Why did you begin playing a tenor guitar?

[Verne Andru]

Honestly, if you're already a good 6-string player I would think the tenor would have limited appeal,

...

its limitations lead to play stuff that's a little different from what a 6-string might play.

Point, counter-point.

It's the 5th tuning that makes it special, not the range.

[Lord of the Badgers]

I can fingerpick better and it's in fifths. Any other reason?
I would love one where i can drop the high string down a stop without retuning. Maybe the same with the low.

[PiousDevil]

Point, counter-point.

It's the 5th tuning that makes it special, not the range.

I would agree with this (the tuning is what grabbed me), except that there are people who play in chicago tuning, which doesn't make much sense to me.

[fox]

I did not even know that a tenor guitar existed until about 3 years ago!
A friend of mine showed me his old flat top harmony & as I played tenor banjo, it was an fairly direct move over!
I hardy play the banjos anymore much preferring the sweet mellow guitar sound.
I started off playing the guitar like a banjo but, now I enjoy playing without a flat pick, learning different finger styles & mixing in strum patterns.

[Eddie Sheehy]

Since I already played guitar and Tenor banjo it was a natural progression...

[Verne Andru]

I would agree with this (the tuning is what grabbed me), except that there are people who play in chicago tuning, which doesn't make much sense to me.

I agree, but it seems pretty prevalent. I have a book on Tenor guitar and everything is in CGDA and DGBE. Guess it's for those guitar players that just don't want to learn 5ths.

[bbalsley]

ANSWER > the hard way! my continuing saga:
START > garage-band > lounge-lizard > folk-singer >
THEN > friend gave me a 5-string banjo > played 8-yrs bluegrass >
THEN > different friend played dixieland at our community college and wanted to start a band > removed 5 th string > played 15-yrs dixie with DGBD tuning >
THEN > bought a yard-sale Harmony baritone uke for $5 (tuned it DGBD too) > played the softer dixie-jazz numbers
THEN > at Gruhn, resisted buying a Dobro tenor, returned home, called Nashville to buy it (same tuning)
NOW > 2 tenors, 2 plectrum banjos, 3 baritone ukes, 1 uBass, too many 6-strings, can’t let the wife know how many!

[Nicholas B]

I have been gigging with a cajon for a number of years now in a couple different set ups, but it is not entirely satisfying to sit at home alone with just a box to keep you company musically. About a year ago, I picked up a baritone uke and learned to pick and strum a bit. A recent medical issue has my vision in tumult and left me limited on the amount of time I could read or spend in front of a tv, so my time in the studio has increased drastically! Six strings, it turns out, are a couple too many for a percussionist, so I picked up a tenor banjo. Fun to play but not fitting so well with the music I tend to gravitate towards, a tenor tuned Chicago seemed a logical next step. Who knows, if I have enough time between banging twos and fours to learn more chord shapes, I may even learn to tune in fifths! We'll see how it goes.

[acousticphd]

I agree, but it seems pretty prevalent. I have a book on Tenor guitar and everything is in CGDA and DGBE. Guess it's for those guitar players that just don't want to learn 5ths.

Nonsense. I know both and use both; there are different applications for both tunings, as for any/all tunings.

[Verne Andru]

Nonsense. I know both and use both; there are different applications for both tunings, as for any/all tunings.

IIRC, tenor guitar started to transition CGDA banjo players to guitar. DGBE tuning are the high 4 strings on a standard strung guitar and from what I remember when guitar players faced with having to play tenor back in the day, there were often few instruments to go around and people had to accommodate what was available, they would retune a tenor so they could play without having to learn 5th's.

That's they way I remember it. It's no more "nonesense" than your post, just another point of view that's as valid as any other.

I play guitar and tenor and don't see the point of DGBE on a 4-string when 6-strings are far more available and cheaper. But that's just another point of view.

[Geralf117]

I started on bass guitar in middle school, and like it. Eventually I decided I wanted to play some folk music and got a mandolin, but the string spacing was way too small for my hands (which were accustomed to bass scale). Eventually I discovered tenor guitars and fell in love, bought an Ibanez AVT1. I love it because it has a parlour body but has width enough for tone. My mandolin skills transferred well and it just made sense to me.

[Granger]

In my early 50's I spent three years on 6 string playing almost daily on a nice Martin 000-16. Realized I would probably never be able to get good on the thing. Discouraged I picked up dulcimer and played for a few years and started building a few as well as a bowed dulcimer for my daughter. A friend recommended baritone uke. I picked up one and found it to be a very user friendly instrument. The 6 string chord shapes and scales transferred right over to the bari uke. I like the string spacing and scale of the bari, but I like steel string sound so decided to build a x-braced bari uke for steel string. It came out pretty nice and I play it daily. Coincidentally both Kala and Pono introduced tenor guitars built on the 21.5" scale shortly after I had made my own, so I bought them and enjoy them. I have put an instrument into GDAE tuning and learned basic chords and a few bluegrass pieces on it. I see why 5th tuning makes so much sense. But I didn't stick with GDAE. I had so much time and music in DGBe that I stayed with it. For folks that have a degree of mastery on the 6 string, Chicago tuning probably doesn't make sense, for some of us a 6 string is 2 strings too many. This may be particularly true if you took up playing latter in life.

[Capt. E]

Point, counter-point.

It's the 5th tuning that makes it special, not the range.

Exactly. Transition from mandolin is pretty seamless and I love being able to drop down an octave, so it is "Irish" tuned (GDAE). It all got decided when I found a beautiful late 20's Stromberg-Voisinet "Venetian"on eBay for a very nice price. The 21" scale is perfect. I love getting it out and playing it to relax at the end of the day and works nice for old-time jams. Here's a photo....



Someone put a "Martin" decal on the peghead, the tuners have been replaced and it has one repaired crack on the top. Otherwise it is very nice. Fits in a baritone uke gig-bag. Still looking for a proper hard case.

I found a nice book: "The Tenor Guitar Chord Bible" by Jobe A. Richards. Tab in both CGDA and GDAE.

[DavidKOS]

Anyway, was a tenor guitar your first instrument?

No, I played 'ukulele, guitar, electric and string bass, tenor banjo, lap steel and mandolin first.

Did you have a 6 string before you got a tenor?

Yes

Why did you get a tenor guitar?

To play my dixieland banjo parts on a guitar sounding instrument; later, for Italian and other music.

I have used several tunings over the years, depending on the situation and what I want to play:

standard CGDA
"Chicago" tuning DGBE
octave mando tuning GDAE

[norseman40]

Kingston Trio - Nicky Reynolds. He looked and sounded cool. What 16 year-old didn't wanna' imitate those guys at the time!!!

[Mando Mafia]

Kingston Trio - Nicky Reynolds. He looked and sounded cool. What 16 year-old didn't wanna' imitate those guys at the time!!!

As it happens my tenor guitar is a part of 1983 Martin 150th anniversary Kingston Trio commemorative set, though that’s not why I got it. I wasn’t in the market for a tenor guitar but it was hanging on the wall in a Music store, it sounded great, & the price was right. Tuned in 5ths made it a breeze to play, & gave me another sound in my bag of tricks. Now i’ve got two mandolins, a mandola, tenor guitar, tenor banjo, two octave mandolins & a cello guitar(like a tenor guitar, but tuned like a mandocello), all tuned in 5ths, the common denominator.

Pete