Thanks Josh. By coincidence a couple days ago I first ventured into Double C tuning . . . and it blew me away. After using Open G tuning for decades, Double C was mind expanding. (I think you had a similar reaction in your personal banjo progression.) My gateway into Double C was your performance/tab of "Fortune", a song that I really like. Thanks for your contribution to our Clawhammer world. Your program is, by far, the most comprehensive one out there. I thoroughly enjoy your intertwining of Clawhammer music with the evolutionary miracle of the human brain.
I've been learning clawhammer for four years now, after playing mandolin in the old-time jams for a dozen years. Since the live old-time jams are back since COVID, I am now taking only my banjo, leaving the mandolin home, so as to benefit from the ear training, that is, the development of those auditory to motor neural pathways in the brain with my banjo, just as I had done during the previous decade on mandolin, that allow me to effortlessly play the melodies and phrases that I'm hearing the fiddlers play. A well-known, much recorded, and highly regarded old-time banjo and fiddle player, who occasionally attends our local old-tme jams, commented recently that banjo players are not concerned with the chords. I was confused by that, as a lifelong guitar player, and as a newbie clawhammer player who often mimics the melodies of fiddle tunes I don't know yet by just playing bumpa ditty, drop thumb ditty over the chords, that renders a fairly close approximation of the tune. And I'm very comfortable with the chords for Std G and Dbl C (and A and D with capo), and I get what you're saying about not needing to know the chords in all the other tunings. Recently, I've been introduced to Last Chance and Cumberland Gap tunings, without concern for the chord positions. I really enjoyed your presentation on alternate tunings, and now looking forward to exploring more.
GREAT EXPLANATION /ADVICE I have been playing B-jo for almost 75 years. Currently, I play mostly a clawhammier-ish 'melodic' note-for-note', highly ornamented celtic type music. I almost exclusively use DOUBLE-C (Capo @+2 = for A or D ... aDADE). Double-C HAS to be the MOST versatile tuning overall .... especially if one plays a lot of 'up the neck' chordal forms, and with the SECOND STRING as the LEAD string .... as wasteful finger stretch in making chords is minimized. For the past ~25 years, I play mostly from the 5th or 7th positions/fret ...'on up', rarely fretting below the 5th or 7th fret ... and all the (unfretted/'opem') 4 strings below the 5th/7th fret will simply resonate automatically in perfect 'dynamic' harmony for that all-important celtic 'full house sound'.
Very clear explanation. Thanks. I’m sorting of reinventing the wheel slowly in standard and double D (short neck 5-string) - and also usually trying a sort of Taj Mahal blues approach. I’ll try a couple new tunings as I keep watching your channel.
For jams, I usually come tuned to double-C, and put the capo on the 2nd fret. Most tunes we play are in D, G, or A (very few in C), and if it's a tune I don't really know in G, I tune the 4th string up to E, take the 5th string capo off, and play in gEADE. For most G tunes that I know the melody to, I'll get to open-G 🙂 But for most things, I end up keeping the capo on at the 2nd fret, and I try to re-tune as few strings as possible (it's not really an old-time jam, so they don't group songs together in the same key, not intentionally anyway) 🙂
Some of my favorite songs that I have written on the banjo were in a,D,A,A,d tuning (tuned down a minor 3rd to fit my singing better. So f#,B,F#,F#,b) Some times I tune my 5th string down to d instead. I also like sawmill tuning. I have written a few pieces in sawmill too.
Thanks Josh, you talk about the fifth string as a DRONE (like is generally done.) Being a long time banjo player I came to think about the fitfth string as a PERCUSSION string. I will suggest you to dwell on this idea as a (old basic) novelty or new approach in banjoplaying. Try start thinking about the fifth string as the claves in latin-american music; the claves are ( or is) an instrument which produces continually the same note but cannot be not defined as a drone. Its function is pure percussive. Alike: the different rows of irregular fifth string hits between the notes of the song form a percussive support while acompanying the melody line. A drone is a typical non rythmical element in music, the banjo however is a typical rythmic instrument specially because of the percussive role of the fifth string.
Josh, loved the passing reference to the 'old-time police,' a nefarious group we've all been exposed to at one time or another. Anyway, it's a great essay on alternate tunings, one I think novice players would all benefit from early in their banjo careers.
