4 string or 5 string banjo for blues?

Posted by JIm Trussler on June 24, 2012 at 3:25pm

Which is better for blues a 4 string or 5 string?

What tuning?

Also if you build a cigar box guitar(4 string) is the scale length the same for a banjo? IF so then is it a question of its tuning that determines its a banjo?

I am a blues player but have fallen under the sway of banjos as of late.......lol

I know very little about banjos and have been looking to buy one but would prefer to build one like my CBG's. Any pointers?

Cheers!

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Replies

  • Gerald Readore August 22, 2012 at 1:17pm

    I play the banjo so will try to offer some input.  I started off playing three finger Scrugg's style for about 2 years and switched over to clawhammer for the past 2.5 years. 

    I think the 4 string banjo would be better for blues, but you can do the same on a 5 string.  The 5th string is just a drone and is not normally fretted anyway and starts further up the neck.  If you already have a 5 string just remove the 5th string. I've started trying to play blues on the tenor banjo after stumbling upon this site and seeing a video by Keni Lee Burgess on the 4 string Cigar Box Guitar tuned DGBD.  This is same tuning normally as on the 5 string string banjo excluding the 5th string drone string so is perfect.  A tenor/plectrum 4 string banjo can also be tune to DGBD. 

    I'm not sure of the scale length on a CBG, but it looks similar to a tenor banjo scale or "A-scale banjo" which I believe is about 2 frets shorter then a normal banjo.  Not sure of the second part of your question.  A lot of Old Time clawhammer banjo players use different tunings such as Double C (gCDCD), Sawmill (cDGCD), etc.  I would probably stick with Open G (DBGD) for now.

    The Deering Goodtime banjo is a good affordable banjo to start off with.

    Gerald
    www.youtube.com/berean315

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