This is our first tune to learn which is a popular Irish air. Our main aim here is to play each note clearly and let them ring out playing along with the mandolin.

Practice the key of G major followed by the old traditional air ‘I’ll Tell Me Ma’

*A great introduction to learning tenor banjo is by simply plucking a certain string while pressing down in between frets with the other hand. In this example I am playing the key of G major which avails of the first string (E) second string (A) and third string (D). There are two octaves to learn in the key of G Major, firstly the lower octave shown in the diagram below which we have practised in our first class, the higher octave which you can hear in the video uses the notes beginning G (3rd string, fret 5) followed by A (2nd string, open string) then B (2nd string, fret 2) and so on. The G major scale finshes on the note G’ (1st string, fret 3) as you can notice the 8 notes of the scale ends with the same note as you start with.

Scale of G major lower octave

g a b c d e f# G

Scale of G major higher octave

G A B C D E F# G’

I have used lower case and upper case letter to simply identify the notes that you will be learning tunes with and the good news is you won’t be using any notes above fret 5 (with exception of B’ also called high B) or any notes on fret one. It takes time and practice coordinating both of your hands to work together so remember to take small steps and never be hard on yourself! its a long journey learning to play any instrument but it is full of rewards very enjoyable.