Capoing The 5th string

When playing the banjo in different keys, one thing you have to consider is where to capo the 5th string.

Why? If you are in say the key of E major and you leave the 5th string tuned to G, your ears will soon cringe at the unpleasant dissonance of your roll patterns. There is no G natural in an E major chord. Likewise if you are in the key of B major, the un-capoed fifth string (G) doesn’t go with that key.

Determining The 5th string Note

How do you figure out what note to capo or tune the 5th string too?

You will either tune/capo the 5th string to the Root/1 of the chord OR you will capo it to the FIFTH of the home key.

For keys like G, A, Bb, and B, it doesn’t get any easier. For the key of A, you capo or tune the 5th string up to A (7th fret). For B, you capo the 5th string to B (usually the 9th fret spike on your banjo).

However, what about the keys of C? D? E?

This is where things get a bit more complicated.

For the key of C, some people choose to capo the entire banjo up to the 5th fret and then raise the 5th string all the way up to the 10th fret. I personally never do this. I find that by capoing up so high, you are removing a great deal of the banjo’s lower register. A register I want access to.

In addition, the banjo is already a very high pitched instrument, so capoing it this high just accentuates the higher register too much for my ears. I won’t say I have never done it. In the past, I had a couple tunes I used to do like this (Panhandle Country).

Now, I always play in the key of C without a capo, leaving the 5th string to G (no capo). G is the fifth of C, so it is very harmonious with the key of C.

For the key of D, I once again do not use a capo for the four strings. For the fifth string, I capo it to the 7th fret or an A note. A is the fifth of D.

For the key of E, you will want to bring the fifth string up to B (9th fret). Your ears will thank you!

There are many ways to capo the banjo and play out of different keys. I greatly prefer doing as little capoing as possible. Every time you use the capo, you have to adjust a string or two after you put it on. I generally capo the fifth string only for the keys of C,D, and E major. This gives me the ability to change keys much quicker.

5th string Capo Guide of 5-string Banjo