Difference Between a Cittern & an Octave Mandolin
The cittern and octave mandolin are close members in the large family of stringed instruments, but they have some distinct differences. Having evolved over the course of hundreds of years, both instruments still feature prominently in folk music today.
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History
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The historical origins of the cittern and octave mandolin are not precisely known, though predecessors of both instruments were widely used during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Some historians trace the cittern to the Medieval citole, a smaller stringed instrument played by minstrels. The octave mandolin, sometimes called the mandola or tenor mandola, appeared around the same time.
Strings
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The most obvious difference between the cittern and octave mandolin is their strings. The cittern employs 10 strings in five pairs. The octave mandolin has eight strings in four pairs.
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Tuning
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Although both instruments share many similarities in construction and tone, the cittern and octave mandolin are tuned quite differently. The cittern is the more flexible of the two, since the instrument does not generally employ a standard tuning. Frequent cittern tuning patterns include ADADA, ADGAD, and DGDAD. The octave mandolin is tuned one octave below a traditional mandolin, GDAE.
Body Type
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The instrument bodies of the cittern and octave mandolin also vary. The cittern is generally the larger of the two and features a flat or gently curved back with a teardrop-shaped body. The octave mandolin comes with a flat, arched, or bowl-shaped back, with a body shaped like a lute.
Function
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Despite their differences, the cittern and octave mandolin both produce bright tones, are generally strummed with a guitar pick (or finger picks), and feature prominently in many types of music. The instruments have been especially embraced by folk performers and have graced many live performances and albums containing Celtic music.
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References
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- Photo Credit Image by Fotolia.com, courtesy of Paul Moore
