Hi, banjerheads!
I read the archived note about tuning a banjo from Open G to Open F, but could not reply to it because it was, well, archived. So, here goes.
Because my voice seems to work best when I capo my banjo from Open G up four frets to, uh, lets see here, Open B. So, I can actually sing Cripple Creek and so forth up there. Problem is that I've just wasted all of that lovely fretboard real estate towards to peghead! I figured if I tuned my banjo's strings DOWN the equivalent of two frets to Open F, I could sing along with that, too, only an octave higher. What worries me is that a banjo is made to have a certain amount of tension in its strings counteracted by the tension rod in the neck. If I've just sloppy tuned all of my strings down two notches, didn't I screw it up? What if I get beefier strings to replace the old ones?
One think I think is very cool about this is that there is a lot more play in my strings when they are tuned down two frets. This gives the banjo a looser, funkier sound.
Thanks for any comments!
Rich