Mike $
Well-known member
So I guess you would object to all those banjo players in the early 20th century who took up a new instrument (guitar, with only four strings) but imported their own tuning instead of learning the tuning of the top four strings of a guitar. I just find it odd that you would chastise as being lazy someone who tuned in a certain way an instrument that was specifically designed to allow banjo players to be lazy by not having to learn a tuning other than the one they already knew. That's why, to me at least, understanding how and why the tenor guitar was developed isn't "unnecessary information."
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No, I don't object. They made a new instrument tuned to 5ths. It's not a guitar with 4 strings, it's a tenor guitar. The tone is like the guitar, but the chord voicings are very different. It plays like a tenor banjo. What I would object to is taking the tenor guitar and tuning it like a baritone ukulele. It's a cop out. A lazy mans approach to mastering a new instrument, as I said before. I am not against alternate tunings at all, but to use one alternate tuning as a permanent crutch is only worthy of those who fear change and learning new things.
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