Tuning the Early Banjo

[OldKingCrow]

deleted by poster

[Silas]

Re: Tuning the Early Banjo

I'm up a level at the key of "A" also known as "minstrel E" : e-A-E-D-G#-B. Sounds better on my old banjo than the lower key of "minstrel G." Too much buzz on my bass string at the lower key.

[Silas]

Re: Tuning the Early Banjo

I wouldn't mind being able to play as well as Marty. Some of his songs and style are great for our particular period. Some of not. An example is "Come in out of the draft" which is a great song that I had not heard nor seen until I heard it on one of his albums. I've since seen the sheet music, and the song is fair game for our period.

[Hardtack Herring]

Re: Tuning the Early Banjo

D-G-D-F#-A is the tuning I use.

[Old Cremona]

Re: Tuning the Early Banjo

The earliest banjo instructor, The Complete Preceptor for the Banjo, by Gumbo Chaff, published by Oliver Ditson (1850), has most of the tunes in F, and gives the tuning as cFCEG. The seminal Briggs Banjo Instructor, of 1855, has most of the tunes in G, and uses a dGDF#A tuning. Most of the succeeding tutors until 1865 use the eAEG#B tuning, and play in the key of A, including Phil Rice's Correct Method for the Banjo, 1858, Buckley's New Banjo Book, 1860, and both Frank Converse tutors of 1865. The one exception is Septimus Winner's New Primer for the Banjo, published in 1864, which uses the dGDF#A tuning.

The higher tuning gives a brighter and more brilliant tone, and was probably more common. It also requires the singer to sing a little higher. Most stroke-style players these days use the Briggs tuning, for whatever reason. In my case, it's because it's the only one that fits my poor vocal range.

[Hardtack Herring]

Re: Tuning the Early Banjo

There you go. I think Carl said it all. If I were you I would stick with the dgdf#a.

I think it sounds great, it is easy to play a fiddle with too and it is easy on the gut strings.

Just remember to tune down when finished playing or you may find your strings have popped in the morning with the change of humidity and temperature.

Poor vocal range Carl, are you kidding me? You sound great. Believe me you do not even want to hear me attempt to sing!

[Danny]

Re: Tuning the Early Banjo

There you go. I think Carl said it all. If I were you I would stick with the dgdf#a. I think it sounds great, it is easy to play a fiddle with...

Easy to play a guitar with too. In recent session with a guitar tuned to EADGBE as modern guitar but period short scale and gut or faux-gut strings. Only problem for guitar player is to overcome the relative brightness of the banjo tone -- timid guitar finger plucks and wimpy nails will not cut through banjo accompaniment, and you can't strum with a plectrum (not a period technique for guitar). If the banjo player removes finger picks for a song or two that helps the balance.

Dan Wykes
Fat Neck Mess

[Old Cremona]

Re: Tuning the Early Banjo

There you go. I think Carl said it all. If I were you I would stick with the dgdf#a.

I think it sounds great, it is easy to play a fiddle with too and it is easy on the gut strings.

Just remember to tune down when finished playing or you may find your strings have popped in the morning with the change of humidity and temperature.

Poor vocal range Carl, are you kidding me? You sound great. Believe me you do not even want to hear me attempt to sing!

Thank you, Paul. I've never been satisfied with my voice, and it may be like the high-schooler who is worried about his acne, but no one else notices it, because they're all worried about their own acne.

It seems like a classic minstrel would be a basso, or a baritone, to get that characterized "darkey" sound (apologies for racist language). But listen to Joe Ayers sing. His is a brilliant tenor. I think you just have to make the most out of what you have, and let the chips fall where they may.

My highest comfortable note is the D that is the 5th string in the Briggs tuning. I think that's the D above middle C. The next note, E, (7th 'fret" 1st string) is a bit of a strain, and the F# and G above that are embarrasingly weak. And of course many popular minstrel tunes use those notes. I've tried singing down an octave, but I lose a lot of volume down there.

If I could sing that E, F# and G above middle C I would definitely use the higher Rice/Buckley/Converse tuning in performance situations.