What Are the Parts of a Mandolin?
A mandolin is a relatively small guitar-like instrument, common in early music. Its soft, mellow sound is similar to that of a guitar. There are noted differences in the way it is played, as well as its repertoire. Mandolin music is often associated with European early music. This includes music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and early Baroque periods dating roughly from the 1400s to the mid-1750s. It is also used in folk and bluegrass music.
Other People Are Reading
-
Upper Portion of the Mandolin
-
The upper part of the mandolin consists of the headstock and fretboard. Tuners are inserted into the angled headstock. It is upon the tuners that the strings are tightly wound. These strings are then stretched over the zero fret or nut, which is a narrow, raised bar at the top of the fretboard, similar in appearance to a fret. They then pass over a dark wood fretboard to get to the bridge.
Body
-
The body of the front of the mandolin is broad and rounded. There are two sound holes similar to the F holes on a violin. They are placed on either side of the bridge. A mandolin can also have an oval-shaped soundhole located right below the fretboard, rather than F-shaped ones. The last major instrument part, called the tailpiece, is attached to the very bottom of the mandolin. Woods used to make mandolins include spruce and maple.
-
Back
-
Unlike guitars, mandolins often have a rounded back, although they are being made now with a flatback, according to writers at Banjolin.co. The rounded back style is called bowl-shaped or Neopolitan style. This is the traditional shape given to the back of the instrument. Years ago, mandolin maker Orville Gibson started to make instruments with flat backs. There are two types: the A-style or artist style, which tends to be preferred in bluegrass music, and the F- or Florentine style, which tends to be preferred in folk music. The F-style also had a decorative scroll and points, when compared to the A-style.
Mandolin Strings
-
There are four courses of strings on the mandolin. This means that there are four pairs of strings, the very lowest being G and the highest being E. There are seven semitones in all, rather than eight, since the G is counted as zero. The A strings are tuned first, with the other strings being tuned up or down according to this A pitch. The strings themselves may be made of nickel, as the thinner "plain" strings often are, or phosphorus bronze, as the wound strings are. Nickel can also be used for the wound strings, which consist of a wire being wound around a single string. The wound strings maybe used for lower-pitched tones, and "plain" strings for higher-pitched tones.
Physical Differences between Types of Mandolins
-
There are several instruments in the mandolin family. These include the mandocello, mandobass and mandola. These instruments vary most markedly in size, just like the violin, viola, cello and bass differ due to their increasing size. The mandocello and mandobass are no longer being made except by request, according to writers at banjolin.
-
