rkdjones - Posted - 01/02/2026:  19:55:16

Can anyone direct me to an old time 5-string banjo arrangement for tuning (-)GDAE? I guess how the fifth string is tuned would depend on key of tune.

Here's a little background on the question:
I play 5-string in a melodic clawhammer style with some integrated playing of chords. I also play a baritone ukulele (DGBE) and a use a separate baritone ukulele tuned GDAE to work out melody lines based on mandolin lessons. I find GDAE to be a really intuitive tuning for picking out melodies and mastering the fretboard. Note, I don't do any of these things very well. I am kind of overwhelmed by all the chord shapes considering how many other tunings that are used on the 5-string.

My impression is that rhythm instruments tend to have strings tuned in fourths (or there abouts), while dedicated melodic instruments (eg. fiddle, mandolin, Irish tenor banjo) are usually tuned in fifths. To my ear chords just don't sound as good on instruments tuned in fifths. But like the guitar, the 5-string banjo is both a melodic instrument and a rhythm instrument.

If I play my 5-string primarily in a melodic style, might it be advantageous to tune it in fifths?

Robert

janolov - Posted - 01/02/2026:  23:40:22

Irish Tenor banjo is tuned GDAE (ordinary Tenor banjo CGDA - also fifth), so you can look for Irish Tenor tabs, however I think many tenor banjoist prefer music notation? There are a lot of Irish tunes out on Internet.

I have never heard a five-string being tuned to xGDAE, but it may be possible if you find the right strings. The fifth string should depend on the key but I think a high "a" would be good for tunes in D and A.

janolov - Posted - 01/03/2026:  00:10:14

I forgot to say that if you read music notation you have also tons of Old Time fiddle tunes to choose among!

Noah Cline - Posted - 01/03/2026:  07:38:28

I made a convertible tenor banjo neck a couple years ago that could be strung as a short-scale five string (with a tunneled fifth string), a normal tenor, or a combination of both as I wanted to try myself to see what it would be like to play in GDAE fifths tuning, but with an added fifth string. It was a bit strange feeling at first being accustomed to normal banjo tunings, and normally using a flat pick or bow on fifths-tuned instruments vs clawhammering on such an arrangement. And regarding the fifth string, I tuned to A for A, A minor, and D tunes and G for G and C tunes. 



Unfortunately, I didn't record playing it strung in the GDAE configuration with added fifth string, only as a short C-scale five string (cGCEG), and a 4-string tenor tuned GDAE. 

youtu.be/_L9X19ulA64?si=vN_-6mYX6K_Iuqsi

Convertible Tenor/5 string

 

pinenut - Posted - 01/03/2026:  08:47:46

quote:

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Originally posted by rkdjones

 Note, I don't do any of these things very well. I am kind of overwhelmed by all the chord shapes considering how many other tunings that are used on the 5-string.

Robert

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Hi Robert,

Bucking the system is hard. 

The bulk of bluegrass, old time and fiddle tunes are in one of the three fairly open tunings (think, keys)  G/A, C/D, G/A-modal with each tune commonly using the same three one/two finger partial chords.  This adds up to a small handful of partial fingerings (I, IV, V).

gDGBD standard G/A:  d7 and C chord shapes with G chord open

gCGCD double C/D:  F, G and C chord shapes, but, C is a one finger chord 

gDGCD mountain G/A modal:  In practice, do chords even exist in this tuning..?

I understand this is not what was asked.  Don't kill yourself trying to make a 5-string banjo into a western philosophy instrument; it's not supposed to fully fit into the modern music system.  Cheers.

Edited by - pinenut on 01/03/2026 09:02:46

CrazyCatLazy - Posted - 01/03/2026:  10:42:30

If the advantage of the tuning for you is picking out melodies and mastering the fretboard, I don't understand why you'd want tabs?

Surely the benefits of this are coming from you composing your own tunes/ arrangements?

banjoboyd - Posted - 01/03/2026:  10:45:30

Robert - I suppose the best way to test it out would be to play your GDAE uke in melodic clawhammer style and see where things fall on the fingerboard. You might also try all-fourths tuning, but IMO the chord shapes are not as good (there's a reason the top 4 strings of the guitar are DGBE, not DGCF).

As you may or may not know, gCGBD was historically the standard tuning for "guitar-style" (i.e. fingerstyle) banjo, which incorporated both melodic and chordal playing. Plectrum banjo retained the same tuning, just without the 5th string. There are definite advantages to this tuning, although it is not as "key-neutral" as an all-fifths tuning. Nothing a capo can't solve.

rkdjones - Posted - 01/03/2026:  10:48:20

Thanks for all your thoughts.

I guess it is just my nature to tinker with everything I touch. I've made and tuned banjos, tenor and 5-string, multiple ways and found some things that fit the way I like to approach music. 3 chords are pretty good, but I love the sound of the minor chords. And I like playing clawhammer. So I want to try melodic clawhammer on a tenor banjo tuned G4 D3 A3 E4, not a lot different than playing clawhammer ukulele. Chords sound surprisingly better than with G2 D3 A3 E4, and since the drone string is fretted a lot of chords that are off limits for a 5-string are available. I just want to see if it is a versatile melodic instrument played in clawhammer style.

My off-the-shelf 5-string has a short scale (23.75") and is just easier for me to play. I don't think fifths tuning would work well on this. I have some questions about that tuning that I will post separately.

trapdoor2 - Posted - 01/03/2026:  11:28:51

quote:

---

Originally posted by rkdjones

My off-the-shelf 5-string has a short scale (23.75") and is just easier for me to play. I don't think fifths tuning would work well on this. I have some questions about that tuning that I will post separately.

