Cordopho-bia

[dasilvasings]

Hi!

I'm starting this thread to share photos and info about other cordophones than guitar or basses.

[64Guitars]

I have a very old banjo-mandolin which I inherited from my Dad (though he didn't play it. It was given to him by his uncle, I think). I don't have a picture handy but it looks something like this one I found on the web:

[dasilvasings]

You ahve to take a photo and post it! If there's no photo, then it doesn't exist ;-)
Do you know how to play it?


Let me present you the "cavaquinho". It is originally from the North of Portugal, but you can find mostly everywhere around the world, from Brazil to Indonesia, and it is the grandfather of the ukulele (on the photo, side by side).

There are lots of variations on the form and the tuning. About the one you are seeing:

1. It is the size of the ukulele: it is the original size; Brazilien and Cape Vert cavaqs are slightly bigger
2. The fingerboard is in the same plan as the sound board - it means this cavaq is from the North of Portugal
3. The mouth has this strange form. It is called "raia". I don't know what the word means, but apparently means the instrument was built in the city of Braga
4. Steel strings! This is the main difference from the ukulele. It plays one octave higher and with a lot of tension, so it is pretty good for strumming fast
5. I use the most standard/ traditional tuning - GGBD (low to high), which means you have a bunch of chords quite easy to play ;-) The problem is that I also play uke, and from time to time I always mix all the chords!

[64Guitars]

Do you know how to play it?

No. I don't even know how to tune it! The bridge is not fastened to the top. It's just held in place by the string pressure. So moving it changes the tuning. I don't know how to determine the proper bridge position. And I don't know what reference pitch the strings should be tuned to (ie; guitar is A=440Hz but what is mandolin?).

I think some of the strings broke when I was a kid and I replaced them with guitar strings.   I should probably buy a proper set of strings and a mandolin chord book.

[dasilvasings]

The reference pitch is the same (A=440 Hz). Other reference pitches are only used in classical and wannabedifferent guitarrists!

Usually, the tuning of a mandolin is G D A E (opposite to the bass, the mandolin is tuned in fifths like the violin/ viola/ cello). But you can tune it anyway you like ;-) I tuned mine as an uke! Perhaps it is possible to tune like the last 4 strings of the guitar (DGBE).

However, if you go for alternate tunings, you must change the strings accordingly. I'm still struggling with that - my mandolin gets out of tune easily, and there's a significant change in string tension for the different strings.

Regarding the bridge position... it is easy to say that the 12th fret (?) should be in the middle of the string... now to make it right is a lot more difficult.

[64Guitars]

Thanks for the tips!

Regarding the bridge position... it is easy to say that the 12th fret (?) should be in the middle of the string... now to make it right is a lot more difficult.

Yes, I was thinking that. So probably I should place the bridge so that the note fretted at the 12th fret is the same as the natural harmonic at the same fret.