Support
5-String Banjo Chords
Something wrong, confusing, or a shape you’d play differently? The quickest way is in the app: Settings → Send feedback (or “Send feedback” at the foot of the home page). It sends your words with the app’s version and the page you were on, and nothing else. For a reply, email support@bendigogames.com and a person will answer. For a chord, say which tuning and capo you had set; for anything else, your phone model and iOS version help.
The chords
- What’s the green ring on the left of every box?
- The 5th string, the short one. It starts at the 5th fret, so the box draws it from there. A solid ring means its note is in the chord: let it ring. A dashed ring means it isn’t, and the line under the shapes says whether it’s a colour or rubs against a note a semitone away. Shapes marked “5th string completes it” only become the chord with it.
- Why does the 5th string sound on some chords and not others when I tap?
- A tap rings it only when it’s in the chord, as chord charts mark it. To hear it on every chord, go to Settings, The 5th string, and set “In a strum” to Always. Picking patterns play it whatever the chord, as banjo players do.
- My chord book shows a different shape.
- Every shape is worked out from the tuning, and the one in the chord books leads the page where one exists: open G’s C is 2 0 1 2, D7 is 0 2 1 4 with 0 2 1 0 beside it. Up to seven shapes follow, up the neck, with the F shape, D shape and barre named. If yours isn’t there, or the fingers look wrong for your hand, please email it: real players’ shapes are how the search gets better.
- Why does C in open G say “C”, not “C/E”?
- Because charts call 2 0 1 2 plain C. On a banjo the lowest string is rarely the root, so a slash name would mark nearly every chord. The finder still tells you which note is lowest.
- Where are double C, sawmill and the other tunings?
- Settings, Tuning: open G (gDGBD), double C (gCGCD), sawmill or G modal (gDGCD), D (f♯DF♯AD), C (gCGBD) and G minor (gDGB♭D). Custom lets you set each string. The letters always show, because names like “open C” and “G modal” mean different tunings in different books. Double D (aDADE) is double C with a capo at 2.
The capo
- Does the capo include the 5th string?
- A capo can’t reach it, so the app asks. By default the 5th string goes up with the capo, as if you spiked or retuned it: capo 2 means the 7th fret (g up to a), capo 4 the 9th, capo 5 the 10th. Or choose to leave it where it is, as some old-time players do. It’s under Settings, The 5th string.
- Why does the capo stop at 5?
- Spikes and 5th-string capos reach frets 6 to 10, which matches capo 1 to 5. Above that a capo across the neck stops the 5th string too, and the sums change. That’s on the list.
- The frets on the boxes look low with a capo on.
- They’re counted from the capo, as capo charts are. The chord names are the notes as they sound: G shapes at capo 2 are named A.
Picking patterns
- Are the rolls right?
- They’re a first set, taken from published teaching sources and still being checked by ear, which is why the Picking page says draft. Teachers disagree on some: three different orders are all taught as “the forward roll”, so the app has two. If one sounds wrong to you, please tell us which and why.
- Which string does the thumb play?
- The patterns keep the fingers fixed and let the strings follow the chord, the way players describe them. The thumb’s inside note goes to the string that holds the root: string 3 on G, string 4 on C and D.
- What does the tempo count?
- Beats 1 and 3, as bluegrass players count, so a bar is two clicks and eight notes. Change a pattern or a chord while it loops and it switches on the next note.
The tuner
- It names the wrong string.
- Pick one string at a time and let it ring, away from other noise. The 5th string is the high G, an octave above the 3rd string’s G, and the tuner tells them apart by octave. Check the tuning in Settings matches your banjo.
- Does it record me?
- No. It asks for the microphone only when you start it, analyses the sound on your phone as it arrives, and never records, stores or sends it. It stops when you stop it or leave the page.
Everything else
- There’s no sound.
- Check the volume and Settings, Sound. On iPhone the app plays with the silent switch on.
- I’m left-handed.
- Settings, Left-handed mirrors every box and the finder’s neck, the 5th string with them.
- My starred chords are gone.
- Stars, recent chords and settings are kept on your phone only, so deleting the app (or clearing this site’s data, for the web app) clears them. There is no account to restore from.
- Does it need the internet? Does it cost anything?
- No and no. It works offline, with no account, no ads and no purchases. When it’s online it sends anonymous usage statistics and session recordings, with anything you type hidden, so we can see what works. Settings → Help improve the app turns that off.
- Android? Tenor or plectrum banjo?
- The web app works in any phone browser, Android included, and can be added to your home screen. Tenor and plectrum banjos aren’t in it yet.
Privacy
No account, and nothing you type is sent. Usage statistics and recordings are anonymous and can be turned off in Settings. See the privacy policy.
Last updated: 13 November 2026