: Will the Circle Be Unbroken G Will the circle be unbroken C G By and by Lord, by and by G There’s a better home a-waiting D G In the sky Lord, in the sky Moveable Bar Chords – or Chop Chords: G open chord
Moveable G Chord
G chop chord
C chop chord
Basic idea here is that the moveable or chop chords allow you to move these chords up the neck to play other chords … also, if you play the chord, then quickly lift your fingers slightly while still keeping your fingers in the same shape, it will mute the chord – so you can play, mute, play, mute – giving the rhythm a chop effect – used in bluegrass & folk. The X on the chart means to NOT play that string … So take the Moveable G chord & Move all your fingers in the same shape up to frets to get an A chord, or if you move up four frets you get a B chord, 5 frets up is a C Chord
Same with the C chop chord – move up two frets for D, or four frets for E, or five for F The third picture is a four finger full moveable chop chord (the picture is for G chord), which is used often in bluegrass/folk music – a little difficult at first, but worth knowing The next page will give you an idea of how to play & use these chords in a song … (Note – there are FREE instructional videos for all of these lessons & songs at the website link that I gave you above … http://www.freeguitarvideos.com/mandolin/catalog.html So here’s a simple song pattern that uses some of our moveable/chop chords:
The Major Scale: The easiest major scale to remember is the C major scale … because it’s just all the letter name notes (without any of the sharp/flat notes) … so it would be: C D E F G A B (& then it just repeats again) But notice that to actually play it the intervals between the notes change – for example while D is two frets above C … and E is two frets above D … the F is only one fret above the E note … the same one fret interval occurs again between the B and C notes … Also the very first note in a scale provides the name of the scale or KEY of the scale … So in this case since the first note is a C … we are playing a C Major Scale Also, each note in the scale corresponds to a number … C is the 1 (1st note of the scale) … the second note in this scale is D, so it’s #2 - & we call it a second (2nd note of scale) E is the third, F is the fourth, G is the fifth, A is the sixth, and B is the seventh – easy! Now in chord theory for a major scale … if we make a C chord – the one chord – it’s always major … but the second & third chords will be minor (e.g. D minor & E minor) The fourth & fifth chords will be major again (F major & G major) … the sixth chord will always be a minor chord (A minor) … & the seventh chord is a diminished chord (I realize we haven’t learned minor or diminished chords yet, but just keep this in mind as you learn songs – since it will help you know when to play a major or minor chord) Now, here’s the slightly, but not really so, tricky part … what if we wanted to play a D major scale … well, you might think that we could just start on D & play the same notes (e.g., D E F G A B C & back to D) … but that would be WRONG … the reason is because the interval – or number of frets between each DEGREE of the scale must remain the same … so in C major we jump two frets to the second scale note D, then two more frets to the third E, and one fret to the fourth F, then two frets to the fifth G, and two frets up to the sixth A, and two more frets up to the seventh B, then one fret up to the C So to play a D major scale – we have to keep these fret movements or intervals the same … so starting on D – up two frets to E – up two frets to F# - up one fret to G – up two frets to A – up two frets to B – up two frets to C# - and then one fret up to D (the octave) This movement of the major scale can be understood – if you remember that a “half step” or H is a move of only one fret up or down, and a “whole step” or W is a two fret move up or down … so for a major scale the movement is always like this starting at the Root (or very first note of the scale) … W W H W W W H Whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step … or Two frets, two frets, one fret, two frets, two frets, two frets, one fret For Mandolin - here's an easy major scale - start on the open A string & play it open, second fret, third fret, fifth fret, then move up the the E string & do the very same thing! That's A major!
The Minor Scale: The cool thing is that to play a minor scale – you keep the SAME movement, but just start on the sixth degree/note of the major scale … so in C – C D E F G A B … A is the sixth note or degree of the scale … so starting on A, but playing the same intervals You get whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step or W H W W H W W To help you understand, let’s lay a major scale & minor scale on top of each other 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 (1 2 3 W W H W W W H W W H Relative minor scale: 1 2 3 4 5
4
5 W
6
6) W 7 1
So if we take a C major scale, the sixth note/degree is an A, so to play an A minor scale C Major scale … C D E F G A B (repeats) …. A minor scale A B C D E F G (repeats) NOTICE that the C major scale & A minor scale contain the VERY SAME NOTES! This is because they are “related” … i.e., A minor is the “Relative Minor” of C major Building Major Chords Using the Scale Notes: We can build any chord using the scale notes/degrees of the major scale of the name of the chord we want to make … so to build a C chord – use the C major scale A major chord includes the first, third & fifth (1, 3, 5) of the major scale … So to build a C major chord … we would use C E G - the first, third & fifth notes in the C major scale … to build a D major chord, we use the D major scale – the first, third & firth notes in a D major scale are D F# A … and the same formula works for every major chord … note in building chords, whether minor or major – any type – we always use the major scale … even if we’re trying to build a minor chord (or diminished or augmented) To make a 7th chord … we simply add the seventh note of the scale to the 1, 3, 5 … To make a 9th chord … we add the 7th & 9th notes of the scale … (what’s a 9th? Well, after the seventh note, we get the octave or root note again, if we gave it a number it would be number 8 … the next higher note in the scale would be the ninth – which is the really the same as the second note of the scale, just an octave higher … and we just keep substituting the numbers in this same pattern as we climb higher up the scale) So how would you build a minor chord? …
