If only 1 string is buzzing, check to see if it’s lower than the others at the nut. If not, it could be that the nut slot isn’t filed properly.
Discuss the Banjo lesson: How to Tune Your Banjo
Thanks Mark will give that a shot tomorrow!
Also, gently clean out the slots in both the nut and bridge with sandpaper. Don’t do it hard enough to lower the slot.
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I lubricate the slots with graphite dust - pencil lead.
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O f all the great advice in this video, the best observation is “The B string is a little squirrely.”
For decades I’ve twisted, turned & massaged that string, wondering if my banjo was messed up, was my ear messed up, should I buy another electronic tuner or did I just get a defective string.
You have no idea how much peace of mind that brief comment brought to me. Thanks!
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I’ve been playing on my own for about 3 years and consider myself firmly in the “intermediate” category, but recently joined your site and have been making a point to watch all your videos, even the ones for beginners. You usually end up giving me tips I didn’t know before.
Two examples from these tuning videos: a) it never occurred to me to try bending the string when I can’t tell if it’s sharp or flat, and b) I’d heard you’re supposed to tune up to a note, but I didn’t pay much attention to that tidbit because I didn’t know why. Just wanted to say thanks for being so detailed!
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listened to your basic tuning and waited for next phase of playing but screen just came up dark no sound so what now
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Hey Dennis, the lesson is segmented into different videos and they don’t autoplay, so you need to select the next video segment in the “Lesson Videos” section:
Or do you mean that after clicking on the second video, it doesn’t play?
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Hi @guifiddle41 Dennis. To add to what @Michael_Mark said you need to scroll down the page to find the next segment of the lesson.
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Bending the string is a great tip. Did not know to do that!!
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I have another “newbie” question/confusion about tuning by ear.
Following the suggested tuning procedure, ie., 4th String, 5th fret = 3rd String open, etc. for the remaining strings, each one of the fretted notes is sharpe.
I first tune using my tuner and all strings are in tune.
However, when I attempt to tune by ear, each fretted note is # according to the tuner.
Not sure how to proceed … confusing as I assumed both fretted & open should be the same !!!
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Sounds to me like the bridge placement is incorrect, too close to the nut.
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FYI, I’ve never played a banjo where every string intonated perfectly. However, If all of your strings are consistently sharp, the most likely cause is that your bridge is too far forward like @epjacobs said. Check out this vid:
https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/banjo-setup-with-steve-huber-bridge-placement-banjo
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Whoa, I just had a major deja vu!
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If you had ever been here before you would probably know just what to do…
I have a question about tuning by ear. To begin with, I first tune all the strings with a good quality tuner and ensure they are in tune.
After which, I practice tuning by ear as per Ben’s instructions. I keep the tuner on just as a backup and to verify tuning.
However, when I attempt to tune a specific string, eg. 3rd string G and match it to the 4th string/5th fret,
the fretted 4th string is sharp as per tuner.
As such, I’m not sure which needs a finer tuning since all the strings were initially in tune.
Any advice ??
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Tune your four long strings open, and then play each one at the 12th fret. If they are consistently sharper fretted than open, your bridge is too close to the neck – move it a little bit back towards the tailpiece.
If one string is consistently sharper than the others, it’s probably time for a string change unless there’s some sort of fret issue.
Thank you all for the great advice.
Much appreciated.
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YIKES !!! Talk about a DV !!!
Never realized I inquired about the same issue many moons ago.
I sped scrolled to the bottom w/o viewing previous note.
Also had a major setup recently done by Jake at the Store.
What a difference for sure. Sounds better now than it did when
it left Gibson !!! 
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Haha! No problem. Awesome!!