I have been asked to write an article about D Tuning for the five string banjo. The problem is, I don’t use D Tuning, sure I’ve tried the tuning, but I have never gotten down to the business of familiarizing myself with D Tuning. In this post I will join you in a quick journey down the road of D Tuning - I know we will all learn a lot.

Before we get started I’d like to thank everyone who has posted a comment, these little pats on the back keep me writing, especially when time and motivation become scarce. The push for this article comes from loothi -Thanks for the suggestion.
I am always flattered by your kind comments, so keep them coming.

Why would you want to put yourself through the trouble of learning a new banjo tuning? My reason is to play the song “Reuben”, the Earl Scruggs version from the album Foggy Mountain Banjo. That song has always caught my attention and it’s time I learned it. Buy it here for only .99 cents -
Reuben (Album Version) or pick up the Earl Scruggs and the 5-string Banjo book with the TAB and learn it ( Click on the Picture in the middle of the post). I already have the book and the music and have started the learning process. Here are three more reasons to learn D Tuning:

  1. Earl Scruggs first discovered the three finger style playing a song in the D Tuning.
  2. D Tuning gives the banjo a totally different sound.
  3. Fiddle songs are commonly in the key of D and this tuning offers some interesting possibilities.

Let’s begin - If we start with the banjo in standard G tuning we need to adjust three strings, the 1st and 4th strings remain tuned to D. The 3rd string needs to be tuned down from G to an F#, the 2nd string needs to be tuned down from B to an A and finally the 5th string down to F# from G. This is best done with an electronic tuner - be sure to go through the strings twice in a row to get the tuning just right.

To tune the banjo for D Tuning without a tuner:

  1. Leave the 4th string alone (D).
  2. Fret the 4th string at the 4th fret (F#) - lower the 3rd string to F#.
  3. Fret the 3rd string at the 3rd fret (A) - lower the 2nd string to A.
  4. Fret the 2nd string at the 5th fret (D) - leave this string at D.
  5. Fret the 1st string at the 4th fret (F#) - lower the 5th string to F#.

The 5th string can also be tuned to and A - 1st string at the 7th fret. In this post I will be assuming the 5th string is F#.

RELATED POSTS:

The Key of D for Banjo

The Key of A for Banjo

Tuning Your Banjo

Ten Great Books to Learn to Play the Banjo

There it is, an introduction to D Tuning. In an upcoming post I will demonstrate some licks in D tuning with audio samples.

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