I always love a double D for the unique sound .Each tuning lends itself to a unique sound double C is great place a capo on and you have a Double D tune with a 5 string adjustment.
one hour with my 5 stringer i use half the time to tune it but 5 stringers is well known to go out of tune even a 5tousan usd DEERING have tested d tuning but i prefer g tuning on d tuning i had to use alternate rolls to the same tune as in g tuning.alternate tuningis not better but different it depends on what i want or like
I'm a Scruggs-style player and admit that some songs sound better in certain alternate tunings. However the truth is, it's a pain in the butt to continually have to re-tune your banjo to play different songs in different tunings. Now I know why guys like Jens Kruger has more than one banjo on stage with him.
I like to play a really open C that is GCGCE. Question: Why is that not seen as the main tuning for C since D is not the I, IV, or V in the key of C? I actually find the Double C tuning much more difficult. I used to play in a Contradance band where the fiddler loved to change keys in one set, so I would have to play in G, then maybe capo up to D on the 7th fret and for some reason I really like that high sound for rhythmic banjo backing old time fiddling. (Also, I had to since there was no time. I made the exception for G modal or mix tuning when there was only one string to change . But I still do love other tunings like F# for Little Birdie and making up new tunes.
Double-C is a modal tuning, although most tunes played would be C-major, it's easy to also play in C-minor. Hammer-ons and pull-offs on the first string to/from the second fret make a cool riff part of many tunes. Playing the IV or V chord is easy also (not very hard in the open tuning I know). And I like that if I capo to Double-D, if I just tune the 4th string up a whole step and take the 5th-string capo off, I'm in an alternate G tuning, which in jams is the tuning I use for most G tunes that I don't really know yet, or if I leave the capo on, then it's an A-minor modal tuning (but those hardly ever come up at the jams I go to, though if I tune the 2nd string down, I'm in open A major tuning, which does happen a lot). In double-C, I also like to slap the capo on at the 3rd fret, and then I'm in double-E-flat tuning with the 5th string being the major third, and it's easy to fret the 5th string when playing the IV chord (otherwise the chord sounds dissonant with the G# in there).
That said, it makes me nervous to tune the first string up to E, so although I've done it, I've also learned to play tunes normally played in gCGCE in double-C (e.g. Snowdrop, Coloured Aristocracy). But yeah, it's a lot easier to play those tunes in the open C.
This was an awesome video, thanks man! A question: I understand why learning chords it's not required, but what about learning scales in those "alternate" tunings? Do you reckon it's something useful? Any trick to make it easier? I'd love your take on that
I'm not sure if one can properly play the banjo without using different tunings every day, or even between songs. Most songs are best played in different tunings.
I feel the same case as the guitar. Yes standard tuning can pretty much anything.but if you want it to make it easier for why yourself' why not? Aslong you're having fun. Think outside of the box.
Josh!!!! This is sweet! Thanks so much for sharing all this great info! So I do have a question...you did an episode about 6 months ago on different banjo styles and Techniques. It was an awesome episode. I wanted to ask you about the Hammons’ style of banjo. What classification do you put their music under? I love their music and am working on one tune called Muddy Road. I’m just curious if they are round top or something else.
@@dorindacontreras1094 My mother grew up a couple miles from the Hammons family during the depression and listened to them play music back then. I have met them all, Sherman, Burl, Maggie, and enjoyed listening especially to Sherman. Dwight has carried on their tradition of music....
@@hondosmith8092 Thanks so much. I purchased the album that was done by those amazing Hammons. I really want to learn Muddy Roads. I have it about 2/3 but I’m still a beginner so I know there are some pull offs and hammer one that I’m not getting everything. Meredith Moon and Chris Dean both have a version but it is not totally true to the version on the album. I love the version on the album. The B part on the album is just super cool. The A part is the same on all three versions
gEADE is an alternate G banjo tuning for which EADE matches the 6-5-4-1 strings on the guitar. There's also aEADE which is sawmill/mountain minor/Aminor-Gmajor tuning.
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Thanks Josh. By coincidence a couple days ago I first ventured into Double C tuning . . . and it blew me away. After using Open G tuning for decades, Double C was mind expanding. (I think you had a similar reaction in your personal banjo progression.) My gateway into Double C was your performance/tab of "Fortune", a song that I really like. Thanks for your contribution to our Clawhammer world. Your program is, by far, the most comprehensive one out there. I thoroughly enjoy your intertwining of Clawhammer music with the evolutionary miracle of the human brain.
Do triple C (gCGCC) next and play Darling Cora.
@@JohnyG29 Thanks for the tip. Josh has a walk-through tutorial on that song and I'm really looking forward to playing it.
