Why You Should Tune Your Mandolin By Ear

[@kenmayerrocks]

My experience is that as I tune, the act of raising the D strings can lower one or both G strings, and so on, so that after I get to E there are issues with G,D, and A. It's rare that I get a great sound until I've gone over at least twice.

[@danmills7028]

On those days when I find my mandolin is quite flat across all 8 strings, due to changes in the weather or whatever, I find that the first string course that I tuned (e.g. the G strings) will be flat again by the time I finish tuning (tightening up) the other strings. What happens is that tightening one string will flatten all the others as the neck moves ever so slightly. The same thing happens on the guitar. The effect is subtle but real. The only solution I've found is to just go through the whole process twice, i.e. tune the G string again, and then all the rest of the strings. The second time through the adjustments are usually so minor that the neck doesn't move enough for me to hear the problem again.

[@ryangunwitch-black]

Ricky Skaggs said electric tuners were a godsend. If it’s good enough for Ricky, it’s good enough for me! But I only tune the first of each course using the electric tuner. Then I tune the second one to the first by ear.

[@rudolphpyatt4833]

Exactly. At most, I get one string to a reference pitch, the rest by ear as you demonstrate. I have always done that with all my instruments (guitar, violin, mandolin, banjo). Another trick I use is to play a chord or two when I first pick up an instrument, open and closed positions. Once you get used to tuning by ear, just playing a chord will tell you what string(s) are off.

[@KidsCabaltica]

noice!😃👍

[@trev_mcnaughton]

I grew up tuning everything from an A440 fork. smack it on the knee and hold it to the instrument and match the A.. then everything is tuned off that. Really helped me pick up when that beat frequency starts to sneak in with a slack tuning. Then you gotta play a bit, and repeat. That's not even getting into temperament tuning.

[@YankeeFiddler13850]

Growing up a violinist, I witnessed people use the A440 tuning fork by striking it then placing it directly on the top wood to create a sympathetic vibration with the A string.

[@mandodude148]

Me too!

[@davidmccue3591]

WTF, you guys are the real deal! Tuning can be a real problem for me sometimes.

[@ryangunwitch-black]

Same. Grew up in the 80s and 90s. Dad always used the fork.

[@musicofanatic]

My method was always smack it on my knee then clench it in my teeth (pre-covid). The A resonates in your head whilst you are trying to match the pitch. Leaves you two hands for tuning, too

[@mrsjr78]

Hey David, I'm a new Patreon member of yours. I'm a life long, classically trained violinist who's making the transition to Mandolin. I have been dabbling in fiddling as well which I feel is a very different skill than traditional violin, but I've always been intrigued by the Mandolin. I recently picked one up and have been really enjoying it. I've been watching your videos and have been picking up some of the tunes you share under Fiddle Tune February. Soldier's Joy has become a fast favorite of mine. Finding my way around with my left hand is no problem for me, but where I struggle is strumming with a pick. Obviously that's a new technique for me to learn and I've heard it's a pretty common thing for violinists to struggle with. I've been sort of "cheating" and using my bare thumb as I would when I hold my violin like a Mandolin/Guitar. But this is not sustainable and I can't generate the speed that comes with the up and down motion of the strumming pick. Anyway, all that to say, that I appreciate your channel and your lessons. I'm trying to start with the basics. I have a good foundation, but you're helping me with the intricacies. So thank you for that. Keep up the great work! On the topic of this video, I have always had an ear to tune since I was a kid. But I have found that tuning the mandolin and say a guitar was a bit different than tuning a violin because it seemed like the string would always end up sharper than I intended, and I never understood why. But you really nailed it when discussing the tension behind the nut being released after playing. It's not something we experience on the violin. So I learned something new. I'll take your tip of tuning down first. Maybe this is why I busted an E-String the day after I bought the Mandolin. That, and I heard that Eastmans are notorious for that.

[@KidsCabaltica]

I am a classically trained violinist from the age of three, and am loving the mandolin as a new discovery! learning to hold the pick and use it is a tricky skill to pick-up at first, if you watch some of the videos David has on right hand skill, it will help you allot. also just takes allot of time to get used to.

[@gezortenplotz]

Playing 12-string guitar way back in the day before clip-on tuners taught me this skill.

[@artsie8282]

I play daily and I realized I’m better off tuning first. I agree with you in that I use ONLY my ears for tuning pairs, because the tuner absolutely doesn’t cut it. I learned from you to lower my string and tune up, and I thank you for that. Also, I just got all new strings and oh my, it’s so much easier to stay in tune !! Gonna do this more often.

[@gregcliburn6904]

Fundamentals are so...uh...fundamental! Really helpful video, David.

[@mandolinic]

That is a Peterson strobe tuner and probably the most accurate clip-on tuner you can buy. But if you don't want yours, I'll gladly have it. I used to tune to a reference (440 Hz tuning fork), but it's completely impractical in the pressured environment of a gig; I was really pleased when I could use an electronic tuner - just like the rest of the band. Tuning the other strings to the reference is too time consuming when you've got an audience waiting on you. No-one wants to hear your version of "Ode to Tuning on the flat G string" - not the audience and not your fellow band members. Tuning is a skill that has to be learned, and to get fast at it you need to practice it, so it's a sensible idea to tune each time before you play. And while you say "Tune Down then Up", the text at 0:50 has the UP and DOWN reversed.

