Jam JamFree online banjo tuner
A tuner built for the 5-string banjo — full open G, drone string included, right in your browser.
The Jam Jam banjo tuner listens through your microphone and tells you, in real time, which note is sounding and how far sharp or flat you are. It knows open G on a 5-string banjo — D, B, G, D on the four long strings, plus the high G of the drone — and it knows that fifth string starts at the fifth fret, not at the nut: most generic tuners miss that and send you hunting for a low note. In-tune zone at ±5 cents, cents to the unit, frequency to a tenth of a hertz. Once you are in tune, that same banjo has 30 hand-written chord shapes waiting in the Jam Jam notebook.
How to tune a 5-string banjo
Allow the microphone
Open the tuner, pick Banjo and grant mic access — the audio is analysed on your device, nothing is uploaded.
Start with the long strings
Pluck D, B, G then D open. The tuner locks onto the nearest string on its own and shows you the target note.
Centre the needle
Turn the peg until the needle centres and turns green — that green band is the ±5-cent in-tune zone.
Finish with the drone
The 5th string tunes to a high G. If it fights with the D, tap to lock it and the tuner will follow that string only.
A tuner that actually knows the banjo
The 5th string, properly placed
The drone starts at the fifth fret, not at the nut — Jam Jam models it that way, so it is tuned to a high G and never mistaken for a bass string.
Open G as it should be
D, B, G, D plus the drone G: the open strings ring out a G major chord, so you can strum them to double-check your tuning by ear.
Reference note in a banjo voice
Every string plays its target note with a real banjo timbre, not a piano — on an instrument this distinctive, that changes everything when you compare by ear.
Auto, manual or chromatic
It locks the nearest string by itself; one tap freezes a string, another returns to auto. Chromatic mode spans 40 to 1600 Hz for anything unusual.
Why this banjo tuner
- 5-string open G, drone at the 5th fret like on your banjo
- In-tune zone at ±5 cents, full scale at ±50 cents
- 100% free, in your browser, no sign-up and no ads
- Everything is computed on your side — nothing is uploaded
A single-purpose tuner site stops the moment you are in tune. Here the tuner is one tab among others: the banjo also gets 30 hand-written chord shapes and up to 6 positions per chord — one of only three instruments in the app with that, alongside guitar and guitalele — its own tablature with the 5th string in the right place, and capo support. Tune up, open a song from the notebook, transpose it, export it to PDF. Offline in the mobile app.
More Jam Jam tools
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Free online mandolin tuner
A precise GDAE tuner for your mandolin — the four courses, right in your browser, accurate to ±5 cents.
Chord diagrams for 15 instruments
The same chord, drawn on your instrument — with the colours that tell you what each note is doing.
Guides & tips
Short, no-nonsense guides to play, tune and find chords faster — each one backed by a Jam Jam tool you can open right away.
Banjo tuner FAQ
Is this banjo tuner free?
Completely: no account, no ads, nothing to install. It all runs in your browser, and the microphone audio is analysed on the spot — it is never sent to a server.
How do I tune the 5th string on a banjo?
It goes to a high G, an octave above the G of the third string. Because it starts at the fifth fret, the tuner expects it where it really sits; if the high D keeps stealing the reading, tap to lock the string.
Can I use a tuning other than open G?
Yes, through chromatic mode: it names every note from 40 to 1600 Hz with no string imposed — what you need for double C, sawmill or any old-time tuning. Open G is the one banjo preset in the app.