Common Tunings
There are lots of jokes about tuning banjos, but the truth is you actually can tune a banjo. In fact, three tunings will cover just about 99% of all tunes you’ll ever need to play.
The vast majority of old-time tunes are in one of the keys: A, C, D, or G. In addition, you’ll find “modal” tunes that have kind of a minor feel to them. In the tunings that follow, the notes start with the 5th string (the small letter).
G (or A) Tuning
This is pretty much the default banjo tuning nowadays, and it’s useful for tunes that are in the key of G. The notes are:
To play in the key of A, tune each string one note higher (or use a capo at the second fret, and tune up only the 5th string):
Double C (or Double D) Tuning
Another common tuning is useful for playing in the key of C:
To play in the key of D, tune each string one note higher (or use a capo at the second fret, and tune up only the 5th string):
Modal Tuning
This tuning is also known as “mountain minor” or “sawmill” tuning. For G modal tunes:
To play A modal tunes, tune each string one note higher (or use a capo at the second fret, and tune up only the 5th string):
Notice that you can get to modal tuning by changing only one string. If you’re in G (or A) tuning, just raise the 2nd string by 1/2 note. If you’re in Double C (or Double D) tuning, just raise the 4th string by one note.