I'm working on a few tunes now that require me to capo up to a different key. No problem.
However, for something like gDGBG capo to A, do I also need to use a spike or capo to re-tune my g string? I feel like something sounds wrong if I leave it as-is, but I also can't tune that string all the way to a on my current banjo.
I'm still a beginner, so apologies if this is something obvious.
You can get spikes, or retune the 5th string.
Hi Jesse - To play in A, you would capo first four strings at the 2nd fret, and you'd need a spike on the 7th fret for the fifth (g) string. Or some other way to hold that fifth string down at the 7th fret such as a fifth string capo. To play in C, you can capo the first four strings at the fifth fret and it's possible to just leave the fifth string as is (or spike it to the 10th fret if you have a spike there). For D you can capo all the strings at the 7th fret. Or play open without a capo in various different ways, as the much more experienced people here will tell you.
If you don't have spikes or a fifth string sliding capo, here's a quick way to make one out of a pen cap.
Edited by - Culloden on 04/07/2026 22:37:19
You can returned the 5th string to A. The string wont break. If you need to capo higher than the second fret you can tune the 5th string down to a compatible note.
Some people will retune the banjo to A and not use a capo. They like the way the banjo sounds .
And you can use the double C tuning for C and tune that up to D as well. No capo needed.
You have options.
Mark
quote:
Originally posted by markxshermanYou can returned the 5th string to A. The string wont break.
This is the advice I was given when I first started as well.
My advice: have a spare set of strings on hand before trying this. I spent a holiday afternoon trying to find a music store that was open and had banjo strings rather than playing banjo like I had intended.
Enough people give this advice that is must often work. But I have a 0% success rate, and almost never break strings otherwise.
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