This is my mandola. It is a Musikalia Octave Mandola, and tuned to G D A E.  I have only been playing (or learning to play to be precise) for a few months. My husband says that I don’t play it as it should be played, and he is probably right, but I enjoy what I do, nevertheless. I have always wanted to play an instrument that I could sing along with, so I tend to play chords to back tunes rather than the tunes themselves. Once I had learned a few basic chords, it is amazing how many songs that I can fumble my way around.

Once I had mastered a few basic chords I then started to experiment with plucking the strings rather than just strumming. It is not as easy as it looks, especially when you have arthritis in your fingers, so I have devised a little warm-up tune that I always play when I first pick up my mandola, to warm my fingers up a bit. I think this tune has now evolved into a form of torture for Bill.