I'm new to music, staring out late in life. Trying to learn banjo and canjo. I have a question about how to convert 3-sting guitar or 3-string dulcimer tabs to the 1-string canjo tabs. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks to all.
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The easiest way on a one-string canjo or diddley-bow...don't look at the TAB, look at the chord names and play that one note (google <song title> chords)
i.e. C, Cm, C7, Cm7 -> play a C G, Gm, G7, Gm7 -> play a G
Todd is too kind. However, I have showed people (I hope) how to convert any song in any 6-string tuning chord / TAB form to any 3-string tuning, using fretboard maps. Going from 3-strings to 1 should be relatively simple. Todd's method uses a similar idea, using the numbered intervals. It is a good method, but requires some background musical knowledge. It is not difficult to learn; you can get basic music theory from Wikipedia, for example. My method of fretboard mapping is similar, except that I start by showing you how to create fretboard maps using the note names for each location on the fretboard, from open string to the 12th fret, in this Discussion:
You mentioned you are going from 3-string to 1-string. Creating a fretboard map for 3-strings is easy, while creating one for 1-string is even easier! As in the Discussions above, once you have created the fretboard map for the larger number of strings (you can do this very quickly in a spreadsheet program such as Excel, for example - this is what I'm in the midst of doing, for all publicly available 6-string and 3- and 4-string tunings, based on an a suggestion and example from CBN member JL), you can then transfer your chords or tabs to that map. Yes, it can be tedious, but it will reinforce in your mind where notes live on that particular fretboard in that particular tuning. Then, you transfer that info to the fretboard map for the smaller number of strings. Turtlehead's method shows you the interval relationships between the notes, which would be the next logical step, since it is transportable between tunings and any number of strings.
If you have a particular example, I'd be happy to do it for you here in the middle of this Discussion, so others can see and perhaps benefit from the process.
Replies
The easiest way on a one-string canjo or diddley-bow...don't look at the TAB, look at the chord names and play that one note (google <song title> chords)
i.e. C, Cm, C7, Cm7 -> play a C
G, Gm, G7, Gm7 -> play a G
its not fancy but it is an easy start to playing
Todd is too kind. However, I have showed people (I hope) how to convert any song in any 6-string tuning chord / TAB form to any 3-string tuning, using fretboard maps. Going from 3-strings to 1 should be relatively simple. Todd's method uses a similar idea, using the numbered intervals. It is a good method, but requires some background musical knowledge. It is not difficult to learn; you can get basic music theory from Wikipedia, for example. My method of fretboard mapping is similar, except that I start by showing you how to create fretboard maps using the note names for each location on the fretboard, from open string to the 12th fret, in this Discussion:
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/how-to-map-your-fretboar...
And in this Discussion:
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/looking-for-tab-for-ligh...
Read both Discussions in their entirety.
You mentioned you are going from 3-string to 1-string. Creating a fretboard map for 3-strings is easy, while creating one for 1-string is even easier! As in the Discussions above, once you have created the fretboard map for the larger number of strings (you can do this very quickly in a spreadsheet program such as Excel, for example - this is what I'm in the midst of doing, for all publicly available 6-string and 3- and 4-string tunings, based on an a suggestion and example from CBN member JL), you can then transfer your chords or tabs to that map. Yes, it can be tedious, but it will reinforce in your mind where notes live on that particular fretboard in that particular tuning. Then, you transfer that info to the fretboard map for the smaller number of strings. Turtlehead's method shows you the interval relationships between the notes, which would be the next logical step, since it is transportable between tunings and any number of strings.
If you have a particular example, I'd be happy to do it for you here in the middle of this Discussion, so others can see and perhaps benefit from the process.