How can I play my banjo tuned to D.? A lot of singers like that key. Can I go to drop C tuning and capo 2 ?
Sure. You could also capo on the second fret and play like you're in C. I prefer just tuning my fifth string to F# or A.
Edited by - Nic Pennsylvania on 12/14/2024 03:51:56
Tune the fith string to A and play the chords D,G,A for a standard song with 1,4,5 progression. That also helps to develop your skills further than just open G-Tuning.
Typically I'd play in the key of D out of G tuning with the 5th string as described above. However, D tuning on banjo would typically be f#DF#AD. Or in other words, starting in Open G, drop the 5th and 3rd string a half step, and drop the 2nd string a whole step.
The song Reuben is a good place to start leaning different licks and patterns in this tuning.
Thanks Gang !!
Mike, learning to play out of D is, IMO, the easiest "next step" after learning your G basics. As others have mentioned, spiking the fifth string to A is pretty straightforward. That said, if you leave the banjo in straight G tuning and play out of D, using the fifth string G (which is the four-note of D), you open up a lot of possibilities for fiddle tunes/melodic style. I suggest you play around with both. You'll find that getting the most out of this can include thumb-wrapping to fret the fifth in various places.
I play in key of D in G tuning and no capo both with and without fifth string spiked. Mostly without. And also capo 2 and and play as if in C.
Depends on the song, my mood, and the situation. At a jam, for example, I might do what other players aren't doing, just for the variety of sound. Unless it's a fiddle tune in D I only know one way.
Also remember that you already know a lot of G licks from playing in that key. Just plug the same licks, when they work, at a different point in the chord progression rather than just doing a general type role pattern. The fifth chord position rather than the first chord position.
Bobby
quote:
Originally posted by BobbyEAlso remember that you already know a lot of G licks from playing in that key.
And people also already know D licks. But they're often disguised as G licks.
Seriously: The opening measures of Foggy Mountain Breakdown, played on G, are also the start of the D back to G (V-I) lick in the same tune. Two-fer!
Everyone beyond outright beginners probably also knows D licks out of the 42x0 or 02x0 shapes. Or some that throw in the open 2nd string. Rework the rolls and fingering to catch the open 4th or end on it, to emphasize the D-ness when used as the one chord.
Slightly up the neck, there's the 2nd and 1st string double stop at 7 (F# and A). You can hang out there for a whole measure. Sometimes catch 1st string at 9 (B) in your roll if that note hints at melody.
This all works with the fifth string open or spiked at A. Sounds a little different. But works.
I think I was playing for a long time before doing any of this to play in D without a capo occurred to me. I wasn't seeing what was right before my eyes.
Key of D vs Key of G is literally one note difference. Basically anything that works for one will work for the other. People have a tendency to overcomplicate this stuff.
quote:
Originally posted by UncleleviHow can I play my banjo tuned to D.? A lot of singers like that key. Can I go to drop C tuning and capo 2 ?
There are several way's to play in the Key of D - Drop C capo 2 is one way. Alan Munde teaches several tunes in the Key of D using Standard G tuning also capo the fifth string to A.
Don't forget the open D tuning f#DF#AD or aDF#AD. For example Earl's version of John Henry and Reuben, and Ralph Stanley's Hard Times are played in open D.
A lot of what we do--for solos, at any rate--doesn't involve licks per se, but rather, playing melodies on (mainly) the inside strings, while rolling. In the key of G, this can be done without fretting the 1st string, so we're using the open 1st and 5th strings as drones. In the key of G, those drone notes are D and G--the fifth and first notes of the scale (like the drone strings on a lap dulcimer).
If you spike/capo your 5th string up to A for playing in D, you STILL have a 1 note and a 5 note as your drones, just with their positions reversed. So you can use that same melody-plus-rolling approach in D, and it'll work just as well as it does in G.
I play Soldier's Joy in D by just spiking the 5th at A.
This lets me have it in 2 octaves.I don't like losing the low D on 4 when playing the key of D.It';s very complete and powerful.
After learning SJ in D I figured out Kitchen Girl in A with no capo or retuning and these opened up fiddletunes in D and A out of the G neck.
I still capo sometimes or just for something different,but those 2 tunes opened up the flexibility of the G fingerboard for me.
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