Electric Tenor Guitars

Electric tenor guitars are four-stringed electric guitars that are typically tuned like a mandolin, like the top four strings of a guitar, or in open tunings like a banjo. They have a shorter scale length and nut width, making them easier for players with smaller hands. They’re known for their ability to cut through a band mix.

If you have small hands or are coming from an instrument tuned in fifths, you might find playing a tenor guitar easier than a six-string guitar. Like any instrument, it takes patience and dedication to master the tenor guitar, but it’s not uncommon for a new player to be able to perform a song after their first lesson.

Traditionally, tenor guitars were made to help tenor banjo players transition to the increasingly popular guitar in jazz settings. Though that’s not typically the case anymore, electric tenor guitars are often played by musicians who simply like the way it cuts through a mix, are used to other four-stringed instruments like the mandolin or violin, or simply find it hard to navigate a six-string guitar for any reason.

Though purists will say a tenor guitar must be tuned like a tenor banjo (C3 G3 D4 A4), but it can also be tuned like a baritone ukulele or guitar (D3 G3 B3 E4), an octave mandolin (G2 D3 A3 E4), or any other tuning that speaks to you as a player.

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