Mandolin
The fiddle's tuning, note for note
A free online mandolin tuner. GDAE, the same as a fiddle, listening through your microphone in the browser.
Tap a string to hear its reference tone and tune to it by ear. The microphone pauses while a tone sounds.
Listens through your microphone. Nothing is recorded and nothing leaves your browser.
Press a string to hear it. The microphone pauses while it sounds.
A free online mandolin tuner. GDAE, the same as a fiddle, listening through your microphone in the browser.
The tuning you choose decides what the instrument is good at. This is the part that is rarely written down.
The only tuning in common use. Identical note names to a tenor banjo an octave lower, so tab written for one works on the other.
Everything people ask before they tune up.
Yes. No account, no trial and no adverts. It listens through your microphone and runs entirely in the browser.
Yes, GDAE, at the same pitch. That is why mandolin and fiddle players can read the same music and use the same fingering.
Yes. Both are GDAE, so the fret numbers are identical. The only difference is pitch: an Irish tenor banjo sounds an octave lower.
GDAE, low to high: G3, D4, A4, E5, the same sounding pitches as a fiddle. A standard eight-string mandolin has four pairs, called courses. Both strings in each course are normally tuned to the same pitch.
Pluck one string at a time and mute its partner while using the microphone tuner. Tune both to the same reference pitch, then play the pair together and listen for a steady sound. Repeat for all four courses.
Use a mandolin set suited to your instrument and the maker’s recommended tension. Tenor-banjo gauges and CGDA retuning instructions do not apply to a standard GDAE mandolin.
Start with a reliable reference note. In GDAE, fret the G at 7 to match open D, D at 7 to match open A, and A at 7 to match open E. These are unison comparisons. They check the strings against one another; an external reference establishes the overall pitch.
A mandolin is G3 D4 A4 E5; an Irish tenor banjo is G2 D3 A3 E4. The banjo sounds one octave lower, while GDAE fret numbers transfer. See the mandolin and tenor-banjo tuning comparison.
Yes. Keep your usual tuning and use the ABC transposer to change the tune’s key and regenerate the tab. Choose the instrument and tuning that match your setup.