Topmusicanswers
What is a tenor banjo?
Tenor banjos are 4 string banjos that are traditionally tuned in 5ths (C,G,D,A - standard tuning, G,D,A,E - Irish tuning). These types of banjos are traditionally used for either Traditional New Orleans Jazz or Irish music. Jazz players most often use a 19 fret tenor banjo because it gives the banjo a larger range.
Is tenor banjo same as mandolin?
The strings are tuned five notes apart and that is why they are said to be tuned in “fifths”. ... This tuning allows a mandolin player to play a tenor banjo with the exact same chords and fingerings of mandolin, but just an octave lower. The low, deep sound of the “Irish tuned" tenor banjo is beautiful.
How is a tenor banjo tuned?
Click here to learn what a fifth is. This relates to the tenor banjo because standard tuning for a tenor banjo is tuned the same as a viola/mandola (C, G, D, A). Irish players often tune their tenor banjos also in fifths, but one octave below a violin/mandolin (G, D, A, E).
