How can I play mandolin music on my twelve string guitar?

Question

I LOVE the song "Dance Tonight" by Paul Mccartney. I have an acoustic 6 string, an electric 6 string, and an acoustic 12 string. I also have several different styles of picks, accurate tablature, and a Capo. How can play this song and get it to sound right? I'm currently trying to tune four sets of strings on my 12 string and then muting the other two sets. If anyone would suggest this, which sets would I tune, and to what notes?

Answer 1

Mandolins are tuned in fifths (from low to high: GDAE), while the top 4 strings of a guitar are DGBE (in fourths except for an interval of a third between the G an B strings).  You could try to tune the top 4 strings of your guitar in fifths like a mandolin (DAEB -- D string stays the same, G string goes up to an A (no problem), B string goes all the way up to an E - yikes! and E string goes way up to a B -- yikes again!).........then capo it up at the 5th fret, which would give you (GDAE) like a mandolin.  But you might very well break your first and second strings tuning them that high unless you have really light gauge strings on your guitar.

If you don't mind taking that chance, go for it!