The Mandotabs online mandolin tuner offers you the most advanced and easy-to-use mandolin tuner to keep your mandolin in tune without the need of a tuning device. It is completely free and very versatile. By default it is using standard tuning (GDAE), but you can freely choose one of the popular (and less popular) preset tunings. Hit the play button on each string to hear the note. You can easily switch between a real instrument playing or digital beep.
The open strings on the mandolin are commonly tuned to G, D, A and E. This is known as standard tuning. This is what you need to play most of the songs. The open strings can be located as follows, from left to right looking at your mandolin with the headstock at the top:
This tuner supports the most popular mandolin tunings. Standard tuning is GDEA, which is the most common mandolin tuning. Feel free to experiment though, some more exotic tunings are also available: Gee-DAD (GDAD), open G (GDGB), sawmill (GDGD) and high-bass (ADAE). The standard, Gee-DAD and Open-G mandolin tunings are the most popular tunings in bluegrass / old-time music.
Once you have selected a tuning, simply tap on the tuning pegs to ring out the root note for each string. Listen carefully and tune your mandolin to that note by ear. Some people find a monotone beep easier to tune to. Select 'beep' if you want to use that sound instead of the natural mandolin strings. While tuning your mandolin stroke one string of a pair and mute the other string using the pick.
