From the course: Mandolin Lessons: 1 Fundamentals

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Tuning

Tuning

- Okay, we're gonna talk about tuning the mandolin now. And somebody once said that if you play the mandolin for 30 years, you tune it for 15 and you play out of tune for 15. (laughs) But, it's true. It takes a lot to tune a mandolin and get it really right. As I said earlier, there's two notes for every one. So you have two E strings, (plucks strings) two A strings, (plucks strings) two D strings, (plucks strings) and two G strings. (plucks strings) So it's tuned exactly the same as a violin, but it's twice as hard to tune because there are all these pairs. So there are several ways to go about tuning. And I'm just gonna march you through them. Each of them. 'Cause they each have their pluses and minuses. Of course, a lot of us are using electronic tuners these days. And I'm also one of those fellas. Got my little D'Addario tuner here. I like it a lot. It keeps everything at 440. So you always know that you're getting a 440 pitch off of that. But they're not perfect, you know? And I…

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