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24-546: The name can cause confusion, as "mandole" is a French word for mandola , the instrument from which the Algerian mandole developed. The Algerian mandole is not however a mandola, but a mandocello sized instrument. The instrument has also been called a "mandoluth" when describing the instrument played by the Algerian-French musician, Hakim Hamadouche. However, the luthier for one of Hakim's instruments describes it as

48-468: A mondole . The Algerian mandole is a stringed instrument, with an almond shaped body, built in a box like a guitar, but almond shaped like the mandola with a flat back, raised fingerboard, and wide neck (as a guitar's). It can have eight, ten, or twelve strings in doubled courses , and may have additional frets between frets to provide quarter tones . A variation is to have the thickest strings be single strings instead of double courses. The sound hole

72-567: A mandocello tuning using fifths C2 C2 G2 G2 D3 D3 A3 A3 (E4) (E4). The mandole was the European mandola , reborn in Algeria . The North African variant was made in 1932 by the Italian luthier Jean Bélido, following the design, conception and recommendations made by Algerian musician El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka . El Anka , who is known for his contributions to Chaabi music, had learned to play

96-421: A metal or plastic thumb pick mounted on a ring, and bluegrass banjo players often wear metal or plastic fingerpicks on their fingertips. Many guitarists use fingerpicks as well. Guitar picks are made of a variety of materials, including celluloid , metal, and rarely other exotic materials such as turtle shell, but today delrin (a synthetic thermoplastic polymer) is the most common. For other instruments in

120-620: A millimeter thick. The plectrum is gently tapered, being narrowest at the plucking end. The top surface of the plectrum is flat and horizontal and is held in the tongue of the jack; the tongue is pivoted so that the plectrum plucks the string when moving up, but is pushed away when moving down. In the historical period of harpsichord construction (up to about 1800) plectra were made of sturdy feather quills, usually from crows or ravens . In Italy, some makers (including Bartolomeo Cristofori ) used vulture quills. Other Italian harpsichords employed plectra of leather . In late French harpsichords by

144-480: A sustaining technique called tremolando , a rapid alternation of the plectrum on a single course of strings. The mandola is commonly used in folk music —particularly Italian folk music . It is sometimes played in Irish traditional music , but the instruments octave mandolin , Irish bouzouki and modern cittern are more commonly used. Some Irish traditional musicians, following the example of Andy Irvine , restring

168-405: Is a fretted, stringed musical instrument . It is to the mandolin what the viola is to the violin : the four double courses of strings tuned in fifths to the same pitches as the viola ( C 3 -G 3 -D 4 -A 4 ), a fifth lower than a mandolin. The mandola, though now rarer, is an ancestor of the mandolin. (The word mandolin means little mandola .) The name mandola may originate with

192-462: Is a refined skill, carried out fluently by professional builders, but one that usually must also be learned (at least to some degree) by harpsichord owners. First attested in English 15th century, the word "plectrum" comes from Latin plectrum , itself derived from Greek πλῆκτρον ( plēktron ), "anything to strike with, an instrument for striking the lyre, a spear point". "Plectrum" has both

216-409: Is typically diamond shaped, but can be round, and sometimes covered by a rosette. Instruments have been created with a scale length of 25.5 inches (650mm), but also as long as 27 inches. Overall instrument length is approximately 990mm (about 39 inches). Width 340mm (about 13.4 inches), depth 75mm (about 3 inches). The scale length puts the mandole in the baritone or bass range of instruments, such as

240-583: The Japanese biwa and shamisen can be quite large, and those used for the Arabic oud are longer and narrower, replacing the formerly used eagle feather. Plectra used for Chinese instruments such as the sanxian were formerly made of animal horn, though many players today use plastic plectra. In a harpsichord , there is a separate plectrum for each string. These plectra are very small, often only about 10 millimeters long, about 1.5 millimeters wide, and half

264-430: The copolymer variety, sold by Ticona as "Celcon". Harpsichord technicians and builders generally use the trade names to refer to these materials. In either of its varieties, acetal is far more durable than quill, which cuts down substantially on the time that must be spent in voicing (see below). Several contemporary builders and players have reasserted the superiority of bird quill for high-level harpsichords. While

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288-431: The quinterne or chiterna. However, significantly different instruments have at times and places taken on the same or similar names, and the "true" mandola has been strung in several different ways. The mandola has four double courses of metal strings, tuned in unison . The scale length is typically around 42 cm (16.5 inches). The mandola is typically played with a plectrum (pick). The double strings accommodate

