Tenor banjo help please

Lately I've been thinking about banjo's and banjoles a fair bit so yesterday I took the drive into the city to shop. My favourite music store hadn't carried much in the way of banjoles so I was pleasantly surprised to see the Deering goodtime tenore banjoles in stock, however after playing around with everything I ended up bringing home the 17 fret tenor banjo instead. The fellow in Store put a different set of strings on it so it's the same tuning as my uke.

So I am throwing out the ask for any information to steer me in the path of success. I'll start by asking about nails. I am finding my thumb nail that I grew longer is catching on the string, do banjo players grow their nails typically or cut them. What about strings, should I have changed the tuning or learned the new chord shapes? Any other advice is appreciated..

it's a bit unclear - which actual make and model of tenor banjo did you buy?

what is the scale length?

without this info, you are going to likely only get very general answers, which might not be specific enough to you question...

Sorry to have not been clear , it's a Deering goodtime tenor with 17 frets. I'm not sure where to measure the scale length to and from to answer other than that. Is it from the bridge to the nut ? The fellow in the store restrung it for me and tuned it GCEA with the following gauge strings 1-9w , 2-14w, 3-20w, 4-26w. Does that make sense now ?

I have the same tenor banjo and have never tried playing its steel strings with fingernails. Banjo players generally use picks, either finger picks or flat picks. I flat-pick mine.

I've gone back-and-forth between GDAE and CGDA tuning, with CGDA on there now. Nothing stops one from going GCEA or any other tuning if one feels more comfortable with a particular tuning formula.

I've just bought a 17-fret Grafton open-back tenor, but I've got it tuned GDAE for which I use an 0.96mm plectrum for melody work ... on my 5-string I use my fingernails for picking or clawhammer. When I'm picking (fingerstyle) the thumb nail gets used all the time, for clawhammer I use the side of my thumb, but then I need a fingernail

As to what you use really does depend on what you want it to sound like and how loud you want to play :music:

If you want it to really sound like a ukulele you'd probably should have opted for re-entrant nylon strings (maybe you did?)

If you want to sound more like a banjo then linear tuning is probably the way to go, which tuning you choose will be down to personal preference ... DGBE aka "Chicago" tuning, as used on a baritone ukulele or GCEA (or even ADF#B) if you want the same chord shapes as used in a ukulele (the actual chord name will change depending on which tuning you use) ... I strum along in GDAE tuning but that does mean learning a whole new set of chord shapes. I don't have a problem with this ... I regularly play my 5-string banjo in two or three different tunings and am currently familiarising myself with a balalaika (three strings, two of them tuned the same!)

As always ... the final choice is with you ... just consider yourself lucky you've got a local music shop that actually carried a short-scale tenor in stock, ended up ordering mine "sight unseen" from a retailer several hundred miles away, the local shop staff seemed to have problems recognising the difference between 17 and 19 frets

Enjoy

I've got a jar full of various picks and will give them a try but I never did feel very comfortable when I tried them on my ukulele.

Thanks for all the great info , it's tuned low g. I played a lot today and my fingers are sore as heck, gonna require toughening up. I wonder if a could use a set of Southcoast strings on this ? I use the light medium linear with polished wound bases on my tenor ukulele and really like them. As for the shop , yes we are very lucky. Myhre's Music in Edmonton is an excellent shop, they carry quality instruments, are very kind and encouraging, the family are tremendous musicians and there have given me superb service. I don't mind giving them a plug at all.

Mxyzptik said:

I've got a jar full of various picks and will give them a try but I never did feel very comfortable when I tried them on my ukulele.

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On my ukuleles I use Dunlop nylon picks for melody, thinner (0.60) on a soprano, thicker (0.73mm) on my baritone, but for strumming I usually use a fingertip or my thumb, though there is a felt pick that comes out occasionally for a bit of variation

For myself, I feel a guitar or mandolin-style "plastic" pick gives a slightly harsh tone on nylon strings, but that could just be my playing

I do know that a pick with a rough edge makes a horrible noise and I'll spend a few seconds polishing a new nylon pick where necessary to get rid of any moulding marks (flashing I think it's called) on the edge.

It's all a very personal thing again, depending on the style of music you're playing and how you want it to sound ... there's no hard and fast rules !

:music:

Mxyzptik said:

I've got a jar full of various picks and will give them a try but I never did feel very comfortable when I tried them on my ukulele.

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I've gotten to the point I flat-pick everything. It nay not be "traditional," but it works for me.

Sounds to me like you bought an Irish Tenor. They (and mine) are tuned GDAE or some CGDA and have 17 frets and metal strings. I suppose one can tune it any way he/she wants though. A "regular" tenor banjo has 19 frets and is usually tunned CGDA.

I also play mine with a Dunlop .60 pick, and i play Irish music with it. :cheers: ld:

I carry 17 and 19 in wood and all plastic. You can string them steel or synthetic. It depends on how you want to sound and how much you can tolerate the pain of steel strings.

I have an old S.S.Stewart tenor that I string re-entrant with nylon strings. I tune it fBbDG, since that's as high as the strings would stand. I keep a capo on the second fret making it gCEA. I use my nails, but play it mostly for jug band music.
http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=71110&d=1411360137


The Maple Leaf Champions Jug Band

Down Up Dick said:

Sounds to me like you bought an Irish Tenor. They (and mine) are tuned GDAE or some CGDA and have 17 frets and metal strings. I suppose one can tune it any way he/she wants though. A "regular" tenor banjo has 19 frets and is usually tunned CGDA.

I also play mine with a Dunlop .60 pick, and i play Irish music with it. :cheers: ld:

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Yes Dick it is indeed an Irish tenor ! I tuned it GCEA with a low G just so I didn't have to learn new chords. While searching some Utube videos I stumbled on our very own Cloverdale Kid who has done the same and used Southcoast strings. I think I'm going to have to make the switch as I'm finding the steel strings hard on the pinkies. I was trying some finger picks today and found them quite awkward but you can clearly see how they create volume.

Mine is no longer GCEA, it is DBGE and strung with Martin classical guitar strings, and I guess I should have read this thread before I replied to your PM. It seems your Deering was indeed set up with a custom string set which is good, but nylon is the way to go if you are comfortable with it.
Here is my cautionary tail on the Southcoast strings. Throwing them on and twisting them up to tune gave my particular tenor way too much tension and made it really brassy to me. I was new to all this when I did it and did not know how tension affected things.
Now that I have done the Martins, I will do a gauge or two higher custom set in the future to get a little more tension.
I know what you mean about the fingers though. I had to buy a guitar lately and man- an hour of practice and that goes right away!
Anyway, here it is today- a little different, but I think it is fun with its giant banjolele sound- I have more Banjoleles than sane folks should have, but lately this is my go too . Funny...my baritone ukes are tuned GCEA