Tenor banjo tuned GDAE

[smilnJackB]

Hi Folks. I started a tenor Guitar thread a while back. I am looking, but have not yet bought. They seem pricey for what you get.
I bought a Harmony tenor BANJO (4 string) on Ebay yesterday for $60. It looks okay in the photos.... I know it can be tuned several ways, including G D A E. What can you tell me about a tenor banjo? I hope to use it for some old timey music, probably some Gospel and maybe Celtic. I will play it QUIETLY!
Jack http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[John Flynn]

Well, if you must play a banjo, that would be the one to play. It is a standard instrument in Celtic music and American ragtime music. It is found rarely, but occasionally, in American old-time music. Some OT mando players use them occasionally for variety. Because of the short sustain they have, many players play triplets on longer notes, instead of just letting one stroke ring. There are a few tenor banjo sites on the web. A web search will bring them up. I borrowed one from a friend once when I was thinking about buying one. I tried it with the best intentions, but I really couldn't get into it. That's just me and my preferences.

[withak]

I will play it QUIETLY!
Sorry, that's impossible. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

I play one for irish music, tuned GDAE. Most sets of strings you can buy will be for regular tenor banjo tuning (CGDA), you'll need to get heavier strings if you want to tune it like a mandolin. Somewhere around 012-020-030-040 should work.

I don't know anything about playing it for anything other than irish music, but chords are a much longer reach on one of those than on a mando.

[sailaway]

Well, I have an old junker tenor banjolin (4 pairs of strings) rescued from an antique store for $20, After I put a new head and strings on it, and tuned like a mando, it sound good. it is great fun and is not that wretched loud B$#&0 sound. Sounds just right on certain kinds of tunes like Home on the Range, etc. but unlike the mando is lousy for Bach inventions. little kids like to play it, I put a fancy red stap on it and that's the instrument they generally choose to drag around the house to plink around on, easier for a kid to hold than a guitar and I won't let them touch the Mando unsupervised. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[beachbum]

I play one for irish music, tuned GDAE. #Most sets of strings you can buy will be for regular tenor banjo tuning (CGDA), you'll need to get heavier strings if you want to tune it like a mandolin. #Somewhere around 012-020-030-040 should work.
I restrung by old Weymann Tenor banjo last week with 010, 012,021, 031. I broke the 021 trying to get to D. Now I know why! Thanks!

[smilnJackB]

Thanks for the tips, especially the string sizes for GDAE. It's sure fun to play multiple instruments. Went to a jam last night and played mando, guitar and harp (harmonica). I wish the tenor had been here. God Bless.
Jack

[yoods]

You can save some $$ by buying a set of Octave Mandolin strings, like GHS PF285. They are phosphor bronze and steel (12-22-32-44) and are sold as a double course set, so you will have a set in reserve when changing strings.

[Jacob]

Unless you have much larger-than-average hands, you will most probably have to use a different fingering scheme for tenor banjo than for mandolin.

[8ch(pl)]

If you get a tenor to tune to GDAE try to find the shorter scale 17 fret tenor, rather than the 19 fret.

[smilnJackB]

Thanks to Jacob for the scale of finger to fret comparison. I may be better off tuning the tenor banjo like the 4 small strings of a guitar, DGBE, which I have heard describes as Chigago tuning. I play guitar with as much skill as mando (mediocre, but with much enjoyment), so it does not much matter to me. But I have 2 friends who play mando only and it would be fun if they could play the tenor banjo too.
This web site is such a helpful resource. God bless!
Jack

[withak]

I restrung by old Weymann Tenor banjo last week with 010, 012,021, 031. I broke the 021 trying to get to D. Now I know why! Thanks!
Those gauges should have been fine on a tenor, maybe a bit heavy for CGDA, but they probably would have been too loose and floppy to tune down to GDAE. It should be an octave below mandolin tuning, are you sure you weren't aiming an octave too high?

[Spruce]

I play a nice old 1914 Ome tenor banjo, Style #1...

I love the thing, especially through an old 3-10 Bandmaster with a wah-wah pedal... #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

It's a 17-fret scale that I have strung up CGDA, but I'm thinking of trying GDAE...

For those who have tried both, what are the disadvanages and advantages of both tunings?
The C tuning is a tad "floppy"...
Is the G tuning too "tight"?

Do I need to make any adjustments on the instrument like tightening the head, etc.

Which tuning do you prefer?

What tuning is in the widest use?

Thanks in advance...

[Bowzette]

has anyone tried capoing a standard tenor tuned CGDA at the 7th to produce a GDAE tuning? I assume this is about the scale of of a banjo mandolin with a better pot and tone ring than most banjo mandolins and the added benefit of haveing a banjo as well.

[Talon]

I think the standard C G D A is the easiest to play. Tension is much better. The G D A E might be thought, to be easier due to same structure as mandolin, but the C G D A, is the same relative "tuned in 5ths" structure as a mandolin, so the chord shapes are the same, and the scale structures are the same. You just need to transpose.

The "Chicago tuning"(DGBE), is generally for the longer 26" scale Plectrum banjo. Tenor banjos normally have 21-23" scale length.

Tuning the head will do exactly the same thing it does for a drum head. If you tune tighter, it will have slightly more volume, and be sharper tonally. Less tension on the head, will be slightly mellower, with a slight reduction in volume, but you can't go too drastic either way.

If you like a mellow quiet sound, consider putting on a good skin head, and remove the resonator if it has one, play it open backed. Then also add gut strings. Then it will sound truly like a banjo from days gone by, and is MUCH mellower and quiet. You can even put something into back, just as drummers do, to mellow and quiet even more.

Can be a wonderful instrument....

[smilnJackB]

The Harmony Tenor Banjo came today. A nice instrument and decent case off e-bay for $61 plus $12 shipping. It needed only new screws for the tuner plates and new strings.
I tried GDAE tuning, but there were chords my medium sized hands could not reach. I have it Chicago tuned (DGBE) like the 4 small strings, on a guitar and it works nice and sounds pretty good. Not as loud as I would have supposed.
Also, I may be talked out of a tenor guitar. The main reason I wanted one was to play it GDAE tuned. If that won't work well for my hand size, I will try to satisfied with playing a 6 string when the guitar bug bites me.
Thanks for your help.
Jack

[mandroid]

DGBE is Baritone Uke tuning too, FWIW.
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[Mark Robertson-Tessi]

Another way to capo it from the CDAE tuning is at the second fret DAEB, a fourth below a mando, works great for fiddle tunes since most tunes don't use the low string on a mando, so you have the three high mando strings, plus you have the high B so you don't have to reach to fret 7 for those tunes that hit the high B.

DAEA also is cool, which you can easily do by moving the rubber on a shubb capo over so only CDA strings are capoed at 2 and the High A is open.

Mark