Grizzly H3124 - Manual (Page 17)

H3124 Banjo Kit -15-
Tuning
Tuning is the most important concept of playing a
banjo. If the banjo is not in tune with itself, or the
other instruments in an ensemble, the resulting
music will not sound pleasing to the ear. Banjo
players use many different tunings, but the most
common (“G”) is shown in
Figure 20.
G
D
G
B
D
5
4
3
2
1
D - 4th string (one octave
lower than the 1st string)
G - 3rd string (one octave
lower than the 5th string)
Figure 20. Standard tuning notes.
Important issues to consider when tuning a
banjo:
• Get into the habit of tuning the banjo every
time it is picked up to be played.
• Always tune the strings “up.” The final tuned
tension of each string should be reached
while tightening the string, not loosening it. If
the string is tensioned too far, loosen the ten-
sion and tune ”up” again.
• The easiest way to tune a banjo is using an
electronic tuner such as the Grizzly H3097
Chromatic Tuner shown on
page 16 .