Octave mandolin in unison. Alternate tunings exist in which the strings in some courses are tuned to octaves, rather than unisons, but this is more typical of the Irish Bouzouki. Usually, courses of 2 adjacent strings are doubled (tuned to the same pitch). The standard octave mandolin tuning is G2 G2 • D3 D3 • A3 A3 • E4 E4, so the lowest open strings are tuned to the lowest 'G' on the guitar, and the highest strings are tuned to the same 'E' as the highest string of the guitar. This tuning is one octave below the mandolin (or a fourth
Guitar tunings tuned fifth string can provide a reference to tune the remaining strings by ear. Tuning forks which provide the pitch of the high E string (329.63 Hz) are also common. The guitar is conventionally an equal-tempered instrument. The frets are positioned logarithmically, creating equally-tempered pitches along each string. However, guitarists who tune by ear will typically tune “clean” so that dissonant beating between particular strings is minimized. In this way, open intervals can be more consonant. This is known as just intonation, which is at variance with equal temperament. When the guitar is tuned in this way, open tunings theoretically