How to Tune Your Banjo
Learn how to tune your banjo using an electronic tuner
First, let's go over the tuning of the banjo. Clawhammer banjo players use many different tunings, but "open G" tuning is the most common when getting started. This tuning is gDGBd. The small “g” represents the tuning of the short 5th string(the one that has a tuning peg in the middle of the banjo neck). The small “d” represents the 1st string, which is closest to the floor when holding the banjo in proper playing position.
Memorize this tuning. It will be helpful when you are using an electronic tuner. The tuner will listen to the string's pitch and tell you what frequency/note it is currently at. Clip on tuners are a nice option that sense the vibration to determine the pitch of a note and work great in noisy environments. Most of the time the banjo is close to being in tune, but it just requires some tweaking.
The two main terms you'll hear in reference to pitch are 'sharp' and 'flat'. Sharp refers to the note being too high and flat means it's too low. For example, if you play your low E string and the tuner shows that the string is at an F note, you're tuned sharp and need to turn your tuning peg in a clockwise motion. For a note that is flat, you'll turn your peg with a counter clockwise motion.
Once you're tuned up move on to the next lesson to learn how to read banjo tablature.