My grandpa builds tenor banjos as his hobby and I grew up playing them, and I also have my grandmothers Martin tenor guitar and I just wanna say it’s great seeing people make videos about tenor banjos/guitar, so thankyou for shining a bit more light on these over looked underrated instruments
This is so cool man! I'm a cello player and I also play a little guitar, this would be so fun to play. The voicings are so rich, and the voice leading sounds nice, I love your playing!
life hack for picking up fifths tuning quickly: any scale, triad or drop 2 chord you play on the first 4 strings of guitar will transfer to fifths tuning if you flip the shape. using this method you can experiment with the 4 inversions of maj7 min7 dom7 m7b5 chords with interesting open voicings, its a blast!
@@1337treats Say we count the guitar strings from the bigger one at the top closer to the player's chest (the low pitch one) called the 1st to lighter one (at the botton of the next) as the 6th. And let's concentrate on only the top four of those strings, the 1st string (lowest) to the 4th string. Now, look at a guitar chord diagram and see what frets it tells you to play for a chord. For example, an E chord on the guitar uses: open 1st string + 2 fret on 2nd string + 2nd fret on 3rd string + 1st fret on 4th string. In a tenor tuned in GDAE, the same E chord will be the inverse shape: 1st fret on 1st string + 2nd fret on 2nd string + 2nd fret on 3rd string + open 4th string. So what the normal guitar plays on the 1st string will be played on the 4th on the GDAE tenor, what it plays on the 2nd string will be played on the 3rd, what it plays on the 3rd will be played on the 2nd and what it plays on the 4th will be played on the tenor's 1st string. (normal to tenor: 1 to 4, 2 to 3, 3 to 2, and 4 to 1). That's basically because the 4 "low pitch" strings of the guitar EADG are the exact mirror opposite notes in a tenor tuned in GDAE.
Wowza. Torn between these teachings! Just wish to back myself singing my heart out! Trying both. I have mine tuned like a guitars first strings without the low bass strings so far!
I'm glad you emphasize the traditional all-fifths tuning of this instrument, because it helps to prevent people from confusing it with the baritone ukulele. They are both beautiful instruments, but they are not the same thing!
Could be a solo instrument. Play it like a mandolin. There are many ways. Pentatonic scales are cool on it. Use some open notes. I have a uke tuned to 5ths and I love it.
I've had a guitar for ages. Every couple years or so, I would pick it up, remind myself the old tunes I struggle to play, then put it away. Not until I bought my daughter a uke and picked it up regularly, did I find the fun in playing again. I'm convinced it's because the chords are approachable -- I only have four fingers! WTF were they thinking making 6 strings on a guitar. So I bought myself a Tenor. Anyway, I have a question. I love your short on DADA tuning but I can't seem to find any content online about chords for DADA tuning. I'm naive when it comes to theory. Am I supposed to learn theory then make my own chord diagrams to be able to play? There's definitely less education infrastructure around the Tenor, so it seems like I'm in for a bit of a journey. Any pointers to someone just getting going? To add context to my interest, I'd love to play along with folk songs or jam with Steve Martin.
hey jon. the DADA tuning is super fun, but perhaps a bit difficult to manage for songs that use more than primary chords. i stick with the conventional tuning most of the time. for instruments like Tenor, i think a great path to acquiring music theory is learning tunes. gradually the connections, correspondences, and commonalities emerge, and things begin to make sense. of course western music theory is the same no matter what instrument you're playing, so general study always helps. i try to make this channel user friendly, and hope it helps build all of that up.
Guitars actually had 5 strings for most of their history. They were always tuned in 4ths though. Adding the 6th string to a guitar allows it to cover 4 full octaves. The tenor guitar will cover 4 full octaves with only 4 strings because it's tuned in 5ths. The downside is you'll need to move up and down the neck more often than on a 6 string guitar. It's all a series of trade-offs. I will also fully admit that it took me 15 years of struggling to become proficient with guitar and I still feel like there's a super long list of things I should still be working on after 22 total years of playing.
Thank you for this vid ! You’re a great explainer, and you’re getting very nice sounds out of that instrument 🙌 it’s serendipitous that you made this vid temporally very close to me looking at Kala’s website. Is it all solid wood construction ? (If only the top is sold, that’s plenty good enough for me.)
I picked up a 30" baritone ukulele, and I've been experimenting with tuning it like a tenor guitar with classical guitar strings. I'm loving what I'm getting at the moment. I just need to find the right strings to clear up that muddy and buzzy low end I'm getting. Still, a great instrument, loving it so much.
