Banjolele tuner

The strings in Hz

C tuning (G C E A)

Other tunings

At A4 = 440 Hz; the reference switch above moves them all.

How to tune a banjolele with this tuner

Tap start and pluck the G, the 4th string, the one nearest your face. Banjolele tuning is the ukulele's: G C E A, G4 C4 E4 A4, the G higher than the C beside it (re-entrant tuning; My Dog Has Fleas). Turn until the needle ticks at five cents or closer, and the tuner moves on to the C, the E and the A. Pluck with the soft side of the thumb over the neck, not near the bridge, where the drum head adds a bright ring: a round note reads faster. The note dies quickly on a head; the tick wants it steady for under half a second, so pluck again rather than chase a fading note.

The ukulele books of the 1920s and 30s, and many British banjolele songbooks, are written for D tuning, A D F♯ B (also called English tuning), a whole tone higher: the second switch. The chord shapes stay the same and sound a tone up. Retuning back and forth wears strings; if you change often, stay in G C E A and put a capo at the 2nd fret for D.

Is a banjolele tuned the same as a ukulele?

Yes: the same notes, the same strings, the same chord shapes. Soprano and concert banjoleles, the usual sizes, stay in G C E A or D tuning. A tenor-size banjo uke can be strung with a low G (G3, an octave down), and a baritone takes D G B E, Chicago tuning, like a guitar's top four; the ukulele tuner has both. Open C, G C E G, is the A string tuned down a whole tone to G: an open strum is a C chord. The switches here don't have it; the chromatic tuner reads it. A banjolele is not tuned like a banjo: a 5-string banjo is g D G B D and a tenor banjo C G D A; for those, the banjo tuner. What differs is the body: a drum head instead of a wooden top, and a bridge that stands on it.

The floating bridge: check the 12th fret

The bridge isn't glued. String pressure holds it on the head, and it slides when you change strings or retune hard. Its place sets the intonation: the nut to the 12th fret is half the scale, so the bridge belongs twice that distance from the nut, a millimetre or two more. To check, tune a string open, tap its chip again and fret it at the 12th: the tuner folds the octave and shows the fretted note's cents. Sharp: move the bridge a little away from the neck. Flat: toward it. Check the G and the A, the outer strings, slacken them slightly before you push the bridge, and retune. The nut-to-bridge length also gives your size: about 33 cm (13 in) is a soprano, 38 cm (15 in) a concert, 43 cm (17 in) a tenor, 48 cm (19 in) a baritone.

The head: tension and tone

A slack head sounds dull, the notes die fast, and the bridge sinks, which lowers the strings and moves the intonation. Tighten the bracket nuts a quarter turn or less each, working across the rim like the nuts on a car wheel, and tap the head near each bracket: the same pitch all round is an even head. A calfskin head on an old banjolele slackens in damp weather and tightens in dry; a plastic head stays put.

How to tune a banjolele by ear

Tune the C first, to middle C on a piano (261.63 Hz) or the C4 above, then the others from it; play both notes and turn until the wobble stops.

• E, 2nd string: 4th fret of the C string
• A, 1st string: 5th fret of the E string
• G, 4th string: 3rd fret of the E string, or 7th fret of the C

In D tuning the frets are the same, starting from a D.

Pegs that slip, new strings, clip-on or phone

Many old banjoleles have friction pegs: a screw in the end of the button sets how stiffly the peg turns. Tighten it until the peg holds the string's pull and still turns smoothly, and come up to each note from below. New nylon or fluorocarbon strings stretch for a few days; tune, pull each string gently along its length, retune. A clip-on tuner reads the headstock's vibration, and on a banjolele the ringing head and short notes can make it jump. You can tune a banjolele with your phone, no app needed: this page runs in the browser. A microphone tuner such as this one hears the note itself: a quiet room, the phone at arm's length, the strings you aren't tuning muted with the other hand.

The notes you tuned go into Brumm as a short melody over a beat.