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For that scale length, try Jazz tenor banjo strings, tuned CGDA (Viola/Mandola). I tend to tune the bass C to D (I do the same with GDAE, giving me ADAE). Very few Irish fiddle tunes need that low bass.

While it wont be GDAE, CGDA is still 5ths tuning and all the fingering will be the same...just in a different key. Up to you where to pitch the 5th string.

Edited by - trapdoor2 on 01/03/2026 11:29:32

rkdjones - Posted - 01/03/2026:  13:04:10

Thanks for the tip on strings. I used octave mandolin strings but I think the tension normally used on octave mandolins is higher than banjo.

Having messed around a bit with mandolin lessons I also realized that the fourth string is often not needed for the melody, so it seemed obvious that I could raise it couple octaves for reentrant tuning. An octave and a half are accessible in the first position on first 3 strings: D3 to A4, good for tunes in D, G, and A.

banjobard - Posted - 01/10/2026:  11:24:53

I’ve played Irish Melodies fingerstyle in open G tuning for many years, and recently took up the mandolin and tenor banjo. And what you say Is true, it’s SO much easier picking out melodies in that tuning. Like, learning a tune tune every day instead of one a week. I do fingerstyle on the tenor sometimes, for the ease of doing 3-finger triplets.

Because of how often you need to fret the 5th fret in a 5ths tuning, you may find it challenging on the scale length of a regular 5-string banjo. However, you could do as Enda Scahill does on his Nechville plectrum-length banjo and tune it FCGD (GDAE down one whole step), and then capo at the C 2nd fret for a scale length more like a 21-fret tenor or an octave mandolin. Plus then you can take off the capo to play C tunes, F tunes, D Dorian and G Dorian tunes (which is why he got his at that length, since he was also playing American old time etc with We Banjo 3). He actually uses ADAE tenor or relative pitch GCGD on the plectrum most of the time (remember, banks like the resonance of open tunings, and higher pitches means you can use thinner strings, which will make your banjo sound better.

On the subject of partially open tunings, you might consider the standard Irish bouzouki tuning of GDAD. Irish bouzouki is played in much more of a clawhammer type fashion (functionally and rhythmically, not ergonomically). What I mean is it mixes single melody or harmony notes with partial chords and drones, with frequent use of hammer-ons and other slurs. Irish bouzouki players also topically capo to get some of their open strings to match the key of the tune , which is a very clawhammer kind of approach. If you’re familiar with double C tuning, the lower 3 strings CGC have the same ratio as the upper 3 strings DAD on the bouzouki. That bit of knowledge let me quickly make an arrangement of Andy Irvine’s version of A Blacksmith Courted Me in clawhammer after I’d learned it in bouzouki. Having the high string a fourth above instead of a fifth above also means you can do some melodies across strings 1-2 in the higher positions (frets 7-9 usually) that also incorporate open strings, which is a more clawhammer sort of approach than a tenor banjo approach.

The other thing you have to contend with in a 5ths tuning is that to play melodically you will usually be playing several notes in a row on the same string. Neither clawhammer or conventional 3-finger techniques make that easy. You have to get good at single string playing (either with 2- or 3-fingerpicking), mixing in upstrokes with your downstrokes in clawhammer, or really crisp hammer ons, pull offs (including alternate steering pull offs), and slides, including with the pinky. Doing drop thumbs on the string you just hit with your downstroke doesn’t really work well, though you can do a downstroke on the string you just did a drop thumb on and it works ok. Practicing scales and arpeggios will help orient you to the ways you have to use different techniques depending on the type of upward/downward melodic movement in 8th note melodies, when using clawhammer. Much less straightforward than simple down-up picking with a flat pick.

Your 23 1/2” scale is already basically in tenor banjo territory (for 19-fret tenors) so you could just buy a set of Irish tenor strings to try it out (probably the thinnest set you can find, definitely not one intended for 17-fret tenors or it will be too thick and not sound good, and put too much tension on the neck). Maybe something like a 10-36 set with a wound 18ish 2nd string so the core remains slim? Or a set of regular tenor strings and try out CGDA (which could be capoed at the 2nd fret for DAEB, thus giving you most of the tunes that don’t go to the low string, with the added bonus that the high B no longer requires a position shift). I recently acquired a 5-string tenor banjo that I’m tuning GDAEA or possibly GDADA for a similar reason of not having to worry about position shifting. And I’m in the process of having a full length 5-string banjo neck made (5 full length strings), with a tunneled 5th string so that I can either string it FCGDG (capo 2 for GDAEA), or with the 5th string in the tunnel for something like gFCGD (capo 2 for aGDAE), or GDAD relatives for those.

Since you’re in Seattle, we could meet up some time, and I’d be happy to show you some things in person. If you’re free Jan 22-25th you could come up to the bellingham folk festival, I’ll be around for all of it.

rkdjones - Posted - 01/16/2026:  18:00:57

Harper,
Thanks for info and invitation. I'm tied up next weekend so will miss the B'ham festival.
I'm kind of early in this journey, and have a lot of other things I'm working on. I have a tenor banjo tuned in fifths and plan to try some things sometime. I was hoping to find a YouTube of someone playing clawhammer on an instrument tuned in fifths just to see if anyone has managed to make it work. No luck yet.
Robert

Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 01/17/2026:  10:58:39

This is me doing what you suggest:
youtube.com/shorts/nAmuPl1oC98...ure=share
Could easily do a tab if you want it?

pghmatt - Posted - 01/23/2026:  20:17:21

You probably are already familiar with this but in case you aren’t, Ozbcoz has a song database you can choose the tuning. Lots of different genres and can at least be a jumping off point to make your own clawhammer tabs for a few.