Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Song Paradise by John Prine

#1

Morning fellow pickers I have been looking for music sheet of the song Paradise by Mr. John Prine . I found one but it tells me to tune my banjo to D It looks easy one string to change but I have never done a tuning change. it tells me to tune (5th-1st) A-D-G-B-D so just change the 5th to A now is that A higher tuning or lower then the G the 5th string is tune to in G? also if you have a good copy of this song or any John Prine song for 5 string banjo please let me know. As always God Bless all and have a wonderful day!:grin:

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#2

It’s one step higher, equivalent to spiking the string on the 7th fret. I think if it was a full octave lower, you wouldn’t have enough tension on the string to really get a sound other than “plunk”. :banjo: Hope that helps; I don’t have tabs or sheet music. :slightly_smiling_face:

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#3

thanks I was thing that but as a beginner I just didn’t know :flushed:

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#4

thinking wow cant spell gooder yet :crazy_face:

#5

Hi David, There are several D Tunings . The easiest is Open G the next is to tune the 5th to A, If you have railroad spikes just hook the string at the 7th fret and check the tuning. If not, it’s no big deal to tune the 5th to A just be careful not to go any higher than A or you could snap a string.

Check out this lesson where @BanjoBen introduces students to playing in D. I love playing in D and my hope is Ben will do more backup and build a break lessons in D this year. His favourite Key seems to be C. At least most of the stuff I have been working on of late has been in C. nod-and-a-wink

https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/how-to-play-in-d-banjo?from_track=intermediate-banjo-learning-track

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#6

thanks Archie. Please, what is a Break I have reviewed a few of the lesions but what is the break and what does it do for the player. This may be simple but I don’t know so it ain’t so simple. :crazy_face: or maybe I simple :thinking: who knows :grin: thanks for the help

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#7

Ok a Break is short for a Breakdown or Solo. It’s a term used in Bluegrass not sure who introduced the term. Possibly Bill Monroe The term is also thought to mean play a solo whilst the singer takes a break. A short rest from singing.

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#8

@Sailor, in addition to the lesson mentioned by @Archie, just wanted to make sure you’ve seen these two other lessons that kind of touch on this topic as well…

https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/how-to-tune-your-banjo-banjo?from_track=beginner-banjo
One of the lessons @BanjoBen covers in this set covers basic D tuning.

https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/alternate-banjo-tunings-banjo-beginner
This is fun lesson where @AdamAsh covers several alternate tunings and provides song examples with each.

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#9

cool thanks

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#10

thanks also xmark

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