Mandolin vs. Mandola vs. Octave Mandolin 

The tune I play is Shove that pig's foot a little further in the fire, which I have a lesson for. Thanks to those who asked!

that merge from one to the other was so useful to compare them. And you hit exactly the same tempo on each playing. Pretty good!

Great sounding audio - as a studio engineer / mastering tech., I can attest that most musicians posting on YT have distressingly bad sound. Your attention to this detail makes for a pleasant viewing / listening experience. Bleikr Sound has a Trinity College octave mandolin in studio and we love it.

Brief, to the point presentation, cleverly illustrated through the short tune and alternating instruments towards the end. Thank you.

Your accent is reassuring me that you know your mandolins

Very nice video, Baron. And I love the editing during the demo section. Really did a great job showing the diversity of sound of each instrument.

What a great way to show the difference between the three! Using them all within the same tune like that makes it so much easier to compare the sound. Thank you!

DANGIT I want them all now

The octave mandolin, I love it's sound and look

I love this! It’s like when I was in grade 7 deciding if I wanted alto, tenor, or baritone sax! These are all such beautiful instruments!

Such Happy tunes! LOVE it!

Very clear and useful. I play all three and it is good to hear the basic differences explained and demonstrated. Thanks!

Great comparison! I've been meaning to add these sounds to some of my new songs. Thanks

WoW! I was considering learning how to play an octave mandolin and fell into this treasure trove of a youtube page! Thank you for all the goodies.

I appreciated how brief and concise this video was! I became interested in mandolin after I learned I could play violin tunes on it (I’m having trouble playing my violin because I have shoulder issues now) but I was curious to know the differences. Thanks!

Thanks for this info! Very helpful for me, as I’m trying to learn about the mandolin and it’s variants for the first time.

I have subscribed for years. Thanks for what you do. I really like the new camera.

Great video! Love the comparison of the 3 instruments.

I love my bass guitar but something about hearing and playing the mandolin puts a big ol smile on my face.

fantastic the way you fit them together. Really useful!

Very cool demo. Thanks for the tutorial. I appreciate your instructional work.

This was very informative. I was planning on buying an Octave Mandolin and now I'm set. Thank you so much.

Absolutely great video! So well thought out and presented. I LEARNED, thank you.

Bought a used mandolin yesterday and here I am! Many thanks sir.

Such a. Brilliantly put together video, thank you!!!

That was very informative, thanks so much for the explanation and demonstration!

Ahh love the mandolin! I want something more resonant but at the same time I just really feel the mandolin. Great video, thank you!

Really nice and concise comparison. Great side-by-sides. I have a mandolin and a mandocello. The octave looks like a stretch, but the 'cello is such a different beast altogether, it's a hard comparison.

Excellent video! Thanks for that.

Great video. Thanks

Great video as always! I was getting the mandola confused with the octave mando. You rock

I'm in the process of building an octave mandolin, but using an enameled bedpan for a resonator instead of the wooden body. I might call it a "Poozouki". The four string guitars I've built like this dont sound crappy...

Excellent Presentation and Style.

Wish we could get a video of him playing the trombone in the back, as someone who plays both mandolin and trombone, it's cool to see one in a mandolin video.

You answered my question about the Mandocello right at the very end. Glad I kept watching. I wondered if it was the same as the Octave Mandolin. Now I know it's not. Thanks!

That was a very helpful demo, thanks!

Super informative and awesome presentation thanks for sharing

Very well done. I’d like an octave but I need to play my mando much much more. Thanks for this review!

Thank you! This was really helpful in helping me decide which to get. All are lovely. Hopefully one day I can get them all

Great presentation. Thank you

Nice - I was curious about the mandola - I like the sound a lot

A great great demo !! Thanks

Very nice playing!

Thanks for the lesson!

A very helpful video, thank you!

Out of the 3 to my ear, the Collings mandola easily sounds loudest. Maybe just my ear? Man, it's great you thought to do this. GREAT editing!

Excellent, very well done!

Way cool man,thank you for the video,i like the octave mandolin,you play very well.

Lovely vid and playing! You should do a video review for the Eastman octave mandolin! You always have really great insights on instruments, and there isn't a good review of it on youtube.

Great Presentation 👏 I took my Mandola and substituted the Second string in the last 2 C G strings and used lower numbered size ones tuned them a whole octave higher...kinda like a 12 string guitar ...the sounds are sweet and it opens up to much more improvising and classical values.

Love this one I like to see a guy use all three plying three parts as in melody harmony and rhythm each its own part but all keeping time in the same song

I’ve owned a bowlback mando (Am/Con) for over 50 years and never played it. But the time has come (because time is running out), and it was nice to find your site. I’ll likely get a better instrument as I learn more about the mandolin; I like the Elderly package you recommended, but it is currently unavailable. Thanks for your work. Subscribed.

Very helpful video (nice editing!). I've played mandolin for years and lately been considering mandola or the octave mandolin. No stores close to where I live to try them and I hesitate to order online. Headed to your website now to check out lessons. Thanks!

