Appendix A

Banjo Chords and Notes

Chords

In the next two figures, A-1 and A-2, I give you 57 chord diagrams for the major, minor, 7th, and minor 7th chords found in the first position on the banjo neck (frets one through five) along with five chord shapes used for 6th and 9th chords.

I’ve included a movable banjo chord position chart, Figure A-3, which shows the positions of the G, C and D movable major, seventh, minor, and diminished chords on the first 12 frets of the banjo. A movable chord position requires the left hand to fret strings one through four of your banjo. The advantage of movable chords is that they can be easily shifted up and down the neck to fret new letter name chords.

To find other letter name chords using these same positions, shift the movable chord position up or down according to the order of notes listed below:

G G/A A A/B B C C/D D D/E E F F/G G

For example, if you fret the F-shape G chord that’s found at the fifth fret (and shown on the upper left chart on the movable banjo chord positions page), and if you move this chord up two frets, you’ll now be playing an A chord. Note that the A note is located two notes above the G note, as shown in the list above. Each adjacent note corresponds to a one fret change up or down on your banjo neck.

Figure A-1: First position major and minor chords.

Figure A-2: 6th, 7th, minor 7th, and 9th chords.

Figure A-3: A movable banjo chord position chart.

Notes on the Banjo in G Tuning

Figures A-4 through A-8 show you the names of the notes on the banjo fingerboard in G tuning. Knowing these names can be useful in building chords and for locating melody notes on your banjo. Each figure lists the names of the notes on an individual string.

There are often two notes (for example, G/A) at the same fret. Called enharmonic equivalents, these notes have the same pitch but are called either by one letter name or the other depending upon what key you are playing in.

Figure A-4: 1st string: Open D.

Figure A-5: 2nd string: Open B.

Figure A-6: 3rd string: Open G.

Figure A-7: 4th string: Open D.

Figure A-8: 5th string: Open G.