@@robert0price These instruments were developed around the 1920s during the Transition Period from Banjo to Guitar. I tune it like a Violin (but 8vb) with John Pearse strings so that the tension is reduced and it sounds mellower
that's the model, yes. i just did that tuning, (like the top of a guitar) and while the high strings seem a bit slack the sound has some charm. i do think there's value in the 5ths tuning for the reasons i mention in the video... the open voicings have a special quality. it took me a bit of time to learn the new shapes, but they settled in eventually.
Just play mandolin tab the only difference is a tune in G would be in C on the tenor guitar or you can put a capo at the 7th fret so long as a tune doesn't go up too many frets it would be in the same tuning as a mandolin
Just wondering why you seem to not like the DGBE tuning, isn't it more flexible? I've learnt playing that tuning and I feel the tone is deeper to. Interested hear your comments...
don't dislike it. i've got a dozen guitars tuned that way, top 4 strings. however, there's something magical about the voicings that we get from the 5ths tunings. and they pair with 'normal' guitar tunings very well, if you've got a couple of guitars in a track.
i removed two high string from a regular guitar and respaced the bottom 4 strings im limited to shapes due to missing digits do you know where i can find chart of two string voicings?
Wow. I don’t. It would come down to tuning. Django Reinhardt famously had missing digits as well. You might include his name in your search. All the best.
I just had another thought. Two voices is not quite a chord (my teacher called them “fractional”). But… jazz musicians routinely use only the third and the seventh from a chord to get the message out. Some music theory reading might help you develop a system that’s personal and effective
My grandpa builds tenor banjos as his hobby and I grew up playing them, and I also have my grandmothers Martin tenor guitar and I just wanna say it’s great seeing people make videos about tenor banjos/guitar, so thankyou for shining a bit more light on these over looked underrated instruments
This is so cool man! I'm a cello player and I also play a little guitar, this would be so fun to play. The voicings are so rich, and the voice leading sounds nice, I love your playing!
you're very kind. but yes, i think it's a no brainer for a cellist or violist.
The perfect video for me. And so timely. I'm picking up a tenor guitar next week.
I tune my uke in 4ths. Easy to play.
life hack for picking up fifths tuning quickly: any scale, triad or drop 2 chord you play on the first 4 strings of guitar will transfer to fifths tuning if you flip the shape. using this method you can experiment with the 4 inversions of maj7 min7 dom7 m7b5 chords with interesting open voicings, its a blast!
jesus. this is gold.
The Mandolin is easy cause most of the Chords are 2 fingers same goes for Tenor Guitar since it's often tuned the same way
How can I understand this?
@@1337treats Say we count the guitar strings from the bigger one at the top closer to the player's chest (the low pitch one) called the 1st to lighter one (at the botton of the next) as the 6th.
And let's concentrate on only the top four of those strings, the 1st string (lowest) to the 4th string.
Now, look at a guitar chord diagram and see what frets it tells you to play for a chord.
For example, an E chord on the guitar uses:
open 1st string + 2 fret on 2nd string + 2nd fret on 3rd string + 1st fret on 4th string.
In a tenor tuned in GDAE, the same E chord will be the inverse shape:
1st fret on 1st string + 2nd fret on 2nd string + 2nd fret on 3rd string + open 4th string.
So what the normal guitar plays on the 1st string will be played on the 4th on the GDAE tenor, what it plays on the 2nd string will be played on the 3rd, what it plays on the 3rd will be played on the 2nd and what it plays on the 4th will be played on the tenor's 1st string. (normal to tenor: 1 to 4, 2 to 3, 3 to 2, and 4 to 1).
That's basically because the 4 "low pitch" strings of the guitar EADG are the exact mirror opposite notes in a tenor tuned in GDAE.
Wowza. Torn between these teachings! Just wish to back myself singing my heart out! Trying both. I have mine tuned like a guitars first strings without the low bass strings so far!
I love 5th tuning much more than guitar-like ones!
I was unaware that Kala made a tenor guitar. I know what my next instrument is!
Thanks for the info !
Beautiful sound!
Neat open voicings
I just got a U*Bass and thinking a Tenor Guitar would be a nice addition. I love small odd little instruments. :)
i've got a UBass too, and yes, the pairing is fun.
I'm glad you emphasize the traditional all-fifths tuning of this instrument, because it helps to prevent people from confusing it with the baritone ukulele. They are both beautiful instruments, but they are not the same thing!
Thanks,.very informative
Glad it was helpful!
Could be a solo instrument. Play it like a mandolin. There are many ways. Pentatonic scales are cool on it. Use some open notes. I have a uke tuned to 5ths and I love it.
It sounds amazing.
I've had a guitar for ages. Every couple years or so, I would pick it up, remind myself the old tunes I struggle to play, then put it away. Not until I bought my daughter a uke and picked it up regularly, did I find the fun in playing again. I'm convinced it's because the chords are approachable -- I only have four fingers! WTF were they thinking making 6 strings on a guitar. So I bought myself a Tenor.
