Because most tenor banjos have a scale (the distance between the bridge and the nut on a banjo) of 19 to 23 inches, making the transition from a mandolin or violin can be very difficult for a lot of musicians. Many of the Irish Traditional Music (ITM) banjo players I know played one or both of these instruments first and picked up the banjo because their mandolin or fiddle was not heard in sessions. They quickly found out that going from a 13 inch scale to a longer scale presents a lot of problems. Unless you have super-sized hands, using your old three fingered techniques well is not possible. So most ITM banjo players have gone to using a four fingered approach.
I understand that there is an often bitter debate between the advocates of the mandolin (three fingers) versus the guitar (four fingers) approach to playing the banjo so I will settle this by saying that guitar fingering is superior and beginners should learn it. More experienced players can and do use several approaches, but since this column is for those of your who are just taking up the instrument, I urge you to take up the guitar style and not have to go through a lot of pain later.
Here are the basics. Each finger has an assigned fret in the first position (more about this later): the first finger is on the second fret, the second finger on the third fret, and so on. Since most ITM is played in the keys of D, G, and A plus the relative minors, these fingers naturally fall on the frets that are needed to play a tune. On the next page is a G and D scale to illustrate.
You will note that the only exception to the finger assignment rule is the high B note which requires a shift from first position (first finger on the second fret) to second position (first finger on the third fret and the other fingers following suit) in order to reach the seventh fret. In the perverse way of ITM almost every tune seems to have a high B note to reach at some time. (Actually it has to do with composing tunes for the other instruments that preceded the banjo such as the fiddle, whistle and pipes.) So we have to learn how to smoothly go from an F, G, A, or even a D note and hit the high B without losing the flow of the tune. Being able to do so separates the better banjo player from the rest.
The Woodchopper's Reel is a good place to start if you want to learn how to go to second position. In the A part there is a second position shift just before reaching the high B note on the seventh fret of the E string that is very straightforward. The technique shown can be used in many tunes with a number of variations. But in the B part there is an unusual second position shift after you hit the low A and have to go to the low C sharp on the sixth fret of the G string. This movement is a little harder and requires a lot of practice to bring off well. If you learn Woodchopper's Reel, you will have gone a long way to learning the guitar fingering style on the tenor banjo.
About the Author
Mike Keyes, a native of Franklin, Tennessee, has played tenor banjo since
1957 and over the years has learned to play five string banjo, mandolin, and
guitar. He earned his way through college and medical school playing in bluegrass
and dixieland bands and currently plays in the Irish band "Good Luck."
He is an expert in sports performance and has written and book and over 200
articles on the subject.
His interest in Irish music started a number of years ago when effort to learn
more about his musical roots led him to the discovery of session playing. Since
then he has been to Ireland to learn more about the music and has taken classes
and interviewed such banjo greats as John Carty, Charlie Piggot, and Gerry
O'Connor.
His medical practice is in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin where he practices Psychiatry.