I've been learning clawhammer for four years now, after playing mandolin in the old-time jams for a dozen years. Since the live old-time jams are back since COVID, I am now taking only my banjo, leaving the mandolin home, so as to benefit from the ear training, that is, the development of those auditory to motor neural pathways in the brain with my banjo, just as I had done during the previous decade on mandolin, that allow me to effortlessly play the melodies and phrases that I'm hearing the fiddlers play. A well-known, much recorded, and highly regarded old-time banjo and fiddle player, who occasionally attends our local old-tme jams, commented recently that banjo players are not concerned with the chords. I was confused by that, as a lifelong guitar player, and as a newbie clawhammer player who often mimics the melodies of fiddle tunes I don't know yet by just playing bumpa ditty, drop thumb ditty over the chords, that renders a fairly close approximation of the tune. And I'm very comfortable with the chords for Std G and Dbl C (and A and D with capo), and I get what you're saying about not needing to know the chords in all the other tunings. Recently, I've been introduced to Last Chance and Cumberland Gap tunings, without concern for the chord positions. I really enjoyed your presentation on alternate tunings, and now looking forward to exploring more.
GREAT EXPLANATION /ADVICE
I have been playing B-jo for almost 75 years. Currently, I play mostly a clawhammier-ish 'melodic' note-for-note', highly ornamented celtic type music. I almost exclusively use DOUBLE-C (Capo @+2 = for A or D ... aDADE).
Double-C HAS to be the MOST versatile tuning overall .... especially if one plays a lot of 'up the neck' chordal forms, and with the SECOND STRING as the LEAD string .... as wasteful finger stretch in making chords is minimized.
For the past ~25 years, I play mostly from the 5th or 7th positions/fret ...'on up', rarely fretting below the 5th or 7th fret ... and all the (unfretted/'opem') 4 strings below the 5th/7th fret will simply resonate automatically in perfect 'dynamic' harmony for that all-important celtic 'full house sound'.
Very clear explanation. Thanks. I’m sorting of reinventing the wheel slowly in standard and double D (short neck 5-string) - and also usually trying a sort of Taj Mahal blues approach. I’ll try a couple new tunings as I keep watching your channel.
For jams, I usually come tuned to double-C, and put the capo on the 2nd fret. Most tunes we play are in D, G, or A (very few in C), and if it's a tune I don't really know in G, I tune the 4th string up to E, take the 5th string capo off, and play in gEADE. For most G tunes that I know the melody to, I'll get to open-G 🙂 But for most things, I end up keeping the capo on at the 2nd fret, and I try to re-tune as few strings as possible (it's not really an old-time jam, so they don't group songs together in the same key, not intentionally anyway) 🙂
Some of my favorite songs that I have written on the banjo were in a,D,A,A,d tuning (tuned down a minor 3rd to fit my singing better. So f#,B,F#,F#,b) Some times I tune my 5th string down to d instead. I also like sawmill tuning. I have written a few pieces in sawmill too.
Thanks Josh, you talk about the fifth string as a DRONE (like is generally done.) Being a long time banjo player I came to think about the fitfth string as a PERCUSSION string. I will suggest you to dwell on this idea as a (old basic) novelty or new approach in banjoplaying. Try start thinking about the fifth string as the claves in latin-american music; the claves are ( or is) an instrument which produces continually the same note but cannot be not defined as a drone. Its function is pure percussive. Alike: the different rows of irregular fifth string hits between the notes of the song form a percussive support while acompanying the melody line. A drone is a typical non rythmical element in music, the banjo however is a typical rythmic instrument specially because of the percussive role of the fifth string.
Josh, loved the passing reference to the 'old-time police,' a nefarious group we've all been exposed to at one time or another. Anyway, it's a great essay on alternate tunings, one I think novice players would all benefit from early in their banjo careers.
I always love a double D for the unique sound .Each tuning lends itself to a unique sound double C is great place a capo on and you have a Double D tune with a 5 string adjustment.
Excellent discussion. I've been playing for 50 years, just getting into exploring beyond G, C, and D tunings. LOL
Totally agree with you!
In the past you tuned your banjo for the tune you played.
This Is a really useful video. Thank you
You bet.
Very Informative and encouraging Doc! Thank you!
Great info, Josh. Thank you!
I am prosecution by the Old Time police because I play Bluegrass :-P Great vid, man! Naturally subscribed after that :-)
Stay safe out there, my man.
one hour with my 5 stringer i use half the time to tune it but 5 stringers is well known to go out of tune even a 5tousan usd DEERING have tested d tuning but i prefer g tuning on d tuning i had to use alternate rolls to the same tune as in g tuning.alternate tuningis not better but different it depends on what i want or like
I'm a Scruggs-style player and admit that some songs sound better in certain alternate tunings. However the truth is, it's a pain in the butt to continually have to re-tune your banjo to play different songs in different tunings. Now I know why guys like Jens Kruger has more than one banjo on stage with him.
