I know GDAD tuning is very common for bouzouki and octave mandolin, (neither of which I play). I’m going through an Andy Irvine phase, though, and find that I really like GDAD for chording Irish tunes on the mandolin.
A guy in the session I attend uses it exclusively, and is a great melody player. Unfortunately, for me, it’s awkward and seems limiting for melody. The open high ‘D’ is great as a sympathetic drone, but the 7th fret ‘A’ is just too hard to get to at speed. As a result, I seldom bother tuning down to GDAD. Maybe I’m just not giving it a chance?
I’m just curious to know if anyone uses GDAD exclusively on mandolin, and what convinced you to do so? Also, does anyone know how Mick Maloney tunes?
Let’s see your GDAD mate play “Trim the Velvet” without dropping a stitch!
Gimme high E any day.
Rob
I’ve been messing with GDAD on my banjo lately since I’ve got an octave mandolin being built for me right now, and I wanted to test the feasibility of using the tuning for chording and melody. I suppose anything is possible with enough practice, but I’m not sure I’ll ever put in the time to make the switch. GDAE is just so much easier for melody! From the dabbling I’ve done, the trick to it is more than just moving up 2 frets for each note on that string, but actually adjusting to playing above the 5th fret on the A string, too (and probably the D string for certain tunes).
Someone who is a better player than me will undoubtedly come along soon and say it’s not too hard, but I personally had a hard enough time of it that I started dabbling with just doing chording in GDAE (which looks like it will be a no-go, too).
Thanks. I guess GDAD is great for adding color and playing around the melody, (Andy-style). Being a rather simple machine myself, I appreciate the beauty of orderly fifths across the board.
Just as well…insurance wasn’t going to cover that extra joint I wanted grafted onto my left pinky anyhow.
Just go for the extra pinky!
Rob