Press Play for the low C, then G, D and A below, or the Irish rows: G D A E.
Tenor Banjo Tuning: 130.81 Hz sawtooth tone
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Sawtooth wave · both channels
130.81Hz
Period 7.64 ms
Wavelength 2.62 m (8.6 ft)
The note C3
Ready. It starts quiet and fades in over half a second.
A steady tone can harm ears and speakers before it sounds loud. Hear nothing? Do not turn it up to find the tone: small speakers cannot play very low tones, and many adults cannot hear very high ones.
Percent of this tool's loudest. Your device volume does the rest.
Standard tenor banjo tuning is C G D A, low to high: C3, G3, D4 and A4, each a fifth over the last, the same as a viola. Irish tenor banjo tuning is G D A E, a fourth lower.
Read the full guide
How to tune a tenor banjo
1. Press Play: the fourth string's C sounds. Tune your thickest string until the two match.
2. Press the next three rows in turn, G, D and A, and tune each string to its tone.
3. Check by fret. Hold any string at fret 7: it sounds the next string open. One rule covers every pair, in either tuning, because the strings are a fifth apart.
4. For the Irish tuning, press the four rows that begin Irish in place of the first four: G, D, A, E.
Each tone is a sawtooth wave: its overtones let the low C, and the Irish G under it, come through a small speaker.
Questions and answers
What is the standard 4 string banjo tuning?
On a tenor banjo, C G D A. The other four-string banjo, the longer-necked plectrum banjo, was originally tuned C G B D, and can be tuned D G B E like a guitar's top four strings, known as Chicago tuning.
What is Irish banjo tuning?
G D A E: the notes G2, D3, A3 and E4, one octave under a fiddle and the same as an octave mandolin. Players of Irish traditional music in particular use it, because fiddle and mandolin fingerings carry straight over.
Is a 4-string tenor banjo tuned like a 5-string banjo?
No. The most common five-string tuning is open G: a short, high G string, then D G B D, the notes of a G chord. A tenor banjo has no short string and climbs in even fifths.
All 8 notes
Standard tuning, C G D A 4
4th string C3, the lowest130.81 Hz, the C below middle C and the pitch of a viola's lowest string. Held at fret 7 it sounds the 3rd string's G.
3rd string G3, a fifth over the C196 Hz, seven semitones over the 4th string. Held at fret 7 it sounds the 2nd string's D.
2nd string D4, a fifth over the G293.66 Hz, the D above middle C. Held at fret 7 it sounds the 1st string's A.
1st string A4, the 440 Hz A440 Hz, the A above middle C and the standard tuning pitch, ISO 16. An octave over the Irish tuning's A string.
Irish tuning, G D A E 4
Irish 4th string G2, the lowest98 Hz, five semitones under the standard tuning's C and one octave under a fiddle's lowest string. Held at fret 7 it sounds the 3rd string's D.
Irish 3rd string D3, a fifth over G146.83 Hz, five semitones under the standard tuning's G. Held at fret 7 it sounds the 2nd string's A.
Irish 2nd string A3, a fifth over D220 Hz, one octave under the 440 Hz A. Held at fret 7 it sounds the 1st string's E.
Irish 1st string E4, the highest329.63 Hz, the E above middle C: five semitones under the standard tuning's A and one octave under a fiddle's E string.