Fourths Tuning and Fifths Tuning

I've been toying around with an all fourths D-G-C-F tuning (low to high) on a baritone uke - normally tuned D-G-B-E - by tuning up the B and E strings by a half step to F and C.  This tuning really opens up the whole fretboard and it's become apparent that you can have a world of fun just by noodling around in this tuning.  It makes everything interconnected.

The Irish tenor banjo fifths tuning of G-D-A-E is great for playing traditional tunes (single-note melodies) in first position where you utilize open strings as much as possible, but the reaches are too far to intuitively transpose to other keys when playing in different positions up the neck, unless you are way up there.  The tenor banjo's scale length makes the fifths tuning too spread out for that.  It is a tuning designed for the shorter fingerboard of the violin or mandolin.

A fourths tuning on tenor banjo would put all the notes under your fingers anywhere you are on the neck.  It's like an equalizer that frees up the ability to play by ear and by feel.  My main concern is that with fourths tuning - with only four strings - is that you lose some range when compared to the fifths tuning.  For example, if I started with same open G for lowest string, it would take all the way up to the 9th fret of the highest string to play two octaves ("G-C-F-Bb tuning"), whereas in G-D-A-E you have that same two-octaves higher G on the 3rd fret of the highest string.

However, I don't think lack of range will be too much of an issue.  Fourths tuning is the same tuning as used on bass guitars and many of the world's greatest bass players, including Chris Wood and Jaco Pastorius, do just fine with a 4-string bass.  If I found that I definitely needed more range, you could always have a banjo neck made to accommodate 5 full-length strings.

I definitely won't abandon fifths tuning altogether, because it's the best way to play Irish traditional tunes on the tenor banjo.  But for playing more freely having a 4-string banjo tuned in all fourths will be a super fun outlet.  The most obvious tuning seems to be D-G-C-F, although E-A-D-G and A-D-G-C are also possibilities.

It's almost unheard of to do this on 4-string banjo, but the fact that all fourths is the standard tuning for bass guitars at least means that there is at least some form of instructional material out there, if necessary.  Some guitarists use an all fourths tuning as well, sometimes called P4 tuning.  Stanley Jordan is probably the most well known guitarist who uses this tuning.  He tunes his six strings E-A-D-G-C-F, so if I do D-G-C-F I'll be matching his 4 highest strings.

I'm not too concerned with having some more difficult chord shapes by using an all fourths tuning.  I'd mainly be using it to play single-note, scale-based, melodic stuff and not full four-string chords, although I bet you can get some cool, weird, dissonant voicings.  And finally, the all fourths tuning might make everything sound a little different but that is OK.  The concept of music itself is the roadmap and it doesn't have to be instrument specific.

DGDA and ADAE Tunings (Mandola and Tenor Banjo)

Mandolas are basically just slightly bigger mandolins with a scale length between 15.5" and 17" - so about 12 to 25 percent longer than a mandolin scale, which is typically 13.875".  A mandola is usually tuned in 5ths like a mandolin, but that 5ths tuning is CGDA instead of GDAE.

I recently got a mandola with a 15.5" scale.  I was going to tune it CGDA, but then I was reminded of a chapter in Enda Scahill's Irish Banjo Tutor on Alternate Tunings where he describes tuning a tenor banjo ADAE instead of GDAE.  (Note: the Irish tenor banjo's standard GDAE tuning is one octave lower than the mandolin's GDAE tuning).  Purists beware, ADAE is the way Enda normally tunes his banjo!

Tuning an Irish tenor banjo to ADAE simply involves tuning the 4th string (lowest string) up a whole step from G to A.  On a mandola this would equate to changing the CGDA tuning to DGDA.  I've found out that DGDA is the way Marla Fibish tunes her mandola, and maybe John Doyle as well.   I'm willing to give it a shot!

Enda Scahill

In his tutor Enda Scahill describes several advantages of this alternate tuning, and below I have paraphrased some of these while translating it to mandola-oriented language.

Advantages of DGDA tuning

DGDA is almost an open tuning of D or G.  By playing the A note (fret 2) on the G string or the B note (fret 2) on the A string you play either a 4 string D chord or G chord.  This allows the instrument to resonate more in tune with itself.

The stretch to that pesky low F# (Fret 6 on the low string) is now only a stretch to Fret 4.

The G note on the low string is now at Fret 5 instead of 7.  This allows for fiddle style double G “chording” (open G played with G on the low string).

Tuning the low C up to a low D creates opportunities for droning on the open string.  This is a big advantage for the key of D (the key that most Irish tunes are played in) and for the key of G (arguably the 2nd most common tonal center in Irish traditional music).

The DGDA tuning affords different (easier?) chord formations new found harmonies and voicings.

Tuning up to D tightens the tone and the action by creating more tension in the string.  In other words, you can use a lighter string but still achieve more tension.  This results in the 4^th string being not as twangy, heavy or loose.  (This feature has perhaps more relevance among banjo players tuning up to ADAE from GDAE).

I'll add to Enda's list by saying that this alternate tuning makes the mandola even more of a unique, hybrid instrument.  The interval from the 4^th string (D) to 3^rd string (G) now becomes a perfect 4^th (like on a guitar) instead of a 5^th, yet you still have the interval of a 5th between the other strings.

In this altered mandola tuning you can't quite transpose and use the exact same fingerings you've memorized on mandolin...you have to make adjustments for any notes on the low string.  But, overcoming obstacles and finding advantages in what at first might seem like an unnecessary challenge is all part of the fun of playing an instrument and growing as a musician!

Special Guitar Tuning: Five Strings Tuned In Fourths

One great thing about a tenor banjo tuned in fifths is that you have the same interval between each string:  G-D-A-E from low to high (or C-G-D-A).  It’s a very logical tuning.  Contrast that to a guitar where you have the interval of a 4^th between each string except for the open G to open B.  (the B string would need to be a C to maintain intervalic symmetry).  Although, if you want to play in closed positions on tenor banjo (no open strings) there is one issue or limitation to the 5ths tuning – the  s  t  r  e  t  c  h!

It’s very difficult to reach from frets 1 or 2 to frets 7 or 8.  You can manage it on the mandolin because the mandolin’s 13-inch scale means that you can place the index finger on the 2^nd fret and the pinky finger on the 7^th fret without too much trouble.  But even on a 21” scale tenor banjo that just isn’t doable.  So what if you added a 5th string and tuned in 4ths?  That might be a good compromise. 

A 5-string instrument tuned in straight 4ths A-D-G-C-F would have a similar pitch range, but everywhere requiring stretch from frets 2 to 7 on tenor banjo would only be from frets 2 to 5 in 4ths tuning.  The next fretted note in the scale would always be on the 2^nd fret of the next higher string and not the 7th fret of the current string.

I haven’t given too much thought yet to the chord shapes, but from a melodic standpoint single-note melodies should fall under the fingers pretty well in 4ths tuning.  Since you would not have to use any open strings, transposing a melody to another key would be as simple as taking that same pattern and moving it up or down the neck.  This might allow you to perceive melodies like a horn player. 

I am going to try this out with an inexpensive short-scale Luna guitar.  A local luthier is going to set it up as a 5-string left-handed instrument tuned in 4ths – A-D-G-C-F – using a mandolin tailpiece to keep the strings low to the body behind the bridge saddle.  We’ll see how it goes!  I'll report back once I've tried it out.