Step One If you have a good quality Banjo, get the best quality strings your budget will allow, obvious choices are Gibson, Vega, or Martin. If you are learning on a poor quality or badly set up Banjo, good strings really wont make a great deal of difference to the sound you get. Choosing lesser known brands of string will save you some money and help you save for that Gibson !!!.

Step Two Choose the style of Strings to suit your Tailpiece. There are two kinds of Strings....Ball End or Loop End the most common type found now are loop end strings, though no doubt someone somewhere has a massive stockpile of Ball end strings just waiting for me to say they are not commonly found now. Modern style Banjo Tailpieces accomodate both types, but older style banjos can have either or both and its not uncommon to find homemade tailpieces on some old style banjos. So before you buy Strings.....check your Banjo Tailpiece!!

Step Three Choose the gauge of strings for the sound you want. Light gauge strings will give you a high bright sound more akin to Bluegrass. Medium or heavier gauge strings produce a deeper plunky sound associated with Frailing or Clawhammer Style. Although the overwhelming factors of how your banjo sounds are: Quality, Construction, Setup, The style of Banjo ( Resonator or Open Back) and lastly how well you play the Banjo...!!

Step Four Banjo Tailpieces vary in construction and Style, so trying to describe all Tailpieces is an impossible task, but most are fairly alike, and easy to put strings on. The Diagram below shows a typical style Tailpiece and the different methods for placing Ball End & Loop End Strings (Strings are shown in Red)



Step Five If you look at the Peghead (the sharp end of the Banjo for you people who havent looked at the Parts Section yet!!) you will see 4 Tuning Pegs. These are the bits that keep your strings in tune with one another. At this point i should say, if you havent got Pitch Pipes or a Tuning Fork you are going to have problems getting the strings in tune. Tuning the Banjo by ear is not recomended for beginners. Most expierienced players will have a Tuning Fork or Pitch Pipes at close hand when Tuning the Banjo. So get down to your local Music Store and get yourself a set of Pitch Pipes. I find Tuning forks are much better, but for beginners i suggest Pitch Pipes.... or even better, Electronic Tuners which work very well. O.K.....you need to find the small hole in the Machine Head of the Tuning Peg (see diagram below) Dont make sharp bends in the string when you thread it through the hole....this only weakens the strings and causes pre-mature breakage. Try to wrap the string around the machine head (as shown in the diagram below)



Tying the Strings. An easy and secure way to tie your strings is shown in the above Diagram. Trying to remove that set of strings you tied 6 months ago with various knots and loop backs may have been secure, but trying to remove them wont do your blood pressure any good.

1. Loop the String around the Machine head clockwise.(fig 1)
2. Thread the end through the hole, and pull through, (leave a small loop as shown in fig 2)
3. Loop the end back on its self anti-clockwise. (fig 3 and 4)
4. Push the end under and throught the small loop you should have left.(fig 5)
5. Pull through the rest of the string then tighten the Tuning Peg until it grips the string without slipping.
6. Use the same method with the other strings, (Remember the 5th String) until all are replaced. (Now go have a look at the Tuning Section)
7. When all strings are replaced and the banjo has been tuned, roll the loose ends that are left into a small loop, leave them for a couple of days, in case of slippage, then snip the loose ends off with pliers, (not too close, leave a small tail).
8. Have a look at the Chords Section to get you started.