Banjo Lefty - Posted - 11/27/2018:  15:28:42

I’m still unclear on the difference between a tenor and a plectrum. I know that the number of frets is different, 17 versus 19, and that therefore they must have different scale lengths, but beyond that, what? Do they have different sounds? Are they used for different kinds of music? If you capo a plectrum at the 2nd fret, does it then become a tenor? What would you call a four-string banjo with 22 frets?

Could somebody enlighten me?

deestexas - Posted - 11/27/2018:  15:55:54

A plectrum usually has 22 frets. Tenor banjos usually have 19 or 17 frets. Plectrums are normally tuned CGBC, while tenors are tuned either CGDA or GDAE (short neck, so-called Irish tuning.

vintagetenor - Posted - 11/27/2018:  16:08:45

During the peak of 4-string banjo popularity (roughly 1918-1930), they were considered virtually interchangeable with respect to the banjo's role as a rhythm instrument in dance and jazz bands.

The reason for difference the tunings was a market-driven one. The tenor banjo, tuned in fifths (CGDA), was marketed to mandolin players. The plectrum, tuned like a 5-string (CGBD), was marketed to 5-string banjo players.

xnavyguy - Posted - 11/27/2018:  16:30:29

Then, for those of us who can't make up our minds, there's a 20 fret "tenor/plectrum". I tune mine like a 5 string DGBD.

beezaboy - Posted - 11/27/2018:  16:56:28

IMO - Yes, tenor and plectrum banjos have different sounds due to tuning and scale length.
Tenor banjos are tuned like the viola (CGDA) and sound a little high pitched when the 1st or A string is played as part of a chord.
The longer the scale length the more banjoey a banjo sounds.
"Banjoey" means 5-string banjo.
A plectrum banjo is a 5-string banjo without the 5th string.
The plectrum tuning (like the 4 melody strings on a 5-string banjo which to me is CGBD) and scale length give the plectrum a deeper (perhaps "warmer") tone than the tenor.
In their heyday (1920's) both were employed as rhythm instruments in the dance band rhythm section Some bandleaders (especially out west) preferred the plectrum over the tenor but, generally speaking, back east and most everywhere else the tenor was the premier jazz age banjo.
The 3rd and 4th (CG) strings of the plectrum are tuned the same as the tenor (CG) so capoing the 2nd fret of a plectrum isn't going to produce a tenor banjo tuning.
A 22 fret 4-string banjo is called a plectrum banjo. It got its name back ca 1920 because it was played with a pick (plectrum) to distinguish it from its parent 5-string which was played with the fingers.

pasdimo - Posted - 11/27/2018:  17:24:49

If you tune a plectrum AEBF# (one third lower than a tenor) and capo between 2nd and 3rd fret, it's like a tenor. The scale of plectrum is too long for CGDA tuning.