i wish to play irish tunes on my brother's 5 strings banjo. I'm used to mandolin tuning (GDAE). The strings now tuned to DGBD (I disregard the extra shorter string) and don't sound right when I tune them to GDAE (and both low strings don't stay in tune) .
What strings do I have to buy in order to be able to tune it to gdae?
My opinionated 5 string old timey workmate who is looking over my shoulder says.....
1 remove neck
2 saw off the heel
3 saw off 5 frets from the bottom
4 reglue the heel
5 refit to the pot
6 rip out and chuck the 5th peg
7 Move the bridge around until the frets make sense.
8 Don't tell your brother
You can also play irish tunes in clawhammer style on a 5 string
banjo. It may be a little slower but my old timey friend claims it improves the music.
But he doesn't go to sessions he goes ot picks so he wouldn't really understand, as all the above demonstrates. I'll tell him to go and have another drink. its 5.00pm on Friday here. We are now off to play a tune.
Check the scale length first, then go along to a good music shop. The "octave mandola" strings sets should probaly do for you, and you'll get a free set in every packet ! ( lol ).
A 5-string without the 5th used to be called a plectrum banjo, and was used in every banjo band, back before I was born. If you've got the resonator, put it back on the banjo.
If you find that "octave mandola" or "irish tenor" sets are too tight on the instrument, you might consider tuning it down a step or two (e.g. to FCGD) and capoing up to GDAE.
The quickest path to gratification would be to leave the current strings on it and, assuming it’s in the common G tuning, just tune the high D string up to E and play it like a guitar.
Several years ago I turned a 5-string banjo into a tenor banjo. I removed the 5th string and then restrung it so that when capoed at the 4th fret is was in GDAE. The 4th fret capo gives it a scale length of 21 inches, which works well for melody.
It's been so long ago that I don't remember what string gauges I used, but here is another string gauge calculator you can use.
I have a four string plectrum banjo, which has a long neck like the five strings, but without the short string, came from my Grandfather, who bought it from a vaudville musician down on his luck during the depression. It is the kind of banjo you would see in a dixieland band, being strummed rather than playing melody. To see if I could get a tenor banjo sound, I tuned it down and capoed it (don't remember which fret) as recommended by a friend who is a banjo player and luthier, but it would have needed heavier strings to sound like a tenor. So I have tuned it like the top four strings of my guitar (which is standard tuned), which some website told me was not the most common, but was a very common tuning for that instrument back in its day. That way, any tune I learn on it can be directly transferred to my guitar.
I played a number of instruments in a Minnesota contra dance band, eventually ending up as the guitar/5-string guy. There were still moments when I wanted to revert to being the mandolin/tenor banjo guy, so I stumbled across tuning near-enough for me:
1) Capo 2 and tune banjo to "double D" tuning (aDADE)
2) Tune 2nd string up 2 frets (tuning aDAEE).
3) Play like a tenor banjo with a broken G string, ignoring the high 5th string. Hope the fiddler doesn't pick any tunes that go that low.
It's also quite possible to play tenor style in standard banjo tunings, provided you know the tunings well enough. I found the standard "double D" to be particularly nice for tunes in D, since you have tons of droney-ornamenty options.
5 strings banjo tuned as atenor banjo
5 strings banjo tuned as atenor banjo
i wish to play irish tunes on my brother's 5 strings banjo. I'm used to mandolin tuning (GDAE). The strings now tuned to DGBD (I disregard the extra shorter string) and don't sound right when I tune them to GDAE (and both low strings don't stay in tune) .
What strings do I have to buy in order to be able to tune it to gdae?
# Posted on July 29th 2005 by azo
Re: 5 strings banjo tuned as atenor banjo
My opinionated 5 string old timey workmate who is looking over my shoulder says.....
1 remove neck
2 saw off the heel
3 saw off 5 frets from the bottom
4 reglue the heel
5 refit to the pot
6 rip out and chuck the 5th peg
7 Move the bridge around until the frets make sense.
8 Don't tell your brother
Don't worry, he's been drinking a bit much.
