Sawmill banjo tuner (G modal)
Tune your banjo to G modal (sawmill): G D G C D, from string 5 to string 1. G D G C D: the second string raised to C, for the modal sound of old-time fiddle tunes.
Press Start tuning, then play one string
Listening
The microphone is asked for only when you press Start, and heard only while the tuner is on. Nothing is recorded or sent.
How to get to G modal (sawmill) from standard tuning
- String 2 (B): up a half step to C.
Tune down a little past the note, then up to it: a string tuned up to its note holds it better. Then check every string with the tuner, as the neck settles. The other 4 strings stay as in standard tuning.
The chords in G modal (sawmill): every chord, with every shape it has in this tuning, in the Library. Or go back to the banjo tuner in standard tuning.
How to tune a banjo
- Press Start tuning and allow the microphone when your browser asks. A quiet room helps.
- Play one string, open, and let it ring. The tuner names the note it hears and the string it is nearest.
- If the needle is left of the middle, the string is low (flat): tighten it. If it is right of the middle, it is high (sharp): loosen it. Turn a little at a time, and play the string again.
- When the needle sits in the middle and the note turns green, that string is in tune. Go on to the next.
- Tune each string up to its note rather than down to it: the string holds its tuning better. Check them all once more at the end, because tuning one pulls a little on the others.
No microphone? Click a string above to hear its note, tick Keep playing the string I click, and turn the peg until your string and the note sound the same, with no slow wobble between them.
Tuners for other banjo tuning
Standard tuningG D G B DDouble CG C G C DC tuning (drop C)G C G B DOpen DF♯ D F♯ A D