Ben has been writing songs and playing guitar since he was 16, adding mandolin at 30. Based in Austin, Texas, Ben currently teaches lessons at The Musician’s Woodshed and plays in several local bands. By day Ben works as a software architect and front end developer.
You’re right I am playing Bach in the key of D, not G! 😂 Looking online this seems to be called Irish tuning for tenor guitar and it is quite common among the players I know, as is Chicago style DGBE and your timing, CGDA. The fingerings here should be the same for you. If you use RU-vid in the browser there are great plugins that can change the pitch however you like. I use Music Speed Changer
@@benhulanah, goes to show how my good my ear is... i didnt even notice it was a fifth higher lol that is how it is usually transcribed for violins since violin tuning is essentially tenor guitar irish tuning. cello suite no 1 in D :) again, nicely done. im hoping in a few days to be as fluent as you and then i'm off to to Allemande!
That's a fair point, John. I wanted to make a video that would be useful to musicians across a wide range of skill levels who are interested in octave mandolin. I'm not sure whether that makes me too thorough or too lazy! Either way, I could definitely record a "for beginners" version -- not a bad idea!
Yes, it is. Another commenter also called that out in one of the threads below. Totally valid point, thank you! My main goal was to show simplified chord shapes so that anyone going from mandolin to octave mandolin has some comfortable options.
@@benhulan Rock guitarists call them "power chords"! I just now discovered a G diad chord works out pretty well for Little Maggie on mandola. So diads are pretty handy for getting up to speed in CGDA tuning.
Small addendum to this... many of these chord shapes are inversions, meaning that the root of the chord is often not played as the bass note (specifically the C, D, and E shapes). Also worth pointing out that this A shape doesn't have the third present, so it's technically an A power chord, or A5, and doesn't have a major or minor quality to it (although to my ear power chords lean towards sounding major). Of the C, D, E, A and G shapes, the G is the only chord that has G as the bass note. This is not a bad thing, and is in fact very common for chords on the mandolin, it just means they have their own character to them that separates them a bit from the vanilla sound of a major chord in first inversion. Just something to be aware of since this is less of a thing with guitar!
Nicely done Ben, thanks. I enjoyed hearing the tuning used to strum and pick, as you’re doing here, and would be very interested to hear any contemporary (rather than traditional or folk) songs played on the instrument, if you get a chance?
I have played some, not a lot, of mando. But, my main instrument is the guitar. Is there a system on the OM that would be analogous to the CAGED system for guitar? Also, are you happy with your Mowry? I'm shopping around for and OM and Mowry is high on the list but VERY expensive.
