Frets Strings

Mandocello and Mandobass

The Mandocello is tuned CGDA one octave below the Mandola (however most of them will stand being tuned in GDAE like a bouzouki, using lighter strings). The Mando Bass is a rare beast, but the examples we have had have ...

Mandolas and Citterns popular today have different historical roots, but the ones we have are of similar size, the main difference being ten strings or eight.

The Mandolin Banjo dates from the early 20th century and has a small body with a 6 to 10 inch head. It has 8 strings tuned the same as a mandolin and is about the same size as a uke banjo. They are seen in both zither style and normal construction with...

The Guitar Banjo is a modern invention, we haven't seen any older than the late 20th century. They have a regular pot the same size as a 5-String and an 11 inch head. Most have a shorter scale than a guitar and are best played above the normal pitch ...

The Guitarra or Portuguese Guitar shares the fan tuners and shape of the English Guitar or Gittar which was popular across the British Isles in the 1700s. The modern Portuguese instrument has 12 strings on a strongly curved fingerboard, a teardrop shaped body with a slight bowl to the back. It is used primarily played as a duo with Guitar to accompany Fado songs. The thumb picks the bottom three strings with an Unha/Fado pick and the top three are picked with the fingers.

Lute is a generic term for stringed instruments with a body and a neck. The modern lute has a bowl back, a wide neck with gut frets, an angled peg head and usually a carved soundhole rosette. The lute is a descendant of the Arabic Ud, the addition of gut frets being the main difference.

The Oud or Ud is the premier instrument of the Arab world, still played widely and is the ancestor of the Lute. The Cuatro and Tres are popular across Latin America. The Balalaika is a family of instruments, the soprano one here is the lead instrument...

The Mandola (the big brother of the Mandolin), has 8 strings in 4 pairs, tuned in 5ths. The Mandola retains the high-tension stringing but allows lower parts to be played. The Tenor Mandola (or Mandola) is tuned as a Viola, CGDA, one fifth below a mandolin...

Several other types of banjo exist, the most popular are the Ukulele Banjo as popularised by George Formby, the Mandolin Banjo (or Banjolin), Plectrum or 4 string G Banjo, and there is even a Guitar Banjo, which makes the banjo sound available to all...

This section includes all the less common type of fretted instrument. We've got Appalachian Dulcimers, Strumsticks from the USA; Ouds from Turkey, Ruan from China, plus Balalaikas from Romania and Cuatros de Puerto Rico.

The Pipa is a Chinese lute with four stings which can be tuned to GDAE. The body is pear shaped with scalloped frets and a shallow carved bowl back. Like a lute the frets continue over the body of the instrument. Fingerpicks are usually used, and the instrument is held verticaly in the lap.

The mandolin is part of a family of instruments just like the violin family. The mandolin is the most common and is tuned like the fiddle, GDAE, its big brother, the mandola, is tuned like the viola, CGDA, and the octave mandola which has no violin equivalent is tuned GDAE. There are also the rarer mandocello (CGDA) and mandobass (EADG).

The Plectrum Banjo or 4-String G banjo has the same tuning and neck length as a 5-string G banjo but omits the 5th string. The lack of a 5th string peg facilitates quick thumb movement up and down the neck and as the neck is longer than on the tenor ...

The Ruan is very popular in China and has a round moon shaped body and again four strings and scalloped frets. This one has a floating mandolin type bridge with tailpiece.
It is a descendant of the Pipa used in both folk and classical music and is...

The sitar is a long-necked lute with a large pumpkin gourd body, and is one of the more common melody instruments in northern India. Some have detachable resonator gourds at the back of the neck. The frets are moveable for optimising tuning toward particular ragas (Indian modes)

The soprano is the smallest uke and used to the be normal size, now there is much more choice! Soprano and concert ukes are tuned GCEA (C tuning), or ADF#B (D tuning).

The Tar is an Iranian instrument

The tenor uke is bigger than both soprano and concert and usually tuned to C tuning. Soprano and concert ukes are tuned GCEA (C tuning), or ADF#B (D tuning).

The Tiple is like a ukelele but with double strings top and bottom, and triple strings on the middle 2 courses.

The Ukulele Banjo as popularised by George Formby has the same tuning as the ukulele. The banjo has a small head 7 to 8 inches usually, and often a resonator. The banjo body and the resonator add a lot of volume to the Uke.