Down Up Dick
Well-known member
In the original tuning CGDA you can also play viola music, although violinists always hog the good parts
It takes four or five to make a quartet or quintet. Where’s yer team spirit? ld:
In the original tuning CGDA you can also play viola music, although violinists always hog the good parts
Tenor guitar is tuned EADG with steel strings
Most common TG tuning is CGDA. DGBE (Chicago), is not uncommon nor is GDAE (Irish) but the most conventional, original tuning is CGDA, as the TG arose as a replacement for the banjo. I started on baritone uke in DGBE tuning and I still like it. I experimented with GCEA long ago (thought it would be easier to be in sync with other ukes) but it just didn’t seem to suit. It lost it’s mellow guitar quality. I like my tenor in Irish tuning, though I don’t play Celtic music. I primarily play bluegrass and like my tenor guitar tuned like a mandolin only lower. It’s good for lead work and deeper sounding than CGDA. I’d say CGDA has a sweeter sound, GDAE a grittier sound. The tenor guitar does sound good DGBE, with it’s closer harmonies but I prefer the fifths tuning. When I want to sound like a guitar, I play guitar or DGBE tuned baritone uke.
Do you need several TGs to have these different tunings or can you use the same strings to tune down or up?
You need different strings for these different tunings CGDA is a higher voicing and therefore thinner strings than GDAE. DGBE is 4ths & a 3rd tuning, so it covers much less range than those fifths tuning and so it needs strings with closer diameters than CGDE or GDAE sets. For DGBE you can use 4 of the six reg.guitar strings, if you like.Do you need several TGs to have these different tunings or can you use the same strings to tune down or up?
You need different strings for these different tunings CGDA is a higher voicing and therefore thinner strings than GDAE. DGBE is 4ths & a 3rd tuning, so it covers much less range than those fifths tuning and so it needs strings with closer diameters than CGDE or GDAE sets. For DGBE you can use 4 of the six reg.guitar strings, if you like.
Most common TG tuning is CGDA. DGBE (Chicago), is not uncommon nor is GDAE (Irish) but the most conventional, original tuning is CGDA, as the TG arose as a replacement for the banjo. I started on baritone uke in DGBE tuning and I still like it. I experimented with GCEA long ago (thought it would be easier to be in sync with other ukes) but it just didn’t seem to suit. It lost it’s mellow guitar quality. I like my tenor in Irish tuning, though I don’t play Celtic music. I primarily play bluegrass and like my tenor guitar tuned like a mandolin only lower. It’s good for lead work and deeper sounding than CGDA. I’d say CGDA has a sweeter sound, GDAE a grittier sound. The tenor guitar does sound good DGBE, with it’s closer harmonies but I prefer the fifths tuning. When I want to sound like a guitar, I play guitar or DGBE tuned baritone uke.
Hmm from what I've discovered online, tenor guitar was always tuned EADG by default. There's a fb group for TG and baritone uke and they clearly state EADG as the most common tuning, something which I'd already heard about via google
Wikipedia:
Tenor guitars are normally tuned in fifths (usually C3 G3 D4 A4, similar to the tenor banjo, mandola, or the viola) although other tunings are also common, such as "guitar tuning", "Chicago tuning," or baritone ukulele tuning (D3 G3 B3 E4), "Irish" or "octave mandolin" tuning (G2 D3 A3 E4, like a mandolin or violin but one octave below) and various "open" tunings, for slide playing. The tenor guitar can also be tuned like a soprano/concert/tenor ukulele, using various versions of G3 C4 E4 A4 tuning.
When the tenor banjo fell out of favor in the 1920s, guitar companies started making a four string version so banjo players could find work. Since the tenor banjos were tuned CGDA, that’s how TG started out. Now all different tunings are being used. I think this most recent wave of ukulele interest has led even more folks eventually to TG. Since they are not comping from a banjo background, they are more likely to think DGBE. So that tuning is getting more and more popular.
I like GDAE tuning. I like the range. It’s most associated with Celtic music which I only occasionally play. I use 40, 30, 20, 11 on my 23” scale TG.
I bought a set of Baritone Aquilas for GCEA tuning(Gunpowder Grey Packaging) by error. I have a couple of Baritones, so when the strings got worn on one, I thought I'd try and see how they sounded. Now what I would like to know is how tense should those strings be. They sounded too floppy at a low tension, but they are beginning to feel too tense at several tones below GCEA.. should I continue or am I an octave above where I should be?
Thanks in advance for any feedback.
Do they feel "right" at DGBE? Perhaps they were mis-packaged?
D-U-D: gCGBE is exactly how I tune my Gold Tone Banjola. The CGBE are the same pitch as my Baritone. I just kinda figured it out on my own... how would I know somebody else figured it out long before me?
That was a joke, BTW!
I can tune the 5th (drone) string from C up to A for keys C-D-E-F-G-A. Tuned C, it is a bit loose, but still useable. It is an .011" and will break if I try to tune any higher than A. It is reliable at A. I tried an .010 and .012, but .011 is the best compromise.
-Wiggy