Have you finally decided to start playing the banjo?
It’s a very fun and versatile instrument to play. And with a variety of online banjo lessons, it’s becoming more and more popular.
Compared to other stringed instruments, the banjo is not very difficult to learn. But of course, it will take some time and practice to learn your favorite songs.
Although you probably want to jump to song tutorials right away, there is something you need to master first: basic banjo chords.
Improving your music skills in a step-by-step manner is essential, so let us introduce you to the most popular banjo chords!
Table of Contents
Banjo Chords
How to Read Banjo Chords
How to Play Banjo Chords
Final Thoughts
Banjo Chords
If you’re a beginner, you’ve probably bought a five-string banjo. It’s the best option for newcomers.
Therefore, we will take you through the most popular 5 string banjo chords.
Before we start, a little reminder: a chord is a collection of three or more notes played at the same time.
Once you master basic chords, it will be much easier for you to learn any simple banjo song.
Although it might seem a bit confusing at first, especially if you’ve never played an instrument before, you’ll easily memorize these chords. And after a while, you’ll play them effortlessly.
Open G Tuning
The most popular banjo songs are in open G tuning. It’s the standard tuning for a 5 string banjo.
The order of the strings in G tuning is: g D G B d.
To make things clearer: in G tuning, the five open strings of the banjo are tuned to the notes of a G major chord.
In other words, the 5th string is tuned to a “G” note.
You’ll be able to hear that the first and the fourth strings are both tuned in “D” notes, but an octave apart. So, they basically sound the same, but they’re in a different pitch.
An octave is a point where that same note is repeated at a higher pitch.
Now, the pitches used for each string in G tuning go like this:
5th string: G
4th string: D
3rd string: G
2nd string: B
1st string: D
Or, as it would be shown on the diagram:
To know which chord to play, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with chord diagrams.
How to Read Banjo Chords
Banjo players use the same system as guitar players. But if you’re a first-time beginner, let us help you understand how the chord diagrams work.
Without knowing how to read banjo chords, it will take you much longer to learn any song.
First of all, you need to be aware that on a 5-string banjo, the fifth string (G) is the highest string, and D, G, B, and D ascend in pitch.
So, if your banjo is standing on the floor in the vertical position, you’ll be reading the strings from left to right (from fifth to first.)
And the chord diagram will show you where to put your fingers for different chords.
Most banjo diagrams don’t show the fifth string as you’ll rarely fret it, especially if you’re just starting out.
As you can see, the top horizontal line is the banjo nut. You can also think of it as the “0” fret. The second line is the first fret, and so on.
The black dots tell you behind what fret and on what strings you should fret.
An open white circle means you have to play the string and not fret it.
If you spot the X on the fingerboard, that string should be muted (simply not played.)
And the letters stand for left-hand fingering: I for index, M for middle, R for ring, and P for little (pinkie.)
Sometimes, you’ll come across string names above the diagram. And sometimes, you’ll find fret numbers on the side. Either way, the logic remains the same.
Keys for Standard Tuning
As we’ve already mentioned, G tuning is the standard tuning for a five-string banjo. But you’ll also come across different keys including A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.
If the song is in the key of C, the first chord is also a C chord. That said, the G is then four away, and the A chord is the last chord (because it’s five away from the C.)
To make it a bit more comprehensible, try to imagine the key of C like this: when you play the song in the key of C, it will always come back to the C chord.
Once you know how to read a banjo chord chart, you can start memorizing basic 5-string banjo chords.
The G Chord is arguably the easiest chord to learn. There are no strings to fret. So if you just strum, you’ll play a G chord (because that’s how it’s tuned.) Easy, right?
The C Chord requires a little more action but it’s still quite easy.
To play the C chord, you need to press your index finger on the 4th string, your middle on the first fret of the 2nd string, and your ring finger on the first string at the second fret.
The D7 Chord is played with two fingers. Simply press your pointer finger on the second string at the original fret and your focus finger on the third string at the second fret.
The E-minor Chord is similar to the C chord. You have to do the C chord and press your pointer finger from the second string at the first fret.
The A Chord is also very common. You can play it by holding down all four main strings on the 2nd fret using your index finger. Alternatively, you can use a different fingering.
Once you learn these five chords, you’ll be able to learn simple songs.
There are many different chords you can learn once you master the most common ones. You can also find numerous printable charts to help you out.
However, you’ll have to be patient. Take your time to master these basic chords first. And to learn them in an effective way, you’ll have to practice them properly.
How to Play Banjo Chords
Each chord requires different a finger on a different string, as we’ve explained previously.
The best way to play and practice banjo chords is by strumming or performing a basic finger-picking pattern. That way, you can learn how to use your hands independently.
Making your hands operate independently might be a bit challenging at the beginning. But chords are actually a perfect practice to get used to it.