[@yoniudkoff3577]

Fantastic vid. Thanks!! This channel is just one big happy place 💪🏼

[@simeonsmith785]

I agree that learning to tune by ear is a skill everyone should practice as it helps develop the musician's ear to listen better. That said, I've played with relatively experienced musicians who cannot tell me if two differently toned instruments match in pitch (a banjo tuning to a whistle for example). "Is it up or down?" they ask me as they can hear it's slightly off but don't know how to fix it. I'd go as far as to say that for MOST musicians, they'll get a better result with a tuner. The other benefit of a tuner is that it's fast. If you're playing with other musicians, getting ready quickly is a massive asset. As for tuning between songs while an audience waits, most people are going to prefer that you're 99% in tune in 30 seconds, but will start to drift off if you're tuning by ear for 5 minutes. That's not to say that people shouldn't learn this skill, but I don't think that this is good practice in most situations. Oh, and in my studio, I insist every tunes to the same tuner on the DAW. I want to be selecting takes based on performance, not based on tuning.

[@jeffbosch1697]

Back in the very early days of the band Genesis they frequently had to retune between songs, so the lead singer, Peter Gabriel, having nothing to do during that time, started telling stories to keep the audience engaged. It worked!

[@kyd2868]

Here's my two cents. I stopped using a digital "clip on" tuner and started using an app on my phone to give me the pitch, and I tune accordingly. I never felt like I got a very good sounding tune from solely using a digital tuner. Furthermore, it has been my experience that a digital tuner doesn't usually get both strings in the pair on a mandolin to sound exactly right together. I think that one can achieve the best sounding tune through using either a tuner or something else to get in the general ballpark and then fine tune by ear from there. I've never had an issue with this method and I think it produces better results than using a tuner alone.

[@saoirsecameron]

Idk if you meant to make a pun, but 2 cents difference in pitch is essentially undetectable to most people so I thought it was pretty clever.

[@kyd2868]

@@saoirsecameron I wondered if anyone would pick that up haha.

[@KidsCabaltica]

thank you David! the hardest step for me is the habbit of tuning regularly😰. yes i agree, vary true, but i still think da'ddario micro tuners are a must have.

[@ChrisHenryVideos]

Excellent video! Thanks!

[@DavidBenedictMandolin]

Thanks so much, Chris!!

[@davidmccue3591]

If Christopher Henry likes your video, it's good enough for me.

[@ChrisHenryVideos]

David has set a wonderfully high bar for production and shares a ton of helpful teachings with the community. I learn a lot from this channel!

[@bob-rogers]

At home I normally tune an A with the Peterson iphone app and tune the rest by ear, and then check the A and re-tune. At a session last week (something I don't have much experience with) I was trying to tune with the app, but it kept hearing other instruments, and no one really wants to hear you tuning. I noticed a friend tuning silently with a clip on tuner. Seems like there's a place for both :0(

[@SteelMyr]

I think maybe a typo in your captions: on the overview at 0:48 it says “4. Tune up then down” but at section 4 at 2:25 it says “tune down then up”

[@DavidBenedictMandolin]

Haha! Good catch! Just wanted to make sure you watched the whole video 😉

[@azombiestool]

Very true!!!

[@saoirsecameron]

I personally find that tuning to open 5ths to be easier due to the difference in volume between harmonics in open strings. It takes a while to get used to, and will be slightly off of 12 TET but I find it faster and better when there is any sort of background noise.

[@greggcoppolo8430]

Great job, I like it!

[@DanielRogers]

Can you do an updated gear/ what’s in my mandolin case video? :)

[@ernieminetti6508]

Great video. Do you agree that playing with the tuner on the Mando kills volume?

[@musicofanatic]

No

[@ryangunwitch-black]

It’s also the quickest way to tune up that mandolin you pulled off the wall at any random music shop that will inevitably be more out of tune than anything ever.

[@frankking781]

Yes I know.

[@JJ_TheGreat]

2:22 I really think that I am tone-deaf (I am very analytical/left-brain, so I need something to measure it by - and the sound means nothing to me, as a note) 😞

[@lhon13tv]

Is mandolin same string with guitars

[@mandolinic]

No. The tuning of a mandolin is quite different. The notes are G D A and E.

[@KidsCabaltica]

by the way, David, in the discription it says that you play a vanguard f5, as your weapon of choice. which always bothers me.

[@barrycook6603]

? Where does one find a true reference for the G string when tuning by ear?

[@timotheboulder]

Tuning forks, tuning app, a piano, someone else's instrument, etc. If the whole ensemble is half a step flat, it doesn't really matter as long as they're all in tune with each other, so learning to tune together is a very useful skill for playing with others in a scenario where nobody brought a tuner

[@archiereece8321]

if all else fails use a pitch pipe

[@MikeontheMandolin]

I’m not sure I agree on this one. Ive heard plenty of pro musicians mess this process up. Worse yet they try without a reference string. A good quality tuner is very accurate.

[@InternalMind]

Why you should YOUR Mandolin lol

[@tinkerwithstuff]

"not always accurate" - perhaps especially when using one that _entirely pointlessly_ replicates the visuals of an old scheme of indicating "in tune" that was used for the sole reason of arbitrary content displays not existing yet (below a few pounds of weight - plus batteries). This "strobo" display is kinda stupid, even when it was a cool device back in the day. Because there one has at least a slight chance of hastily reading it wrong, vs. a simple "meter needle on curve" is hard to misread, esp. on a graphical display without parallaxe. One definitely has to know when a modern clip-on tuner that works with simple zero-crossing detection is just flat out lying to you because it's getting bad signal ;) But when it's not doing _that_ , there is no reason why it shouldn't be accurate. You also have to know _when_ to look for its indication of it being in or out of tune - some people prefer the attacked string to be in tune, some a more decayed tone - this obviously changes throughout the sounding of the string from attack to silence, and there is no such thing as perfectly in tune for a string that you bang a plectrum across. [Edit:] and the tuner may have some lag w.r.t. that, because processing a signal takes time.