Chord guide
Mandolin Chords for Beginners
The mandolin is tuned in fifths, G-D-A-E, like a violin, so many useful chords need only two or three fingers. These ten shapes cover the common keys of folk and bluegrass music.
- Tuning
- G D A E (low to high), in four pairs of strings
- Strings shown
- 4th (G), 3rd (D), 2nd (A), 1st (E)
- First three chords
- G, C and D
- Read the numbers
- Fret to hold down; 0 means open
Standard tuning
A mandolin has eight strings in four pairs, and each pair is tuned to the same note: G, D, A and E from low to high. Press both strings of a pair together. The charts list the pairs from the low G (4th) to the high E (1st).
Chord chart
Strings run vertically with the low G on the left; frets run across. A dot shows where to put a finger and an open circle means play the pair open.
| Chord | G (4th) | D (3rd) | A (2nd) | E (1st) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | G, D, B, G |
| C | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | G, E, C, E |
| D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | A, D, A, F# |
| D7 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | A, D, C, F# |
| A | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | A, E, C#, A |
| Em | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | G, E, B, E |
| Am | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | A, E, C, E |
| E | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | G#, E, B, E |
| F | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | C, F, A, F |
| G7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | G, D, B, F |
Tips
- Learn G, C and D first. With D7 and Em added, you can accompany most songs in the key of G.
- Use the fifths. Because the strings are a fifth apart, the same finger pattern played one pair higher gives the chord a fifth higher: compare G (0-0-2-3) and D (2-0-0-2) as you practise.
- Short, crisp strums. In bluegrass the mandolin often plays short "chop" chords on the off-beat. Chops use closed shapes with no open strings, a good next step once these open chords are comfortable.
Songs to practise
G, C and D: Keep on the Sunny Side · Wildwood Flower · This Land Is Your Land. Fiddle tunes in D and A: Soldier's Joy · Old Joe Clark.
Also see our banjo chord chart.