Tuning
Tuning is the most important concept of playing a banjo. If the banjo is not in tune with itself, or the other instruments in an ensemble, the resulting music will not sound pleasing to the ear. Banjo players use many different tunings, but the most common (“G”) is shown in Figure 20.
G | 5 | 4 |
D | ||
G | 3 | 2 |
D B | 1 |
D - 4th string (one octave lower than the 1st string)
G - 3rd string (one octave lower than the 5th string)
Figure 20. Standard tuning notes.
Important issues to consider when tuning a banjo:
•Get into the habit of tuning the banjo every time it is picked up to be played.
•Always tune the strings “up.” The final tuned tension of each string should be reached while tightening the string, not loosening it. If the string is tensioned too far, loosen the ten- sion and tune ”up” again.
•The easiest way to tune a banjo is using an electronic tuner such as the Grizzly H3097 Chromatic Tuner shown on page 16.
H3124 Banjo Kit |