Why does mandolin have 8 strings

Over the course of the next several millennia, this instrument would go by many names, before eventually being called the lute. This instrument traveled throughout Europe and the Middle East. In a 14 th century painting, a miniature lute is depicted being played by an angel.

This instrument is called the mandora, by the Latins. The Italians, on the other hand, called this instrument the mandola.

A smaller version of the mandola was called the mandolina. When European immigrants started coming to North America in the 19 th century, they brought the mandolin with them.

Because of an interest in foreign or exotic things, the mandolin became a popular instrument. In the late 19 th century, there was an increase in Italian immigration which further popularized a version of the mandolin.

The mandolin would remain popular well into the 20 th century, and at one point factories were mass producing them. During this time, players were more experimental in how they used the instrument. New playing styles emerged as a result of this experimentation, some of which were influenced by techniques that are more closely associated with the guitar. Popular musicians and bands such as Rod Stewart or Led Zeppelin have also incorporated the mandolin into their music.

If you are looking for an easy instrument to learn, you should probably re-think your mindset. If you are looking to truly learn an instrument and eventually become a master of sorts, no single instrument is easy to learn. There will most likely always be a debate between guitar and mandolin, as there are always going to be people who have their favorite instrument. It is true that there are some advantages to playing the guitar over the mandolin, but there are also some advantages to learning mandolin versus learning guitar.

At the end of the day, both mandolin and the guitar offer a lot of benefits to musicians, but they also come with a few drawbacks. However, if you are interested in learning a not-so-commonly played stringed instrument, the mandolin is the way to go. Danny grew up playing anything that looked like a guitar. Your email address will not be published.

Skip to content. Main Differences Between the Mandolin vs Guitar The main differences between teh Mandolin and Guitar are: Guitars have either 6 or 12 strings, whereas a mandolin has 8 strings Guitars are typically tuned in forths, whereas a madonlin is tuned in fifths Guitar pitch is generally lower, whereas mandolin pitch is higher What is a guitar?

What makes a guitar unique? One of the biggest distinctive factors of a guitar is the neck of the instrument. We may receive compensation from the companies whose products we review. We only recommend products that we believe in and test.

One might think that mandolins have double strings to provide additional notes. Others believe it is to make techniques like tremolo picking easier. But the real reason is rooted in the science of sound. Mandolins have double strings to provide stronger vibrational energy from the strings.

This produces tones that have a fuller sound and sustain a longer resonance of higher strength than a single string can produce. Instruments were given double strings to amplify their sound. This can be explained with some basic knowledge in acoustics , which will be covered briefly here. If you have not played a string instrument before, you may not be familiar with the term course as part of music vocabulary. A course is a set of two or more strings that are spaced closely together and are meant to be played simultaneously.

An instrument with string courses is considered a coursed instrument. Conversely, all instruments with strings that are all played individually, such as a classic six-string guitar or a ukulele, are known as uncoursed instruments. When a single string is set among coursed strings, that lone string may also be described as a course, but only in this situation. An example of this would be a nine-string baroque guitar with five courses: four 2-string courses and one 1-string course.

Other course instruments that you most likely heard of include the eight-string bass guitar, the twelve-string guitar, the lute, and the piano. In general, mandolins are made with 4 two-string courses. This means that there are 8 strings on the mandolin but they are in pairs making it play like a 4-string instrument.

Each choice provides a different effect. Re: Mandolin 8 string or 4 string I don't know anything about the mando you have, but I have a 4 string Clark that is great for jazz and swing. I use flatwounds on it, and hope to have a magnetic pickup installed on it some day like an archtop guitar would have. May, pm Re: Mandolin 8 string or 4 string Chip- Very nice!!!

Do you know what kind and size strings that are on it? Re: Mandolin 8 string or 4 string Chip, I got to know Darren Craig at one of the Mandolin Symposium's , I think and spent most of the week with your mandolin, I believe Here are a couple pics of my Arrow 5 string:.

Attached Thumbnails. May, am Re: Mandolin 8 string or 4 string Nice!! Are you using flatwounds on your arrow? If so what size? Re: Mandolin 8 string or 4 string I still have whatever strings Paul put on it It now has a 5-pole Kent Armstrong floating pickup, so I'll likely go with steel strings next.

Probably just stick to whatever emando is selling for a 5-string set. Re: Mandolin 8 string or 4 string I was just thinking about just ordering the flatwounds from emando also. GS and Sam ash in town do not carry a good selection of mandolin strings. Re: Mandolin 8 string or 4 string Other than tuning, what would distinguish a four stringed mando from a ukelele? Re: Mandolin 8 string or 4 string Metal steel core strings versus not metal core, mate. Re: Mandolin 8 string or 4 string Well, Bill Monroe started on a 4-string Originally Posted by mandroid.

Metal steel core strings versus not metal core, mate. Jul, pm Originally Posted by shortcircuit. I have a junker "A" style mando that I installed a mag pickup and switched to four strings over a year ago.