Most of the letter-named notes are two frets apart. You already know that the open strings of the five string banjo are normally tuned to the notes g (x2), d (x2) and b. We use the first seven letters of the alphabet a b c d e f g as names for notes. There are twelve possible notes you can play, not only on the banjo, but on any musical instrument. For that you will need a chromatic tuner. However the disadvantage is that you will only be able to tune to standard g tuning.Īlthough everything on this website is currently in standard tuning, there are other tunings you might like to use, including for example C tuning. The advantage of a non-chromatic tuner is that you don’t need to understand anything about the sharp and flat notes explained directly above here, so that can be helpful for a complete beginner. Fortunately the notes of the banjo in standard G tuning are included, so these tuners work with banjo! These are the notes that the strings of the guitar are normally tuned to, and basses and ukeleles are generally tuned to these notes as well. This type of tuner is normally only capable of detecting five notes g d a e b. These are usually called guitar, bass or ukelele tuners. The opposite of a chromatic tuner is one that only detects a limited range of notes. These tuners are also called universal tuners. A chromatic tuner can detect any of the twelve notes including the sharp # and flat Ƅ notes. clip on and mic.Īnother important factor to bear in mind when purchasing a tuner is whether it is chromatic or not. These are most commonly used for electric guitars, so the only way you can use one of these with a banjo is if you have a pickup fitted. You could rest it on a table as well.įinally there’s the type that you have to plug into with a cable. There’s also the type which uses a microphone, so you have to hold it in front of the banjo head (drum skin) which can be tricky. These are made by many different companies. The most popular type for use with banjos is the one that clips onto the peghead. There are several different kinds of electronic tuner. Don’t just rely on the electronic tuner to give you the right results, make sure to use your ears and brain as well. This is one reason why it’s so important to keep listening carefully when you are tuning. I once saw a band playing at a festival and the bass player had tuned his 2nd string to the wrong note! He had tuned to a d# instead of a d! The band started out playing confidently and with enthusiasm, but the longer they went on, the more everyone realised there was something wrong! Make sure to check the readout on the tuner and confirm that it’s the correct note for the string you are tuning. Most tuners will give some kind of read out to say which note you are tuning to, as well as whether the note is sharp, flat, or in tune. That’s why it’s important to know the note names for every string. This will leave your banjo sounding terrible and everything you play will sound wrong! This could be doubly confusing if you’ve taken time to tune the instrument and think you have a solid green light on each string. A chromatic tuner is capable of tuning to any of twelve different notes, not only the notes you need for G standard tuning.Ī common mistake that beginners make is to tune to the wrong note. When you are concentrating on the electronic tuner and trying to get that green light, it’s easy to forget which note you are tuning to. The more you practice tuning your banjo, the better you’re going to get at the hand skills and also the listening skills. This is the same for experienced professional musicians as it is for beginners, and also beware that the tuning can change with temperature and humidity, so even if your banjo was perfectly in tune yesterday it’s a good idea to tune it again today! It often takes two or three times round to get a musical stringed instrument properly in tune. Tune all the strings as best you can then start again. If your banjo is a long way out of tune, it’s going to take a while to tune it up properly. So I play a note on the 2nd string 4th fret so I can find my bearings. At a certain point ( 9:50) I get lost, I can’t tell whether I’m too high ( Sharp) or too low ( Flat) and I can’t see the tuner very well. In this example, I’m tuning the 1st string to a d# note. You can see in the video above at around 9 minutes I am demonstrating what happens if you tune a string to the wrong note. Open 5th string is the same note as 1st string 5th fret Open 3rd string is the same note as 4th string 5th fret Open 2nd string is the same note as 3rd string 4th fret Open 1st string is the same note as 2nd string 3rd fret
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