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		The Mandolin
		The mandolin is a plucked stringed instrument which is a descendant of a kind of lute - the instrument that is also the ancestor to the modern guitar. It has four pairs of strings tuned EADG from top to bottom in intervals of fifths like a violin. The mandolin is played with a small plectrum, or pick, now usually made of plastic. To obtain a sustained note, the pick is moved backwards and forwards rapidly across each of the pairs of strings in a technique known as the tremolo. This gives the traditional Italian mandolin sound. There are two types of mandolins commonly played today: the round-back style of mandolin (pictured at left) that originated in Naples, Italy, in the eighteenth century, and the flat-back style more common in contemporary American folk music. Both instruments can play all styles of mandolin music. See also A brief history of the mandolin and Choosing an instrument.