Valhalla Campfire Songbook

Mandolin Foundations

The mandolin is tuned in fifths (G–D–A–E from low to high), the same as a violin. This is mathematically beautiful and ergonomically vicious — every chord you know on guitar is wrong on mandolin, and the frets are tiny. The good news: you only need about six chord shapes to play 90% of the folk and shanty repertoire, and the right-hand technique transfers in spirit if not in motion.

Tuning and setup

Standard tuning, low to high: G – D – A – E. Each string is doubled (eight strings total, four pairs called "courses"). Tune the lower of each pair first, then match the upper to it.

Get a clip-on chromatic tuner. Snark, D'Addario PW-CT-12, anything modern. Mandolin strings de-tune constantly in the first six months of new strings; expect to tune three times during a song.

If your mandolin has been sitting in a closet for years:

  • Take it to a luthier for a setup. Mandolin action is finicky — too high and your hand will cramp, too low and it'll buzz on every chop chord.
  • New strings. D'Addario J74 mediums are the safe default.
  • Check the tuners; they're often the failure point on cheap mandos.

The six chords that unlock everything

These are two-finger and three-finger shapes, not the gigantic chord-melody monsters. Stick with these for now:

       G              D              A              Em
   |---|---|       |---|---|       |---|---|       |---|---|
E  | 3 |   |    E  | 2 |   |    E  |   | 5 |    E  |   |   |
A  |   | 2 |    A  | 2 |   |    A  | 2 |   |    A  |   |   |
D  |   | 2 |    D  |   | 4 |    D  | 2 |   |    D  | 2 |   |
G  |   |   |    G  |   |   |    G  |   |   |    G  |   |   |
   fret 2,3        fret 2,4        fret 2,5        fret 2

       C              Am
   |---|---|       |---|---|
E  |   | 3 |    E  |   |   |
A  |   | 3 |    A  |   |   |
D  | 2 |   |    D  | 2 |   |
G  |   |   |    G  | 2 |   |
   fret 2,3        fret 2

Three of those (G, A, D) follow the same shape moved up the neck. That's the magic of the mandolin — once you have the chop-chord shape, you have every major chord in the universe just by sliding it.

The chop chord — the percussive heart of folk mando

The "chop" is the muted backbeat hit you hear in every bluegrass and shanty band. It's what your guitar's snare drum equivalent would be. Master this and you instantly sound like you know what you're doing.

Mechanics:

  1. Form a closed-position chord shape (no open strings — fingers on every course).
  2. Strike on beats 2 and 4.
  3. Immediately release left-hand pressure (don't lift, just relax) so the strings damp.

Result: a percussive chuck on the off-beat. That's it. That single technique is the difference between "guy noodling on a mandolin" and "someone who plays the mandolin."

The closed-position G chop chord:

E  |   |   | 7 |    (3rd finger, 7th fret)
A  |   |   | 5 |    (2nd finger, 5th fret)
D  |   |   | 5 |    (2nd finger, 5th fret)  
G  |   |   | 5 |    (1st finger, 5th fret)
        fret 5,7

Slide it down two frets → F. Up two frets → A. Up four → B. The whole neck is yours.

Tremolo

The other signature mandolin technique: rapid down-up-down-up on a single note or chord, creating a sustain that the instrument otherwise can't produce. Used in slow sections — ballads, the verse of Northwest Passage, anywhere the song needs to float.

Don't try to do it fast. Start at maybe 4 picks per beat, very even, very loose wrist. The wrist is everything; if your forearm is tight you'll never get there. Build speed over weeks, not minutes.

Right hand: pick choice matters more on mando

Mandolin picks should be stiff (1.0–1.5mm). The instrument has very little sustain, so a thin pick produces a ghost of a sound. A heavy pick gives you the punchy attack the instrument wants.

Try a Dunlop Primetone 1.4mm or BlueChip TAD60 if you're flush. The BlueChip is famously expensive but lasts forever and feels like nothing else.

Songs to apply the chops to (in order)

  1. Can You Canoe? — Okee Dokee. Two-chord verse (E, B), three-chord chorus.
  2. Four Strong Winds — Tyson. Just chop on 2 and 4, no fancy work needed.
  3. Wagon Wheel — old standby, perfect for the chop on G/D/Em/C.
  4. Whiskey in the Jar — moves between the relative major and minor; great training.
  5. Northwest Passage — bring in tremolo on the long-held notes in the chorus.

Tutorials

  • Mandolessons — mandolessons.com. Free comprehensive course by Brian Wicklund. Start here.
  • Mike Marshall's ArtistWorks course — paid, but if you fall in love with the instrument it's the best instruction in the world. He'll personally critique your video submissions.
  • Baron Collins-Hill / Mandolin Cafe lessons — bluegrass-leaning, lots of good chop-chord work.
  • Sierra Hull videos on YouTube — watch her left hand. She's one of the best living players.

Adding the mandolin to a guitar player

If you and your partner play together (you on guitar, them on mandolin or fiddle), the mando's job is:

  • Chop on 2 and 4 — gives the song its drive.
  • Fill the high register the guitar doesn't reach.
  • Tremolo on long held notes — sustain the guitar can't.
  • Take the lead occasionally on instrumental breaks.

If you're playing mandolin solo around a fire, you'll do all of the above sequentially within a single song. That's fine — mandolin is built for it.