how do you tune A Banjo

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 10 May 2010 9:41 am

Calvin,Thanks for this post,I borrowed a banjo from my neighbor and popped the 1st string now I know what to replace it with...It bit me and drew blood.
"paddle faster I hear banjos" I saw that on a T-Shirt.

Calvin Walley · Post by **Calvin Walley** » 10 May 2010 12:50 pm

Stu

your welcome ..lol

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 10 May 2010 4:46 pm

Calvin Walley wrote:...I have always thought of going from bass strings to treble strings ,
never tinkered with anything that had a treble string on both sides

Then keep away from the ukelele and the cittern, both of which have what is known as "re-entrant" tuning.

Calvin Walley · Post by **Calvin Walley** » 10 May 2010 4:52 pm

Alan

i'm afraid to ask how it works !

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 12 May 2010 5:17 pm

The ukelele has four strings, of which the fourth is higher than the first. The cittern has anything from ten to fourteen strings, sometimes in octave pairs and sometimes not. There are several different tunings. In some of the tunings the bottom one or two pairs are higher than the next ones up, and in at least one of the tunings the second pair are higher than the first. The mountain dulcimer can also be re-entrant.

Any tuning where the strings don't progress from highest to lowest, or vice-versa, is known as "re-entrant".

Mark Lind-Hanson · Post by **Mark Lind-Hanson** » 16 May 2010 6:03 am

There are actually two tunings you can use, ad I prefer the open G tuning myself (Scruggs style).
Pete Seeger's book uses a different tuning, an Open C (and don't ask me the strings I have not got thte book for reference)but is basically tuning it like the old time New Orleans jazz 4 string players. The difference in the two tunings would be apparent if you were to try one and then the other. G is a little better however for most of the bluegrass music you will encounter- if you have done any finger picking on guitar, you will have a lot of the right hand dexterity already. There are patterns and runs that the open G tuning really helps you with esp when you can barre a whole fret and get another related major chord. In that way its a little similar to guitar and lap steel - once you have the positions worked out relative to the keys you can play in you will be amazed how quickly you can progress with it. Banjo is fun but I don't any longer own one.

Allan Jirik · Post by **Allan Jirik** » 16 May 2010 8:07 pm

I quit pedal steel in 1981 and bought my first banjo. Now I own three (acoustic, electric and banjo/dobro hybrid). Recently YouTube got me interested in pedal steel again... my second steel arrived Friday. I only wanted to noodle around with steel but it appears I'm getting into it with both feet (and knees).

Banjo and pedal steel are similar in that they both have a way to go to be considered "legitimate" instruments by the non-musical public. The banjo is the instrument people love to hate- think trailer trash, Deliverance, etc. Yes, I have a "Paddle Faster, I Hear Banjo Music" hat! Ask any person on the street if he even knows what a pedal steel is and most often you get a vacant stare and a slack jaw, at least where I live. Frankly, I haven't seen much progress in pedal steel awareness from when I started in 1971 to the present. Why is that?

I love banjo and pedal steel, popular or not. When I sat behind a steel again after 29 years I felt I had come full circle. Now I practice steel then go pick some banjo. It's all good!

John Steele (deceased) · Post by **John Steele (deceased)** » 16 May 2010 10:26 pm

Mark,
The standard C tuning is accomplished by lowering the fourth string D to C. Everything else stays the same.
There's also a D tuning in which alot of tunes are written, which lowers the second string B to A, the third string G to F#, and raising the fifth string to A. The first and fourth strings (D) remain the same.
The G tuning is by far the most common.
- John

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 17 May 2010 6:44 am

There's also a G minor tuning, which gives a very haunting sound. Just drop the 2nd string by a semitone.

That's a 6-string banjo I'm playing. It's not the type tuned like a guitar, it's basically a 5-string banjo with an additional bass string, which is very useful. I tend to refer to a 5 string banjo as 4+1 string and one of these as 5+1 string as opposed to 6 string.

Rick Collins · Post by **Rick Collins** » 17 May 2010 12:46 pm

I'm learning a lot about the banjo from this thread.

It seems the banjo tuner and the banjo mute look much the same,
except the mute has a much shorter handle.

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 17 May 2010 1:40 pm

Allan Jirik wrote:
Banjo and pedal steel are similar in that they both have a way to go to be considered "legitimate" instruments by the non-musical public.

The banjo was the instrument to play 90-130 years ago, back then it was the legitimate instrument.

I have a reproduction copy of the 1908 Sears Catalog, in it there are two pages of mandolins, two pages of accordions, one page of guitars, three pages of violins, two pages of brass instruments, and six pages of banjos.
From the civil was till the 1920s the banjo was THE most popular instrument in American music. Most all of the published sheet music from that time was written for banjo.

Archie Nicol R.I.P. · Post by **Archie Nicol R.I.P.** » 17 May 2010 3:09 pm

Nice Axe, Alan. Is it a Beard?

Arch.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 17 May 2010 4:01 pm

I'm not sure. There's no brand name on the headstock.

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 17 May 2010 4:20 pm

Alan Brookes wrote:There's also a G minor tuning, which gives a very haunting sound. Just drop the 2nd string by a semitone.

and if you take that tuning and drop your "G" strings down a full tone, to "F", then you get a nice open Bb chord, and another fun key to play in.

Dave Burr · Post by **Dave Burr** » 18 May 2010 8:19 am

I'm suprised no one has ever incorporated a 5 string back neck onto their pedal steel which incorporates the standard banjo tuning and utilizes the pedals to accomplish common chords/licks, etc.... They could call it the "pedal steeljo".

Greg Wisecup · Post by **Greg Wisecup** » 18 May 2010 12:19 pm

What's the difference in tuning a banjo and a lawnmower?

You can tune a lawnmower.

Allan Jirik · Post by **Allan Jirik** » 18 May 2010 6:08 pm

Alvin's right, banjo was hella (as my son would say) popular back in the day. For that matter, so was Hawaiian guitar. I just think the little exposure that five-string banjo gets today is generally unfavorable. The two jokers on the morning drive time show in my area use banjo to lead into stories about dumb asses and trailer trash, reinforcing the idea that banjo is primarily associated with a particular level of intellect. However, if I'm picking in a park or other public place the banjo never fails to generate interest. Or, when I'm picking with my sons their friends think the banjo is awesome. People might say they don't like bluegrass or country music but when they hear the banjo "live" the response is usually favorable.

I give a lot of credit to anyone who picks up and sticks with a musical instrument no matter what it is. To paraphrase Will Rogers, I've never met a musical instrument I didn't like. Why, I even enjoy accordion and that is pretty much on the bottom of everyone's list! I'm proud of what I play- banjo and pedal steel (second time around).

If you want to hear stellar banjo, dig up a copy of Butch Robin's The Fifth Child. That's my favorite banjo album. A brilliant player, fine choice of material and an excellent mix job.

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 20 May 2010 7:02 am

How do you tune a banjo? Easy. You use a banjo tuner.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 22 May 2010 3:15 pm

Here's an unusual old 6-string banjo that I play;

Looks a little bit pregnant!
Here's a neck I bought on ebay to put on an old Vega Tubaphone rim that I have;

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 22 May 2010 6:18 pm

Allan Jirik wrote:If you want to hear stellar banjo, dig up a copy of Butch Robin's The Fifth Child. That's my favorite banjo album. A brilliant player, fine choice of material and an excellent mix job.

Thanks for the warning, Allan.

John Floyd · Post by **John Floyd** » 23 May 2010 5:30 am

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 23 May 2010 9:32 am

Okay son, where's that banjo you want me to tune ?

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