Mandolin

Essentially a smaller version of the lute, a
mandolin is usually between 20 inches and 2 feet long.
It has a straighter neck than does the lute--the end at
which the pegs secure the strings tilts back only slightly,
if at all. The mandolin is unusual for the number of
strings it holds--from four to six pairs (eight to twelve
strings total) or even more. A mandolin is typically
played with a pick, both to protect the musician's fingers
and because the strings are too close together to pluck
accurately by hand.

The mandolin has a sweeter sound than the lute and,
because of its shorter strings, a higher pitch as well. Its
great range of tone and expression have made it a favor-
ite of Small bards, especially gnomes and halflings, who
champion it as superior even to the lute.

Bardic Music

See lute. Among the most popular of the prime
bardic instruments, the mandolin enables a performer to
maintain one bardic music or virtuoso performance ef-
fect while initiating another. Thus, a bard could maintain
inspire competence on one listener while using suggestion
on another.