Thank you for this intro! My re-introduction to music was when I had the random idea of playing the ukulele my dad bought in Hawaii (I started with violin when I was in gradeschool but didnt pursue it). It helped me realize I could play and opened the musical doors for me but I don't like gCEA. It's not the sound I want except if I play classical music. I did a video test on my channel on mandolin tunings for uke and though I love it---it's really not the same having an actual mandolin/mandola. The test where you played all 3 of them together was immensely helpful! Really gives you insight as to where each of these variants come in. I'm attracted to mostly the mandolin and octave mando. The mandola, I'm kinda 'eh' on as it sounds similar to ukulele tuning. Gotta save up for the mandolin and octave mando!

Nice video! Ny friend is building a mandocello....it's quite the beast!

You just turned me on to this instrument going out to buy one today! subscribing.

Beautiful tune

Nice demo!

Lovely tune.

Thanks ...great help as i was thinking of buying an octave mandolin .. :)

I recently bought a super cheap mandolin (to take camping and see if it’s something I want to continue or not). But as a 40+ year classical violist, I find myself playing on the wrong string frequently. If I stick with this, my upgrade will be a mandola.

Well done! thanks

Love all three

Thank you, this was very helpful pal

So Helpful! thank you

Wow you have 3 lutes, what an impressive collection 👏 👌

I want them all!

I think having all three playing at once would provide one heck of a rich sound.

And the mandocello is tuned one octave below the mandola and it is an octave variation of a standard mandola (cgda tuning) where the octave mandolin is the octave variation of a standard mandolin (gdae tuning).

Very informative thankyou.

thanks, I might take an Octave Mandolin lesson one of these days

It's 2023 and me likey. 🖖🏾

Nice shout out to the Mandocello and Mandobass. :-)

Man Ellis should give you a sponsorship. I don't think anyone's instrument is heard as much as yours

good video dude i subscribed thanks bro

Great video! Simple explanation and introduction to all three instruments. I've been playing the mandolin for 2 years now and I've really been interested in the octave mandolin, but they're very difficult to find in stores (to try one out to see how it feels/sounds) on the East Coast (specifically the north part of the East Coast where I live). If I'm not mistaken, you have an Eastman octave mandolin in the video, correct? I've been eyeing that one for a while and I think I might just buy it.

Mando lessons: This is the way!

Thank you very much 😊

WOW thanks for this video! Now I have an excuse to buy more stringed instruments! :) I love the octave one and the lower one both.

nice to listen to you.

great video

Thanks much!

Hey Baron, what are your opinions on the Eastman Octave Mandolin? I have a Gold Tone om800+ at the moment but it's not really doing it for me.

Great video. Been looking for another instrument to learn. This (Octave mandolin) covers my acoustic guitar, and violin playing (GDAE strings).

Very nice

The Mandolin is used very much in Cretan traditional music search it

Smart!

thank you

Surprisingly...your MANDOLA sounded the best!

I have a flatback bouzouki that I bought over 30 years ago and learnt with GDAE tuning. The Celtic GDAD tuning seems to have come in later. GDAE sounds great on a Bouzouki but the fretboard is a bit of a stretch (I only really play chords - haven't a lot of time to learn to read music and I find tablature confusing). I recently built a small 3 course mandolin variant based on an 11.5 inch neck. It sounds great but is very quiet. I'm working a lot with 3 course and DAE tuning because the chord shapes are less demanding, which makes playing easier for learners. My next mandolin family build will be a three course octave mandolin.

I strung a mandola like a bouzouki with 3 octaved courses, and tuned it like an octave mandolin. I call it a jambo.

Absolutely love the octave mando...can't find one as a beginner.

Very good demo, thanks. Oh, what if you ran all three clips at the same time as a split screen deal? That would be interesting to hear all three . And just to complicated things, add the tenor guitar to the mix.

excellent

Thanks for the education on that Baron. What make of mandolin are you using there - it sounds nice. It can be hard to find one that appeals to your ear. And shops in Ireland only have about 2 or three in a music shop. So you're left with buying one online without having held it and got the feel of it (even if it sounds good on youtube). Maybe a video on how to buy a good quality mandolin would be helpful. Thanks

Just found the channel. Do you play any Bluegrass like some David Grisman in Old and In the Way? I play professional 5 string banjo from Bela Fleck to Earl Scruggs as well as older melodies, but Jerry Garcia just happens to be a favorite due to a particular picking method regardless of tempo. For the loss of his middle finger, using his ring finger instead for the first D string on the banjo, Vassar Clemens the fiddler, talked of how Jerry scared the band and barely made it to repeat patterns and bridges, yet somehow always got there on time in an interestingly well space-timed picking trip, a trip that is noticed by many banjo players. As a former instrument collector and a multi-instrumental music player, (pro-fluent in just banjo however) I sold several pieces wanting to hone in on what I do best and wanting to get back to a regular mandolin. I'd sure enjoy hearing some of David's work on Old and In the Way if you know any. I'll check out what you have since I just found your site.

That's great Where can i buy a mandola like this yours?

I have a (very beautiful) Weber Gallatin octave that is really great for accompaniment and just playing on it's own. Mine is a 22" fret board and I've found that I wish I'd gotten the 20" because using them in the store, occasionally, they are MUCH easier to play than the 22" I have. That said, I do love to have it. I've also found that mandola just doesn't seem to have the depth to really be a great accompaniment instrument IMO so my original idea of trading in my mandolin and octave for a mandola has never really panned out.

Is it easier to make a chord on regular mando or octave? That octave is beautiful. Thanks for showing us those choices.

I play the octave, mandola, and mandocello. I have wondered about picks for them? Do you use the same one or different ones for different instruments?