Some guitarists find 6-string banjos with radiused fingerboards easier to play than those without one, particularly if you are familiar with playing steel string or electric guitars.
Six string banjos offer many advantages, including being easily tuneable with standard guitar tuners and available both openback and resonator models to achieve different sounds.
The Basics
As a beginner to banjo playing, it is wise to familiarize yourself with its components. Terminology for each piece varies, with some even calling it by different names: for instance “pot” is sometimes known as body while drum head with tuners is often referred to simply as the “drum head” or just “head.”
Tuning a 6-string banjo can be performed similarly to tuning a guitar: start by using an external reference (such as piano keys or tuning fork) as your starting point, and tune the lower E string (6th string) until its pitch matches those of its surrounding strings.
Hold your left forefinger finger over the 12th fret on the low E string and pluck it, listening for an octave overtone–a bell-like tone one octave higher than when plucked directly.
Depending on your octave overtone being higher than an unfretted tone, adjusting bridge placement by shifting up or down may help get to your desired sound. Adjusting with a bowed neck might make this easier but still requires some work.
Tuning
Cheap 6-string banjos may come to you without being tuned or adjusted, making them difficult to play. If you purchase one that sounds good and plays smoothly, ideally it should be returnable or brought into a technician for tuning and “setting up”, such as tightening its nuts and bolts that hold together coordinator rods.
To tune a six string banjo, first determine its reference pitch using either a piano or tuning fork, before pluckeding its lowest E string at its twelfth fret and listening for its overtone (a bell-like tone an octave higher than unfretted pitch) at 12th fret – if its overtone falls lower than your reference, move bridge towards tailpiece; otherwise move it towards neck. Repeat these steps for each string until all are in tune and you are ready to play! Alternatively you could use an electronic guitar tuner instead – once all strings are in tune then they’ll be ready for play!
Strings
People often assume a six string banjo (also called a banjitar or guitjo) is not a genuine banjo; however, these instruments have been around for over 100 years and used by numerous great musicians including Rod Stewart, Louie Armstrong and Taj Mahal.
Most banjos use nylon strings instead of metal ones, with some even featuring tone rings that enhance volume and brightness. Some models feature dual coordinator rods – considered an upgrade feature by most banjo lines but necessary on heavier models.
Some models feature flat or radiused fingerboards that enable your hand to stay in a more natural position on the strings and make bar chords simpler. Others feature a nut that allows for tuning lower strings an octave up; this opens up many new tuning possibilities such as double-D, used in Dixieland. There are numerous other banjo tunings designed to facilitate playing fiddle tunes or old-time music; most can be accomplished simply by adjusting coordinator rods.
Fingerboards
Modern 6 string banjo fingerboards tend to be radiused like those found on an acoustic guitar, making them much more comfortable if you come from the guitar world and allowing your hand to remain in an optimal position when performing barre chords. This feature also aids with barre chording.
As these instruments became more and more popular, they began replacing the four string banjo in dance bands. Since horn-dominated bands often featured banjo as part of a rhythm section and percussive element for chord progressions, players found they needed to utilize higher strings to play complex bar chords for maximum sound from their instrument while cutting through its noise.
Notably, necks on these instruments tend to be heavier than on acoustic guitars as they must withstand higher string tension. This may present issues when using an openback model and trying out different tunings or nylon strings.
Resonators
Fishman and LR Baggs offer high-quality six string banjo pickups that work perfectly.
On inexpensive models, coordinator rods are also an essential accessory. You’ll find them under the drum head between its neck heel and tailpiece, helping pull back any looseness from your neck when necessary. Adjustment should be straightforward with either an allen wrench or hex key available as necessary.
Fine-Tune the Bridge Placement
To do this, place your index finger just over the twelfth fret on a high E string and play. Listen out for an overtone that is an octave lower than what would normally be heard unfretted; adjust your bridge so it enunciates this overtone equally with its sound at twelfth fret; this may require scootching the bridge brackets one at a time until this overtone matches what was heard unfretted; tightening one bracket will in turn loosening another bracket on either side; so work around the banjo as much as possible in this way to achieve desired results!