I’m wondering about the long neck banjo. What is the advantage? Can I tune my banjo in the key of E? Are the chords the same? I was learning Wayfaring stranger, capo up 2 ,capo the 5th string. Ok, is open an A chord? Is now g tuning chords the same only higher? I would like to sing this song only in a lower key, how?? I sure like the deeper rich tone of the long neck, E . Wondering if a banjo like that would be a good idea. Doesn’t seem many have them . Thank you for any help.
Jeff
Long neck
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Hi @usmcberg68 Jeff 
to @BanjoBen 's Forum.
I don’t know much about the in’s and outs of the long neck banjo. Pete Seegar played folk music on a long neck banjo. I haven’t studied him much but I think he mostly strummed chords. Someone will surely correct me if I am wrong.
John Hartford also played tunes in E in a three finger style as it suited his deep vocal tones.
It’s possible to tune down a regular 5 string to E and play out of the G position. Likewise on a long neck you can capo up 2 retune the fifth string and you are in standard G tuning.
Long neck banjos tend to be open backed but I feel sure someone out there has added a resonator back.
I think it’d be really cool to have one of these to play around with. Open C.
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Yes, to get lower tunings and maintain some string tension.
You can try and see if it buzzes with you. the notes starting with the first string would be: B G# E B G#
Then yes, the chord shapes would be the same.
Correct, the open strings would now be an A, but you would make all the same chords just as with no capo on. https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/banjo-capo-strategy-banjo
If you want to play it in G position, using G chords, but lower, you will have to downtune, yes. The other option would be to capo up to 9th fret to play in E, but that’s not viable. Keep us posted!
Howdy!
The advantage of a long neck banjo is that it’s more accommodating for the male voice because of the added lower notes that you would otherwise need from a guitar and it provides a warmer tone & lower volume compared to the bright pop of a bluegrass banjo. Plus, the melody that you sing and the melody that you play are in the same octave when you are in E, A or B long neck banjo compared to G, C & D on a standard open G banjo. So in my opinion, it’s easier to sing in key as it is with guitar.
I use a Gold Tone OT-800LN
You could probably sing the song well in multiple keys. As you know, sometimes the original key doesn’t work for our voice. Plus, when we sing & play in our favorite keys, it becomes our own interpretation of the song.
I personally like singing ‘Man of Constant Sorrow’ in E with the long neck banjo, among other songs. It takes some extra warming up to sing it in G for me.
Check out Strum Machine and/or use the Nashville Numbers system to try out different keys for your favorite songs. See which keys suit your voice.
When dealing with a banjo tuned to a different chord than G, I think of the tuning as numbers in relation to the chord.
Standard Bluegrass Banjo
G major chord: G B D, 1 3 5
starting with 5th string:
G D G B D
1 5 1 3 5
Long Neck Banjo
E B E G# B
E major chord: E G# B, 1 3 5
The chord shapes are the same as a standard bluegrass banjo tuned to GDGBD.
In the same way you would play out of C and D in open G tuning:
you can play in the key of A out of a C position on the long neck. key of B, either play in D position or capo 2 in C position.
key of D, play the same way you would in F in open G tuning with no capo.
There are endless musical combinations here!
Baritone Banjo
C G C E G
C major chord: C E G, 1 3 5
to play in the key of D out of G position on this one, you would capo to the second fret the same way you would from G to A
I would like to further explore the musical possibilities with y’all
Let me know if that helps
Cheers,
Evan
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I can see you’re going to be a great asset here