1/9/2024 0 Comments Irish tenor banjoThe 19-fret sounds better (to me) but is more of a stretch to play, so it's a tradeoff. The shorter 17-fret scale makes for easier fingering but the strings are looser, and it's harder to get a good tone. You will also find that tenor banjos came in 17-fret and 19-fret lengths. I had to use guitar strings for the G and D, removing the ball ends so I could put the loop on the tailpiece. ("Normal" tenor banjo tuning was more like a viola - in 5ths, but much higher). If the banjo doesn't already have strings that are designed ESPECIALLY for Irish music, they will probably be too light for that low a tuning. That way I don't have to learn a new fingering from the fiddle, but the notes are farther apart so you may have to alter the way you play them on the banjo. Most of us who play Irish tenor banjo tune them an octave below the fiddle (GDAE). That's why I bought my Paramount, Bacon, and Vega tenors - I knew I would keep them as tenors. You won't find many Gibsons, because all of us 5-string players have put 5-string necks on them. There are some new tenors being made out there, as well as some vintage instruments. For me, it was easier to learn a new instrument in a new tuning. I play both bluegrass and Irish, and started playing fiddle and tenor banjo because I wasn't satisfied with the limitations of normal 5-string tuning for playing Irish music - you can play some tunes easily with it, but other tunes in other keys become a bit of a challenge and a hassle, to be honest. For Irish trad music, the tenor is the way to go.
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