G tuning banjos feature three moveable major chord shapes on their necks, which make learning minor chords easy. Keep this tip in mind: A minor chord is simply one note lower than its respective major shape.
Practice moving chords slowly and repetitively for maximum results. Strumming them repeatedly while tightening each string between each strum but relaxing your fingers after every strum is ideal.
The G Chord
The G chord is one of the most essential and versatile banjo chords to learn, becoming a mainstay of any player’s arsenal and featured in songs by an array of artists ranging from Ed Sheeran’s Perfect (using capo on fret 1) to AC/DC’s You Shook Me All Night Long (with standard open G shape).
If you haven’t done so already, take the time to master the three-finger version of this chord. Though more difficult than its four-finger equivalent, learning it will save time when switching chords in the long run.
Remembering the basic G barre chord can be made simple if you visualize its form by visualizing the piece of plastic, bone or ivory that forms your banjo’s nut as fret number zero and using your index finger to bar E and A strings with barring. Allow D and G strings to remain open; this creates the basic G barre chord.
Once you’ve become adept with this shape, moving onto its four-finger counterpart may be beneficial. This gives a stronger, more contemporary sounding chord – perfect if playing alongside other musicians that require changing between tunings.
One common difficulty that beginner guitarists encounter with this chord is stretching their fingers across six strings and aligning their ring finger squarely on the first string. If this poses an issue for you, take your time and work on building hand strength; perhaps light strumming will help get this shape down quickly.
Practice quickly switching between G chord and other chords quickly to gain a feel for how changing chords affects rhythm. Start off strumming a G chord for four beats before moving onto C or D chord and back to G again, eventually it should become second nature.
The D Chord
This chord is widely utilized by banjo players across various musical genres, yet especially bluegrass. One of the first chords you should master using all four fingers of your fretting hand, this requires some dexterity as your 1st finger (D) must tuck underneath on string 1 (E). Due to these challenges, this chord requires some practice before sounding professional.
Once you have mastered this basic D shape, it’s fun to experiment with variations on this chord. For instance, moving your 1st finger up to the 10th fret on the D string can give you a D major chord which sounds quite distinct from an open G chord and allows for dreamy D major seventh chords which go well with G and A chords.
One way to modify a D chord is through barre chording. For this variation, place your index finger where your thumb was when playing G chord, but use two other fingers at fifth and fourth frets respectively to press fifth and third strings with their index fingers for D chord. It can be more challenging than G chord but can produce jazzy chords if done successfully!
To create a more minor D chord, press your index finger on the third string at its eighth fret while placing your middle finger on the sixth string at its fourth fret and your ring finger on the first string at its second fret – this forms a D minor chord which may require additional finger dexterity to play correctly. As with all variations of chords, practicing slowly and carefully will build confidence and help your chord sound its best!
The C Chord
The C chord is one of the most essential tools on a banjo, serving both as a power chord and the root for minor chords. Additionally, it forms the basis of many other types of chords that every banjo player should understand well.
Some songs feature chords represented by letters (G, A, C) and numbers (1-IV-V). While the letters represent true chords, musicians commonly refer to numbers as relative chords: in G key C and G chord are equivalent whereas with A D chord you could use either G as C chord or A D chord for example.
Banjo pickers who have become comfortable using open G tuning may find learning the C chord beneficial in playing songs in C key more easily and credibly accompanying singers. Most banjo players shy away from keys such as Eb because they lack knowledge on how to accompany singers with capo playback.
One of the great things about banjo is its limited set of chord shapes or inversions; this makes learning them much simpler than, for instance, playing piano.
C chords can be formed easily with two strings barred and one string unfretted, making a straightforward bar chord ideal for many bluegrass songs. You can use the same finger position to produce both D chords and A minor chords – popularly known as the “Scruggs chord”.
To create an E major chord, just move your fingers from the first two strings down to the third string. Or bar both strings simultaneously for an F Major chord – this type of barre chord can be found frequently in bluegrass songs and works very well when playing banjo songs.
The E Chord
One of the most powerful chords in any genre of music, E major is one of the banjo’s signature chords. It suits blues and rock music well and is often sought out by players seeking a “heavy” sound. There are various voicings for an E chord (also called voicings), some more challenging than others – however once you master its basics you can begin experimenting and find which sounds best with your personal style.
The standard barre form of playing an E chord is one of the easiest ways to create this chord; this requires barring all four strings at fret 4, barring all at fret 4, barring the fifth string at fret 7 with your pinky, and pressing all strings together using one finger at fret 4 with another finger while your first finger bars the fourth fret with your first finger while also holding down fret 7. However, newcomers may struggle with mastering this form due to all the pressure required on your right hand; but eventually with practice comes mastery!
Another popular version of the E chord involves barricading all strings except the third at the fourth fret with your index and middle fingers, making this version slightly simpler to play than its standard version; however, beginners may find this version tricky since it requires more stretching to place fingers into this shape. Again, this chord requires you to practice slowly until it becomes second nature to you.
If you want to add an exotic flare to the E chord, move your index finger from the fifth string at the fourth fret up onto the second string at the fourth fret. This variation has an attractive sound while providing an example of how minor chords form. Keep in mind that only one note changes between major and minor chords, so learning major chords up and down the neck will make deriving minor ones much simpler!
At first, it may seem easier to just bar all four strings at the fourth fret with your first finger and strum the third string, but this will only produce an incomplete sounding chord. For an E chord sound with more impact and to reach its potential, press down with all four fingers simultaneously, using your index finger as well as your ring and index fingers to strum down on three and one strings respectively; then strum both strings down using rings and index fingers – this version is stronger, fuller-sounding version that you need practice master.