Building Minor Chords: Major chords sound happy … but minor chords sound sad (7th chords sound melancholy) To build a minor chord – we flat the third note of the scale (i.e. drop it down one fret or you could also say to lower it a half step since a half step is a one fret movement) … So to build a minor chord – we would get 1, b3, 5 … Remember our C major chord – 1, 3, 5 … or the notes – C E G … Well, we take the third note of the scale E and lower it one half-step (one fret) to Eb So a C minor chord would be C, Eb, G … You can build any other minor chord in this exact same way … But remember, ALWAYS use the major scale of the chord name you want to build1 … So if you want to build an A minor chord … use the A major scale … find the 1, 3, 5 & then lower the 3rd scale note by a half step (or one fret) to get 1, b3, 5 … or A, C, E The “extensions” are built in the same way … to get a minor seventh chord (m7) just add the seventh note of the scale, … for a minor 9th (m9)… just add the seventh & ninth notes To get a second chord, or suspended fourth chord, 11th or 13th … just remember to add that extra scale note that the chord is calling for … in some cases, to actually make the chord, you may have to skip one of the main notes – for example, a suspended fourth chord or sus4, drops the third note of the scale since it’s difficult to also play it … and the higher extensions – 9th, 11th, 13th, may drop a seventh note of the scale to make the shape … sometimes you will see these notes being flatted – eg a b9 chord, just lower the ninth scale degree by a half step (one fret) … a b11 chord or b13 chord work the same way. Remember, chords are ALWAYS built from the major scale of the name of the chord!!! Some folks will always try to make this “theory” harder – it’s not, this is all it ever is. And remember, once you have learned one chord shape – you can always move it up or down the appropriate number of frets to make the same type of chord for a different letter (In some cases you may have to use your first finger as a BAR to substitute for the nut – the little white thing at the top of the strings/top of the neck, before the head stock in order to get it to sound right, but once you learn this trick, moving chords around is easy) These same theory/chord building principals apply on ANY stringed instrument … guitar, banjo, dulcimer, etc. … they even apply to piano, although the fingerings will change … one great thing about Mandolin or any string instrument, is that once you learn a chord shape you can always move the exact same shape up or down to change chords! 1
Be careful here – even though an A minor scale has a different whole-step half-step sequence or pattern than a major scale, we don’t use the A minor scale to build an A minor chord, instead we use the A major scale to build an A minor chord. ALWAYS build your chords, whether minor or major, using the major scale of the name of the chord … so, e.g, to build a G minor chord, use the notes from the G major scale & so on
So going back to our Open G chord … review that diagram … see where the first finger (the one with the 1 on it) is positioned – if you lower that note one fret – you get a G minor chord … so you might draw this as … 0 0 1 3 (or open, open, 1st fret, 3rd fret) … so you’d play the G string open, D string open, A string at 1st fret, & E string at 5th fret … if you bar it & move it up two frets, you get an A minor, two more frets up is B min Look in the lesson books you have to find other minor chord shapes & then find ways to bar them or move them around & have fun exploring all your new major & minor chords! Or, if you know a major chord shape – figure out which note is the root/1, which note is the 3rd scale tone, & which note is the 5th scale tone - & simple lower the third one fret! What is Tab or Tablature? Tab is just a way of writing down which string and fret of the note you want to play. You can find a lot of songs in books or on-line in tab form. Here’s an example of how it works E--------------0------A----------2---------D-------4------------G----2---------------You would play the 2nd fret of the G string, then the 4th fret of the D string, then the 2nd fret of the A string & then the top E string Open … in sequence … The tab for a chord might look like this … let’s use the Open G chord we already know E---3--A---2--D---0--G---0--Notice the notes are all sitting right on top of each other, in tab that’s how chords appear! So this next tab example combines chords with single notes …. E---3---3----------------------2--2-------------------------3--3 A---2---2---0--2--3--2--0---0--0---0---2---3---2---0---2--2 D---0---0---------------------0--0--------------------------0--0 G---0---0---------------------2--2--------------------------0--0 G G (pick out notes) D D (pick out notes)
G G
… so that’s how tab works!
Mandolin songs – good free tablature sites: http://www.users.csbsju.edu/~eknuth/mandotab/index.html http://www.mandolincafe.com/tabarc.html http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/mandolin-tab/mandolin-tab.html http://www.free-scores.com/frameuk.php?url=http://www.btinternet.com/~john.baldry/mando/index.html&CATEGORIE=5 0&TITRE=Bluegrass+Mandolin+Home+page Two great Mandolin bluegrass/gospel songbooks: Here’s a really good Bluegrass “fakebook” with standard tab, chords & lyrics for Mandolin & Guitar with lots of very famous & recognizable songs … Bluegrass Fakebook by Bert Casey http://www.firstqualitymusic.com/p_CV20.aspx?source=FROOGLEFEED $14.95 or at Amazon for $19.95 http://www.amazon.com/Bluegrass-Fakebook-FavoritesGospel-Mandolin/dp/1893907376 This site has a list of the 150 songs featured in the book: http://www.cvls.com/fakebook.html Here’s the other Bluegrass “fakebook” that most bluegrass players also own … Bluegrass Songbook by Pete Wernick –140 songs with lyrics/chords (but tab is unique) http://www.amazon.com/Bluegrass-Songbook-Peter-Wernick/dp/0825601649 $19.77