Visit the mcDonald Strings web site. Graham has a string tension program there.
http://www.mcdonaldstrings.com/stringxxiii.html
You can also play irish tunes in clawhammer style on a 5 string
banjo. It may be a little slower but my old timey friend claims it improves the music.
But he doesn't go to sessions he goes ot picks so he wouldn't really understand, as all the above demonstrates. I'll tell him to go and have another drink. its 5.00pm on Friday here. We are now off to play a tune.
# Posted on July 29th 2005 by NeilBarr
Re: 5 strings banjo tuned as atenor banjo
Before cutting up the banjo you should check out Tom Hanway's book on playing Irish music on the 5string - it is published by Mel Bay.
# Posted on July 29th 2005 by Cuso
Re: 5 strings banjo tuned as atenor banjo
How about swapping it for a tenor?
# Posted on July 29th 2005 by showaddydadito
Re: 5 strings banjo tuned as atenor banjo
I tried this years ago.Don't bother,buy a tenor banjo.
# Posted on July 29th 2005 by dafydd
Re: 5 strings banjo tuned as atenor banjo
Check the scale length first, then go along to a good music shop. The "octave mandola" strings sets should probaly do for you, and you'll get a free set in every packet ! ( lol ).
A 5-string without the 5th used to be called a plectrum banjo, and was used in every banjo band, back before I was born. If you've got the resonator, put it back on the banjo.
# Posted on July 29th 2005 by Guernsey Pete
Re: 5 strings banjo tuned as atenor banjo
If you find that "octave mandola" or "irish tenor" sets are too tight on the instrument, you might consider tuning it down a step or two (e.g. to FCGD) and capoing up to GDAE.
# Posted on July 29th 2005 by tedium
Re: 5 strings banjo tuned as atenor banjo
The quickest path to gratification would be to leave the current strings on it and, assuming it’s in the common G tuning, just tune the high D string up to E and play it like a guitar.
# Posted on July 29th 2005 by Bob himself
Re: 5 strings banjo tuned as atenor banjo
Several years ago I turned a 5-string banjo into a tenor banjo. I removed the 5th string and then restrung it so that when capoed at the 4th fret is was in GDAE. The 4th fret capo gives it a scale length of 21 inches, which works well for melody.
It's been so long ago that I don't remember what string gauges I used, but here is another string gauge calculator you can use.
http://www.greenmanhumming.com/html/StringCalc/Multistringcalc.html
# Posted on July 29th 2005 by Craymcla
Re: 5 strings banjo tuned as atenor banjo
I have a four string plectrum banjo, which has a long neck like the five strings, but without the short string, came from my Grandfather, who bought it from a vaudville musician down on his luck during the depression. It is the kind of banjo you would see in a dixieland band, being strummed rather than playing melody. To see if I could get a tenor banjo sound, I tuned it down and capoed it (don't remember which fret) as recommended by a friend who is a banjo player and luthier, but it would have needed heavier strings to sound like a tenor. So I have tuned it like the top four strings of my guitar (which is standard tuned), which some website told me was not the most common, but was a very common tuning for that instrument back in its day. That way, any tune I learn on it can be directly transferred to my guitar.
# Posted on August 1st 2005 by AlBrown
Re: 5 strings banjo tuned as atenor banjo
If the neck is more or less the same in 5 string banjo and in bouzouki , can't I simply use the same strings and same tuning (gdae) ?
# Posted on August 1st 2005 by azo
Re: 5 strings banjo tuned as atenor banjo
I played a number of instruments in a Minnesota contra dance band, eventually ending up as the guitar/5-string guy. There were still moments when I wanted to revert to being the mandolin/tenor banjo guy, so I stumbled across tuning near-enough for me:
1) Capo 2 and tune banjo to "double D" tuning (aDADE)
2) Tune 2nd string up 2 frets (tuning aDAEE).
3) Play like a tenor banjo with a broken G string, ignoring the high 5th string. Hope the fiddler doesn't pick any tunes that go that low.
It's also quite possible to play tenor style in standard banjo tunings, provided you know the tunings well enough. I found the standard "double D" to be particularly nice for tunes in D, since you have tons of droney-ornamenty options.
Best of luck!
# Posted on August 5th 2005 by eljaspero