Yes, it’s the perfect excuse to buy more banjos!
I like to play a really open C that is GCGCE. Question: Why is that not seen as the main tuning for C since D is not the I, IV, or V in the key of C? I actually find the Double C tuning much more difficult. I used to play in a Contradance band where the fiddler loved to change keys in one set, so I would have to play in G, then maybe capo up to D on the 7th fret and for some reason I really like that high sound for rhythmic banjo backing old time fiddling. (Also, I had to since there was no time. I made the exception for G modal or mix tuning when there was only one string to change . But I still do love other tunings like F# for Little Birdie and making up new tunes.
Double-C is a modal tuning, although most tunes played would be C-major, it's easy to also play in C-minor. Hammer-ons and pull-offs on the first string to/from the second fret make a cool riff part of many tunes. Playing the IV or V chord is easy also (not very hard in the open tuning I know). And I like that if I capo to Double-D, if I just tune the 4th string up a whole step and take the 5th-string capo off, I'm in an alternate G tuning, which in jams is the tuning I use for most G tunes that I don't really know yet, or if I leave the capo on, then it's an A-minor modal tuning (but those hardly ever come up at the jams I go to, though if I tune the 2nd string down, I'm in open A major tuning, which does happen a lot).
In double-C, I also like to slap the capo on at the 3rd fret, and then I'm in double-E-flat tuning with the 5th string being the major third, and it's easy to fret the 5th string when playing the IV chord (otherwise the chord sounds dissonant with the G# in there).
That said, it makes me nervous to tune the first string up to E, so although I've done it, I've also learned to play tunes normally played in gCGCE in double-C (e.g. Snowdrop, Coloured Aristocracy). But yeah, it's a lot easier to play those tunes in the open C.
This was an awesome video, thanks man! A question: I understand why learning chords it's not required, but what about learning scales in those "alternate" tunings? Do you reckon it's something useful? Any trick to make it easier?
I'd love your take on that
I'm not sure if one can properly play the banjo without using different tunings every day, or even between songs. Most songs are best played in different tunings.
I feel the same case as the guitar. Yes standard tuning can pretty much anything.but if you want it to make it easier for why yourself' why not? Aslong you're having fun. Think outside of the box.
Josh!!!! This is sweet! Thanks so much for sharing all this great info! So I do have a question...you did an episode about 6 months ago on different banjo styles and Techniques. It was an awesome episode. I wanted to ask you about the Hammons’ style of banjo. What classification do you put their music under? I love their music and am working on one tune called Muddy Road. I’m just curious if they are round top or something else.
Dorinda, Check out Dwight Diller who learned banjo from the Hammons family..His style is what I think you are looking for.
Thanks you are right!!!!
@@dorindacontreras1094 My mother grew up a couple miles from the Hammons family during the depression and listened to them play music back then. I have met them all, Sherman, Burl, Maggie, and enjoyed listening especially to Sherman. Dwight has carried on their tradition of music....
@@hondosmith8092 Thanks so much. I purchased the album that was done by those amazing Hammons. I really want to learn Muddy Roads. I have it about 2/3 but I’m still a beginner so I know there are some pull offs and hammer one that I’m not getting everything. Meredith Moon and Chris Dean both have a version but it is not totally true to the version on the album. I love the version on the album. The B part on the album is just super cool. The A part is the same on all three versions
@@dorindacontreras1094 Pocahontas County, WV. They are right about Dwight, he taught me to play rhythmically.
Best Regards from the Mountain State
Machine Learning and the Banjo - my worlds collide! I would like a shirt but Amazon says they’re out.
If you're looking for the Brainjo shirts, it looks like they're in stock: www.amazon.com/Brainjo-Molding-Musical-Minds-t-shirt/dp/B07PFGDHS7
Thanks!
And I get really tired of having to stay in D for a thousand tunes before you play in another key "because of the banjo players " Humph!
Needing not help
Exactly. :)
I am probably doing the wrong thing, but I tune my banjo like a guitar. I just can't keep it all straight in my head otherwise. D:
gEADE is an alternate G banjo tuning for which EADE matches the 6-5-4-1 strings on the guitar. There's also aEADE which is sawmill/mountain minor/Aminor-Gmajor tuning.
If in double-C (gCGCD), if you slap the capo on at the second fret and tune the 4th string up, you're in gEADE.