312-513: The ancient pandura , and is also rendered as mandora , the change perhaps having been due to approximation to the Italian word for "almond". The instrument developed from the lute at an early date, being more compact and cheaper to build, but the sequence of development and nomenclature in different regions is now hard to discover. Historically related instruments include the mandore , mandole, vandola (Joan Carles Amat, 1596), bandola, bandora, bandurina, pandurina and – in 16th-century Germany –

336-456: The difference in sound between acetal and quill is acknowledged to be small, what difference may exist is held to be to the advantage of quill. In addition, quill plectra tend to fail gradually, giving warning by the diminishing volume, whereas acetal plectra fail suddenly and completely, sometimes in the middle of a performance. The plectra of a harpsichord must be cut precisely, in a process called "voicing". A properly voiced plectrum will pluck

360-460: The great builder Pascal Taskin , peau de buffle , a chamois -like material from the hide of the European bison , was used for plectra to produce a delicate pianissimo . Modern harpsichords frequently employ plectra made with plastic, specifically the plastic known as acetal . Some plectra are of the homopolymer variety of acetal, sold by DuPont under the name "Delrin", while others are of

384-420: The jack, then placing the jack on a small wooden voicing block, so that the top of the plectrum sits flush with the block. The plectrum is then cut and thinned on the underside with a small, very sharp knife, such as an X-Acto knife . As the plectrum is progressively trimmed, its jack is replaced in the instrument at intervals to test the result for loudness, tone quality, and the possibility of hanging. Voicing

408-401: The mando-cello. The instrument can be tuned as a guitar, oud or mandocello, depending on the music it will be used to play and player preference. When tuning it as a guitar the strings will be tuned (E2) (E2) A2 A2 D3 D3 G3 G3 B3 B3 (E4) (E4). Strings in parentheses are dropped for a five or four course instrument. Using a common Arabic oud tuning D2 D2 G2 G2 A2 A2 D3 D3 (G3) (G3) (C4) (C4). For

432-443: The mandola in his work. Mandolas are sometimes played in mandolin orchestras , along with other members of the mandolin family: mandolin, mandocello and mandobass . Sometimes the octave mandolin (also referred to as an octave mandola) is included as well. Plectrum A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument . For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins ,

456-600: The mandola while young. He found the mandolas used in Andalusian orchestras to be "too sharp and little amplified". Bélido, a music teacher and luthier in Bab El Oued , changed the size of the " demi-mandole " then being played, increasing it, and changing the soundboard structure, case thickness and strings. The instrument he created is closest to the mando-cello in the mandolin family. Mandola The mandola (US and Canada) or tenor mandola (Ireland and UK)

480-440: The modern day, most players use plastic plectra but a variety of other materials, including wood and felt (for use with the ukulele ) are common. Guitarists in the rock , blues , jazz and bluegrass genres tend to use a plectrum, partly due to the use of steel strings wearing out the player's fingernails quickly, but also because a plectrum provides a more "clear", "focused" and "aggressive" sound. Many guitarists will also use

504-402: The pick in combination with the remaining picking-hand fingers simultaneously, to combine the different advantages of flat-picking and finger picking . This technique is called hybrid picking , or more colloquially in country & bluegrass genres, as chicken pickin'. A plectrum of the guitar type is often called a pick (or a flatpick to distinguish it from fingerpicks). The plectra for

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528-457: The plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. In harpsichords , the plectra are attached to the jack mechanism. A plectrum for electric guitars , acoustic guitars , bass guitars and mandolins is typically a thin piece of plastic or other material most commonly shaped like a pointed teardrop or triangle, though the size, gauge, shape and width may vary considerably. Banjo and guitar players may wear

552-402: The string in a way that produces a good musical tone and matches well in loudness with all of the other strings. The underside of the plectrum must be appropriately slanted and entirely smooth, so that the jack will not "hang" (get caught on the string) when, after sounding a note, it is moved back down below the level of the string. Normally, voicing is carried out by inserting the plectrum into

576-570: The tenor mandola with lighter, mandolin strings and tune it F-C-G-C (two semi-tones lower than G-D-A-D, since the mandola's fretboard is two frets longer than the mandolin's), while others (Brian McDonagh of Dervish being the best known) use alternate tunings such as D-A-E-A. Like the guitar , the mandola can be acoustic or electric. Attila the Stockbroker , punk poet and frontman of Barnstormer, uses an electric mandola as his main instrument. Alex Lifeson , guitarist of Rush , has also featured

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