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Five String Banjo Setup - Making Your Bluegrass Banjo Sound Better

Give yourself the opportunity to play on a quality instrument from the start. With that said, several folks don't have the finances for a high-priced banjo.  If you already have a banjo, give it a go with what you have.  Just don't expect your low-cost, one hundred dollar Japanese-made banjo to sound like a Gibson Mastertone. We do have some simple steps to improve your sound though.

Step #1: New Strings

Probably the most noticeable improvement to your banjo sound comes from changing the strings. This is not difficult;  you can do this at your home. First, view your string gauge. Most of the string producers label their string sets with words like mild gauge, medium mild, medium, etc. My suggestion is to go with medium light.  You will find the mediums to be way too hard on your fingers. If you have slight fingers or are young, you may even prefer mild gauge strings. There are many types of strings to choose from.  We recommend changing your strings after every 8 hours of play time. If you are pulling the banjo out of the closet for the first time in many weeks, months, or years, certainly get them changed. Strings corrode, rust and lose quality of sound over a period of time, even if the banjo is just sitting in the closet.

Step #2: Set the Bridge

The bridge is the little wood piece that the strings pass over at the end of the neck of the banjo. If the bridge is out of place, your banjo won't make the right notes. The bridge is not fastened down; it's held in place by the stress of the strings so it can be moved around. To set the bridge, you will need to have a digital tuner. Measure the length from the nut to the 12th fret. Then, make the length from the 12th fret to the bridge the same. When this is completed, tune your banjo. When it is in tune, fret the 1st string (the bigger of the two D strings) at the seventeenth fret, and see what your tuner is telling you. When the bridge is set properly, this will be an in tune G note. If the tuner says it is sharp, then scoot the bridge again in the direction of the tail just a little. Re-tune, then verify once more. If the tuner says it is flat, scoot the bridge towards the neck just a very little. Re-tune, then check yet again. *Helpful suggestion*: After the bridge is set, then each and every time you do a string alter in the long term, just do a single string at a time so that the bridge doesn't move on you.

Deliverance - Banjo Duel

Here are a few banjo and bluegrass videos to inspire your banjo playing.  Even for players of a young ago, a banjo is a manageable and fun instrument.  Of course, it also appeals to adults who are picking up a stringed instrument for the first time.  Check out the World's Fastest Banjo player, Todd Taylor (last video).  Get a little practice under your belt and then post your own video to youtube!

8 Year Old Jonny Mizzone - Flint Hill Special - Sleepy Man Banjo Boys

 Bluegrass Music - Banjo, Mandolin, Bass, Guitar

World's Fastest Banjo Player

Why is the tone ring such an important part of a banjo?

I want to learn how to play the banjo and don't want to go in blindly to a music store and be taken advantage of because I do not know anything about banjos.  Also, why is a resonator important?

Answer:

There are several different kinds of tone rings, and as the name implies, each one gives a different kind of sound. We could get into a discussion of the various kinds, but really the best way to appreciate the differences is to go to a music store that has a good selection of banjos, try them out and LISTEN, and decide which one has the sound you like best. Keep in mind that the tone ring is just one part of what makes a banjo sound the way it does. The rim (what kind of wood it is), the head (plastic, natural skin, or some artificial skin substitute like Fiberskyn), the tailpiece, and whether the banjo has a resonator or is an openback -- these are all equally important in determining the sound of the instrument.  The tone ring, rim, tailpiece and head can all be changed out if you want to vary the tone of your banjo (many banjo players are forever tinkering with their instrument).

As for resonators vs openback banjos -- that depends on what kind of music you want to play and what sound you're looking for. If you want to play bluegrass, you probably want a banjo with a resonator -- and you'll also need fingerpicks and a thumbpick.  By the way, -- first off, because most bluegrass banjo players look up to Earl Scruggs (the original banjo player for Bill Monroe's band, the Bluegrass Boys) as the "Father of bluegrass banjo" -- and the sound of his pre-World War II Gibson 5-string resonator banjo (played with thumbpick and fingerpicks) is considered THE definitive sound of bluegrass banjo. For many, if it doesn't sound like Earl, it doesn't sound like bluegrass. Plus, if you intend to someday play with other people in a band or a jam session, you'll find the bright tone and greater volume of a resonator banjo necessary to make yourself heard amongst the guitars, mandolin, bass, and fiddle. However, if you want to play old-time music, you'll notice that most old-time players use openback banjos. Openback instruments give a mellower, darker and (usually) quieter tone that sounds really good played clawhammer style, or fingerpicked without picks in old-time 2- or 3-finger picking styles. But you can play Scruggs-style 3-finger bluegrass on an openback banjo, just as you can play old-time clawhammer style on a resonator banjo -- its all a matter of choosing the instrument that will give you the sound YOU want. Check out the following discussion board for lots more information about this: www.banjohangout.com.

Foggy Mountain Breakdown - Earl Scruggs

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