Keith_G - Posted - 05/28/2024:  07:29:49

Novice Irish tenor banjo player here, hoping for a recommendation or two for a good written source of scales for GDAE. I have a copy of Absolute Beginners Irish Tenor Banjo by Éamonn Coyne (which I really like) but its limited in terms of scales (what can I say . . . I'm a weirdo who likes scales lol). Ideally looking for both notation and tab together. I have a background in piano so I can read music ok but still learning where the notes are on the fingerboard. Prefer paper books over online/ebooks but either will work.

Thanks!

Knows Picker - Posted - 05/28/2024:  07:59:32

Try Bud Orr's Anthology of Mandolin Music.

melbay.com/Products/93952/anth...usic.aspx

thisoldman - Posted - 05/28/2024:  09:10:17

From the Mando Hangout  Like Knows Picker suggested, don't forget to peruse the mandolin sites.     

trapdoor2 - Posted - 05/28/2024:  16:09:41

It is really, really easy to create your own practice scales. You can download printable 5-line music sheets for free on the net.

Go here: randscullard.com/CircleOfFifths/ and start with the Dmaj scale: DEF#GABC#D. Then shift it one note to E Dorian: EF#GABC#DE...it is the same notes, just starting on the E note. Do the same for Gmaj, then shift one note over to A Dorian (C# to C natural for Gmaj). That will cover about 99% of Irish tunes.

99.44% of Irish tunes don't even use the low G. I do like Enda Scahill and tune mine ADAE. On the other end of the spectrum, it is pretty rare to find a tune that exceeds the 7th fret on the E string. You can play around with optimizing your fingering but really, you're in first position for most tunes.

Musescore (a music writing program for your computer) is free and very powerful. Tab is built in. Scales are just typing the alphabet. Takes about 10min to do a 16 bar tune. Scales would be much faster.

trapdoor2 - Posted - 05/28/2024:  16:12:00

It is really, really easy to create your own practice scales. You can download printable 5-line music sheets for free on the net.

Go here: randscullard.com/CircleOfFifths/ and start with the Dmaj scale: DEF#GABC#D. Then shift it one note to E Dorian: EF#GABC#DE...it is the same notes, just starting on the E note. Do the same for Gmaj, then shift one note over to A Dorian (C# to C natural for Gmaj). That will cover about 99% of Irish tunes.

99.44% of Irish tunes don't even use the low G. I do like @Enda Scahill and tune mine ADAE. On the other end of the spectrum, it is pretty rare to find a tune that exceeds the 7th fret on the E string. You can play around with optimizing your fingering but really, you're in first position for most tunes.

Musescore (a music writing program for your computer) is free and very powerful. Tab is built in. Scales are just typing the alphabet. Takes about 10min to do a 16 bar tune. Scales would be much faster.

benhockenberry - Posted - 05/29/2024:  09:43:09

Another tool you can use is Michael Eskin's ABC transcription site. It has transpose up/down buttons, and mandolin/tenor-banjo tab is just a button click. Here's all your major scales: michaeleskin.com/abctools/abct..._exercise

Keith_G - Posted - 05/29/2024:  13:30:27

Cheers! Thanks all!