MODULE 1: HOBO
About This Video Lesson - The Ultimate Beginners Guide To Tuning Your Banjo
If I received £1 for every time I heard someone play their banjo out of tune id be chatting to you from a tropical beach in Bali, sadly I don’t so Bolton will have to do.
There are loads of different ways to get your banjo into the correct tuning. The most modern way is to download a free tuner app from your mobile phone app store and place the phone near your banjo while you tune up each string. Alternatively you can buy a little device called a Chromatic tuner, these battery powered devices clip onto your banjo headstock and light up when the correct note has been reached. Another method is to tune by ear, this is a great way for beginners to hear how the strings resonate when the correct note has been hit.
Have a go yourself, watch this video with your banjo on your knee and see if you can fine tune your banjo to match mine, You will hear it when our banjos harmonise together.
The strings being plucked in this video begin with the 5th string (The one closest to your chin) and finish with the 1st string (The one closest to the floor)
5th String (The one closest to your chin) is tuned to (g) known as “High G”
4th String is tuned to (D)
3rd String is tuned to (G)
2nd String is tuned to (B)
1st String (The one closest to the floor) is tuned to (D)
A very simple mnemonic that I use to memorise this series of random letters is like this:
(g) = Good
D = Day
G = Good
B = Banjo
D = Day