Anyway, I have a question. I love your short on DADA tuning but I can't seem to find any content online about chords for DADA tuning. I'm naive when it comes to theory. Am I supposed to learn theory then make my own chord diagrams to be able to play? There's definitely less education infrastructure around the Tenor, so it seems like I'm in for a bit of a journey. Any pointers to someone just getting going? To add context to my interest, I'd love to play along with folk songs or jam with Steve Martin.
hey jon. the DADA tuning is super fun, but perhaps a bit difficult to manage for songs that use more than primary chords. i stick with the conventional tuning most of the time. for instruments like Tenor, i think a great path to acquiring music theory is learning tunes. gradually the connections, correspondences, and commonalities emerge, and things begin to make sense. of course western music theory is the same no matter what instrument you're playing, so general study always helps. i try to make this channel user friendly, and hope it helps build all of that up.
@@ImpliedMusic thanks for the reply. I’ll be learning and following along!
Guitars actually had 5 strings for most of their history. They were always tuned in 4ths though. Adding the 6th string to a guitar allows it to cover 4 full octaves. The tenor guitar will cover 4 full octaves with only 4 strings because it's tuned in 5ths. The downside is you'll need to move up and down the neck more often than on a 6 string guitar.
It's all a series of trade-offs. I will also fully admit that it took me 15 years of struggling to become proficient with guitar and I still feel like there's a super long list of things I should still be working on after 22 total years of playing.
Thank you for this vid ! You’re a great explainer, and you’re getting very nice sounds out of that instrument 🙌 it’s serendipitous that you made this vid temporally very close to me looking at Kala’s website. Is it all solid wood construction ? (If only the top is sold, that’s plenty good enough for me.)
Solid top for sure.
I keep breaking strings when I try to tune my high string to A on my Plectrum banjo and Baritone Uke. I really need a tenor guitar.
I got my tenor guitar and I love it!
I picked up a 30" baritone ukulele, and I've been experimenting with tuning it like a tenor guitar with classical guitar strings. I'm loving what I'm getting at the moment. I just need to find the right strings to clear up that muddy and buzzy low end I'm getting. Still, a great instrument, loving it so much.
How can I learn more about music theory?
i've got a playlist of my own videos called "where to begin" that might help. do you play an instrument?
It's a Tenor Banjo Neck on a Guitar body making it a hybrid
it has a history in jazz
@@robert0price These instruments were developed around the 1920s during the Transition Period from Banjo to Guitar. I tune it like a Violin (but 8vb) with John Pearse strings so that the tension is reduced and it sounds mellower
Hi, great playing and demo. Could you tell me whether it can be tuned to DGBE and if the model number is KA-GTR? Thanks.
that's the model, yes. i just did that tuning, (like the top of a guitar) and while the high strings seem a bit slack the sound has some charm. i do think there's value in the 5ths tuning for the reasons i mention in the video... the open voicings have a special quality. it took me a bit of time to learn the new shapes, but they settled in eventually.
@@ImpliedMusic I think they make special string sets specially for that tuning. They're normally labeled Chicago tuning.
Just play mandolin tab the only difference is a tune in G would be in C on the tenor guitar or you can put a capo at the 7th fret so long as a tune doesn't go up too many frets it would be in the same tuning as a mandolin
Just wondering why you seem to not like the DGBE tuning, isn't it more flexible? I've learnt playing that tuning and I feel the tone is deeper to. Interested hear your comments...
don't dislike it. i've got a dozen guitars tuned that way, top 4 strings. however, there's something magical about the voicings that we get from the 5ths tunings. and they pair with 'normal' guitar tunings very well, if you've got a couple of guitars in a track.
@@ImpliedMusic thanks for your reply, is there a specific tuning you like the most?
alison helzer-henderson proving i'm wrong... it's an excellent solo instrument. ruclips.net/video/JPY9M4tHU4U/видео.html
i removed two high string from a regular guitar and respaced the bottom 4 strings im limited to shapes due to missing digits do you know where i can find chart of two string voicings?
Wow. I don’t. It would come down to tuning. Django Reinhardt famously had missing digits as well. You might include his name in your search. All the best.
I just had another thought. Two voices is not quite a chord (my teacher called them “fractional”). But… jazz musicians routinely use only the third and the seventh from a chord to get the message out. Some music theory reading might help you develop a system that’s personal and effective
Can you tell me what model that is? I can see it’s a Kala.
model 'KA-GTR'
Четврёхструнные гитары, настроенные по-разному составили небольшой ансамбль. Подобно балалайкам...
Does this have nylon strings?
Какая мензура этого инструмента? Напиши в сантиметрах...
55.25 cm
Witam
Jaki to model gitary ?
Pozdrawiam
Kala Tenor guitar