dmcclure - Posted - 03/22/2016:  16:22:36

Hi all,

I have been collecting chords for the tenor banjo (CGDA) for some time and have formatted them into a two-page list. Of course, this list will never be "definitive" — it'll always be a work in progress....

I've used a sort of text-only format (which I'm sure is not original with me). You're invited to go to dmcclure.org/banjo and click on "Tenor banjo chord list". I'd be interested in what you think.

(Come to think of it, I'll just add it to this message as an attachment. But I'm always revising it, so for the absolute latest version you have to go to the above link.)

Cheers,

Doug

EDIT:  After posting the above, I realized that the way I'd formatted the chord list made it look a lot more complicated than it is. I've replaced it with a more humanized version (version number 06o). See the attachment, or go to dmcclure.org/banjo for the very latest version.

Edited by - dmcclure on 03/24/2016 10:40:38

Tenor Banjo Chords (version 06o)

Omeboy - Posted - 03/22/2016:  16:58:37

For the first ten years of my musical life, I played tenor banjo.  It was almost impossible to find a worthwhile approach to understand the fret board and how all the chords are formed until I was fortunately introduced to the best book ever written on the subject:  the  "McNeil Chord System For Tenor Banjo" by Charles McNeil originally published in 1923. You can purchase and download it from this website:   djangobooks.com/Item/McNeil_Chord 

Tenor banjoist, Charles McNeil created the McNeil chord system that goes to the very heart of the complete chord system. It shows how any given chord progresses up the neck by showing how the respective chord shapes are always named for a particular string. This is applied to majors, minors, sevenths, etc. Very simple. Very direct. For any stringed musical instrument, this is the pure and absolute truth as it fully explains and demystifies the entire fret board. It's clearly the most important part of McNeil's system. If you want to completely understand the tenor fret board, here's the key.

ldieckow - Posted - 03/22/2016:  20:20:00

When I first started playing banjo @ age 9 I played Guitar/chicago tuning. When I changed teachers @ age 11 and switched to plectrum tuning my teacher used the McNeil plectrum book and it was an awesome source of knowledge!

dmcclure - Posted - 03/23/2016:  01:24:40

Thanks for the suggestion! I've bought the McNeil book and am enjoying it! I love the old writing style — like capitalizing all the important words — and the bits of inspirational and practical advice he puts in throughout the book:

"MUSIC is the MASTER KEY ! It opens more doors than any other single accomplishment."

"There are many enthusiastic lovers of the Banjo — Learn to play one and notice how POPULAR you will be AMONGST YOUR FRIENDS."

"Good players who have an inflated regard for themselves, and who are more or less EGOTISTICAL, should bear in mind that there is always Someone, Somewhere, who can play better."

"In Ensemble playing — sit near the drum and piano. Rhythm instruments should be kept together."

"When in doubt about the proper Harmony, refer to the Piano Part — instead of playing DISCORDS like many Amateur Banjo players do."

Still, as far as being a chord method, it hasn't shown me much that's new to me. I can see that it's basically the same as modern chord-melody method books like Mel Bay's.

dmcclure - Posted - 03/23/2016:  03:03:02

(Or am I missing something?)

cebracher - Posted - 03/23/2016:  07:31:48

Hey Doug,

Good stuff!! It's a little technical, but I can't wait to share it with the rest of the Tenor players in my band.

Thanks!

Omeboy - Posted - 03/23/2016:  09:02:39

Fortunately for tenor students, times have changed for the better.  I can tell you first hand that back in the Sixties, if you wanted to learn anything about the tenor banjo, you were very much alone in the world.  There was absolutely nothing by any musical publishers that even got near the pure crystalline truth that the McNeil System offered.  Virtually all the musical publications either offered nothing or only offered first position chord books and very rudimentary lessons that never got more involved than single note versions of Camptown Races. You could have literally purchased a metric ton of those books and never gotten near the McNeil information. (And you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand why.) 

Finding a tenor banjo teacher was even more daunting.  I've often said it would have been easier to discover a fully intact Tyrannosaurus Rex in your back yard than find an Honest-To-God banjo teacher. What I did find was plenty of discouragement and a lot of buck-chasing guitar instructors who claimed they could teach tenor banjo.  When I finally did find a good teacher, he literally reconstructed the whole McNeil System for me by memory and drew it all out on typing paper. No more BS, no more lies: just pure, beautiful truth for a change. It was mind blowing to actually understand that fret board after all the worthless BS I had to wade through.  Later I actually found Charles McNeil's books for tenor banjo, plectrum banjo and guitar and immediately bought all three.  Identical in approach, they are prized possessions for me, but I am glad to learn that the passing of time has greatly improved the teaching publications available for all you tenor lovers.