Banjo
Choose your banjo tuning — chords, scales, and progressions for every variant.
Tenor Banjo
CGDA tuning — 4-string tenor banjo chords, scales, and fretboard diagrams.
Plectrum Banjo
CGBD tuning — 4-string plectrum banjo chords and scales.
Chicago Tuning
DGBE tuning — matches the top 4 guitar strings. Guitar-like chord shapes on banjo.
5-String Banjo
gDGBD open G tuning — the classic bluegrass banjo with drone string.
Start with the banjo role
Five-string open G is the bluegrass and old-time starting point, with a short drone string that changes both chord shapes and right-hand patterns. Tenor and plectrum banjos are four-string instruments for jazz, Celtic, and chord-melody styles; Chicago tuning keeps the top-four-guitar layout for easier transfer.
Open 5-string banjo chords for the main library, compare tenor banjo scales for fifths tuning, or read banjo gear basics to understand rims, heads, bridges, and resonators.
Related on String Warrior
Banjo gear basics · Tuner (banjo tunings) · All gear · All instruments
Brand new to banjo? Start the Beginner Banjo Path
The free Beginner Banjo Path takes you from zero to your first song in ten ordered steps — the parts of the banjo and its short fifth string, open-G tuning, fingerpicks and the alternating thumb, your first chords, forward and forward-reverse rolls, slides and hammer-ons, and backup basics. Each step links straight to its lesson, and marking steps complete tracks your progress in your browser.
Practice tools for banjo
Free in-browser practice tools tuned to this instrument: the banjo tuner covering 5-string, tenor, plectrum, and Chicago tunings, a metronome with a speed trainer for building roll speed, the ear trainer, and the progression builder for sketching song changes. Learn the neck with the fretboard note trainer, and pick over a real bass line with the song builder. Browse all practice tools.
Then drill with the guided banjo practice routines — timed chord-change sessions with daily streaks and badges.