MANDOLINS AND MANDOLAS AND BOUZOUKIS … OH MY!

Here we have a varied and versatile group of instruments. People come to these instruments for all sorts of reasons, and they each have similar, but slightly different jobs to do. So….

A mandolin is a small instrument with frets, eight strings, and tuned high GDAE just like a fiddle or violin.

A mandola is to a mandolin what a viola is to a violin, namely bigger and tuned one fifth lower, CGDA.

An octave mandola is even bigger and longer, usually tuned GDAE like a mandolin, but a full octave lower.

A cittern is a bit longer than that, usually with ten strings, not eight, and tuned modally (to a chord or drone)

A bouzouki is longest of them all, eight strings, tuned either mandolin-style or cittern-style.

Those of you with a bit of musical knowledge already will see that these instruments divide roughly into those used for playing tunes or melodies, and those used for playing accompaniments, but all of them can be used for both purposes. So anything we say here is for guidance only.

 
Who uses a mandolin?
Most often, someone who wants to play melody, maybe a fiddle-player who fancies a change, or someone who fancies a fiddle-style instrument but with frets, to help them get started on melody playing. Iain MacLeod of Shooglenifty is a great melody mandolin player. Bluegrass players like Sam Bush or Tim O’Brien use mandolin very effectively for both melody and chord accompaniment.

Who uses a mandola?
Like the viola to the violin, a true mandola, sometimes called a tenor mandola, is almost always a second instrument for a mandolin player, used to extend the range of notes available. Brian McDonagh of Dervish is just about the only high-profile mandola player around, and he uses it mainly for accompaniment.

Who uses an octave mandola?
Here we start on the grey area! The most frequent question we get asked is - do I need an octave mandola, a cittern or a bouzouki? Well, the octave mandola, although quite a long instrument, is still short enough to make melody playing relatively stretch-free and fast. We sell these mostly to players who already play mandolin or fiddle, and want a different sound with more versatility, without having to learn a new tuning. Having said that, though, there’s no reason why you can’t tune any of these instruments any way you like, and experiment.

Who uses a cittern?
Cittern or bouzouki - it’s another question of geography! You tend find more citterns in Scotland and more bouzoukis in Ireland. Strictly speaking, modern citterns are a remake of a medieval predecessor of the guitar, but musically, they really belong in this group of instruments here. The pioneering work of The Boys of the Lough and The Battlefield Band accounts for the cittern’s popularity. It’s usually tuned to some kind of open chord either GCGCG (C chord) or GDGDG (G chord), just like a big dulcimer really. It’s used mostly to play an accompaniment of melodic runs along with a bagpipe-type drone. Its ten strings make it very versatile, and its length, slightly shorter than a bouzouki, make it just about OK for fast melody playing. The strings are usually tuned in pairs, but sometimes each pair will comprise two strings an octave apart, like the bottom four strings of a twelve-string guitar.

Who uses a bouzouki?
In Ireland, it was Sweeney’s Men and Planxty who gave the bouzouki a firm foothold. Originally a Greek instrument, only Alec Finn of De Danann still plays the original six-string round-back instrument. What we understand by a bouzouki is a flat-back, eight-string instrument, usually strung with octave strings, and tuned modally, eg GDAD or ADAD or ADAE. The octave strings give that characteristic jangle as opposed to the cittern’s more chunky tone, and that jangle is what cuts through the band and gives so many Irish groups that sound. Most bouzouki players use their instruments purely to accompany another melody player. The length of the scale makes sustained melody playing a bit of a strain, but a little bit of melody thrown in here and there is very effective.

So you should ask yourself what your musical priorities might be in choosing such an instrument. But rest assured that there is enough crossover between instruments in this group that you’ll be able to do quite a lot of experimenting, whichever one you choose!