While you’re playing chords, you’ll mostly have to think about the hand that’s pressing the strings. You should use the side of your finger while you’re doing that.
And your other hand can strum or do different patterns. Try to keep up the rhythm meanwhile, and don’t go too fast.
When you memorized all these chords, practice by mixing them up in different orders. That’s how they will really get into your head and fingers.
After all, improving music skills is all about practice, practice, practice. It might sound repetitive or even dull, but you’ll learn to like it! As you progress, you’ll see how everything comes more naturally to you.
And even when you start playing complete songs on the banjo, you shouldn’t forget about chords, music theory, and basic exercises. They will better your performance and help you learn new stuff more quickly.
Final Thoughts
One of the first things you should do when you’ve started learning how to play the banjo is to get to know the banjo diagram and memorize its basic chords.
Some popular banjo chords are G, C, D, Em, and A chord. The G Chord is the easiest one because you basically don’t have to touch anything (when it comes to standard tuning.)
Once you memorize these basic chords, it’s important to practice them efficiently. For example, mix them up a little. That’s also how you’ll learn how to use your hands independently.
With time, you’ll also get to know different keys. The more you explore and practice, the more songs you’ll be able to learn.
The banjo is a very versatile instrument, and you shouldn’t stop after learning only a couple of basic tunes.
If you’re just about to play your first banjo chords, the whole musical journey is still ahead of you. But we assure you it will be a rewarding one!
Standard G Tuning on a five string banjo includes 7 keys: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. The chord fingerings that are included in this group include 1,4,5 and 7ths. The 1,4, and 5 is basic music theory and is something you will often see in many forms of western music including folk, country, blues and rock n' roll.
There are a few different ways to do this, but the most common is to tune the banjo to an open G tuning. This can be done by tuning the fifth string down to a low G, the fourth string down to a D, the third string down to a G, the second string down to a B, and the first string down to an E.
The G Major banjo chord includes the notes G, B and D. The G note (root) is played on the fifth and third string open. The B note (major) is played on the second string open. The D note (major) is played on the first string open.
As you can see, to achieve an open g tuning, you simply change the 6th, 5th, and 1st strings of your guitar to a D, G, and D note respectively.The 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings remain unchanged. Strumming all open strings together now gives you a G major chord.
In open G tuning, your low E string is tuned down a full step to a low D. Your next highest string, A, will drop down a full step to G. Your D, G, and B strings will stay the same, while your high E string is lowered a full pitch to D.
The five string banjo is standard tuned to g4 C3 G3 B3 D4, which is a re-entrant tuning, meaning that the tuning does not progress from low to high pitch. The 4 string Tenor banjo is standard tuned to C3 G3 D4 A4.
One of the most common things to play with the Open G tuning is blues in the key of G. Put the slide on your ring or little finger and shift between G on the 12th fret and C and D.
Tune your five string banjo to guitar tuning by only raising the first string one whole step. Yes… you heard me right…. That's the ONLY difference from a guitar. Then, on the first four strings, play any guitar chord that you would play on the first four strings of the guitar.
To tune your guitar to open G tuning you need to retune the open strings to match the notes that exist within a G Major chord. The 3 notes that you'll find in a G Major are G, B and D. To achieve this, tune the Low E down to a D and the A down to a G.
The key of G major mostly uses the notes of the G major scale, which are G, A, B, C, D, E, and F♯. The key signature has one sharp, F♯, and its relative minor key is E minor.
Major chords (Root, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th) are especially easy to play when you're in Open G. You can play them by simply barring a fret with one finger. If you learn all the notes on the A string, you can easily play any major chord.
An open tuning is a type of alternate tuning that makes your guitar produce a triad when you strum all of the open strings at once. Open tunings usually follow the pitches of a major chord: Open A, Open D, Open E, and Open G are particularly popular among guitarists.
Just like the moveable Major chord shape, you can play any minor chord you want by moving the above chord shape up or down the fretboard. Simply line the root note up on the fifth string.
An open tuning is when the open strings of the guitar are tuned to match a specific major chord, in this case, G. Keith often played without his Low E string, so all the examples in this lesson are based around 5 strings. To tune to open G you need to tune your guitar, low to high, D G D G B D.
The G diminished chord (G dim or G°) contains the notes G, Bb and Db. It is produced by taking the 1st, flat 3rd and flat 5th notes of the G Major scale. G diminished often appears as G dim or G°. The diminished chord played by itself has a dissonant sound.
In the key of G major, our major chords will be G major, C major, and D major. Minor Chords: To find the minor chords, we look for numbers 2, 3, and 6. In the key of G major, our minor chords are A minor, B minor, and E minor. Diminished Chord: The last chord is a little different.
A 5-STRING BANJO IS USUALLY TUNED TO D,B,G,D,G (294, 248, 196, 147, AND 393 Hz, RESPECTIVELY). THE BRIGHT SOUND HAS MANY HARMONICS. THE COMPLEX VIBRATION OF A SYSTEM CAN BE CONVENIENTLY DESCRIBED IN TERMS OF NORMAL MODES OF VIBRATION.
Because the G and B strings are two completely different strings, they are separated by a third. This is why, when tuning the G and B strings by ear, the B string may sound flat or slightly sharper than when tuning the rest of the guitar using Equal Temperament.
Open G, also known as Spanish tuning, requires changing the pitch of three strings on your guitar. To get to open G from standard tuning, drop strings 1 and 6 a whole step, from E to D, and string 5 from A to G.Strings 2, 3, and 4 stay the same.Low to high, your strings are now: D G D G B D.
On a 5 string banjo, the standard tuning is an open G tuning. This means that if you strummed or picked the strings on your banjo without fretting any notes, you would be playing a G chord.
The 5 string banjo is actually the easiest stringed instrument to get started playing. I routinely go to music festivals and am able to teach groups of people who have never played any musical instrument how to play the banjo in less than 5 minutes.
For those of you with experience and a great ear, factory recommendations are to tighten it between G and G# on our frosted top heads. For the rest of us this means that the banjo head should give just a little to gentle pressure from our hand and the bridge should definitely look like it is sitting on a flat surface.
The most popular system for tuning a 5 string is B E A D G. This gives you a low B string and five extra notes that you can't reach on a 4 (Eb, D, Db, C and B). Another way to tune a 5 string bass is E A D G C.
99 times out of 100 the problem is simply that the screw which holds the tuning peg has become too loose. To fix this you just need to tighten the screw which runs through each tuning peg. Don't crank down the tension.
This is critical for a banjo to sound up to its full potential. We like to set the tension of a head anywhere from and 88-91 reading on the dial depending on how mellow or bright the desired sound is.
Soloing here looks and feels a lot like standard tuning. This is why we started with open G, because open G has three strings tuned the same as standard tuning. It makes it easier for guitarists new to alternate tunings to learn how to solo over open tunings.
Answer. The banjo is such a fun instrument and there are clearly some transferable skills from guitar to banjo and vice versa, or any stringed, fretted instrument for that matter.
The banjo is tuned to an open tuning, called “Open G tuning.” The guitar is typically tuned to “Standard” which are the notes E, A, D, G, B, E, and this does not create an open chord like the banjo tuning does.
Some people prefer the softer sound of playing with bare fingers. But the most important reason for playing without picks is if you just don't enjoy wearing them! Seriously, if you find wearing picks doesn't work for you, then just play the banjo without them!
Open G tuning is a tuning that, when all the strings of the guitar are strummed open, produces a G major chord. You'll notice that the root note of the G major chord is on the fifth string and not the sixth.
When a song is in the key of G major, it means that the chords that create harmony in the song are all based on the G major musical scale. As another example, a song that is in the key of A minor would include chords that are based on the A minor musical scale.
The chord is written to the left of the slash, with the bass note to the right. So, the C/G has the same notes as a C major chord but the lowest note has to be a G, as opposed to a normal C major chord where the C is the bass note. It is mostly used as a passing, pedal, or cadential six-four chord.
With many upper line banjos, there are dots on the side of the neck for you to use to help your fingers reach the right frets. These will help prevent you from leaning over and straining your neck while you play.
On the banjo (or any stringed instrument) you make a chord by playing several strings at the same time. On the five string banjo it's very easy to make a chord because the instrument is tuned to an 'Open G chord,' which means you don't have to do anything with the left hand, you get a chord automatically.
D–G–D–G–B–D (low to high). An open-G tuning allows a G-major chord to be strummed on all six strings with neither fretting of the left hand nor a capo. Like other open tunings, it allows the eleven major chords besides G major each to be strummed by barring at most one finger on exactly one fret.
To quickly get to open G tuning from standard tuning all you need to do is lower your sixth, fifth, and first strings down one whole step (two fret distance). So tune your low E string down to a D, your A string down to a G and your high E string down to a D.
Open G tuning is easy — all you need to do is detune the sixth, fifth, and first strings by a whole step. This tuning is great for rhythm or slide guitar playing in major keys.
The six-string F chord is one of the hardest standard chord shape to play on the guitar. When many people try to play the F chord on guitar (and often succeed), it's with far too much struggle and effort than is actually necessary.
Traditionally, clawhammer style has been thought to be easier to learn than bluegrass Scruggs style banjo. That's because once you learn the basic clawhammer stroke, everything else easily falls into place. It's like the old analogy of riding a bicycle. Once you learn to ride the thing, everything else is easy.
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