When you are just starting out with cigar box guitar, one of your main choices is whether to go for a 3 or 4 string instrument. This article will highlight the differences and similarities to help you decide which is right for you.
Differences In Tuning
Many players tune their cigar box guitar to open tuning. This is what makes the cigar box such a fun and easy instrument to play. Strumming the open strings plays a chord and fretting across all strings makes another chord.
However there are many ways of tuning a Cigar Box Guitar. Here is an article I have written with several alternative tunings
Tuning On A 3 Stringed Cigar Box Guitar
On a 3 string cigar box guitar, these one finger barre chords are called power chords. This means that they consist of the first and fifth note of the scale. Power chords can therefore stand in place of a major or minor chord. (If you want to know why – it’s because the difference between a major and minor is whether the third is flattened or not.)
Many players will choose G D G tuning, but D A D or E B E are popular alternatives.
If you know a bit about music theory, you might think it’s strange that the tuning is not G B D which is the major triad, but this would actually make for a very dull sounding instrument. Playing major chords would be easy but flattening the third to make a minor chord would be tricky to achieve for the open strings. I suppose that setting the strings to a minor triad with the option of then raising the 3rd to a major triad would be an option, but no-one seems to have tried that.
Tuning On A 4 Stringed Cigar Box Guitar
On a four string instrument, G D G B is a popular choice as is D G B D. Some prefer E A D G like the bottom four strings of a six string guitar. Other choices that are similar to a six string guitar are A D G B ( the middle four strings) and D G B E ( the top four strings)
The guitar can also be tuned like a soprano , concert or tenor ukulele G C E A or a baritone ukulele D G B E. This means you can use ukulele tab to play.
Difference In Chord Shapes
Fretting across all strings ,using your forefinger or a slide is the easiest way to play chords on both a 3 and 4 stringed cigar box guitar tuned in open tuning. This means you can easily play chords to many songs and also pick out a melody on the top string or even across the strings and add in the power chords that we talked about earlier.
The only thing is that this can become a bit limiting as your playing progresses. You will want to add a bit more light and shade with major and minor chords, 7th chords and even more complex chords.
This is when you will want to learn some different chord shapes. These are going to be different for 3 and 4 stringed instruments.
Common chord shape charts are available for download on this blog. I’m continually adding to this section.
Here is the page for 3 string guitar tuned in G D G chord shapes
If you already have knowledge of music theory, you will probably want to experiment with making up your own chord shapes. You can download a blank chord chart for 3 strings here:
There is one for 4 strings here:
And if you have a good musical ear, you can play what sounds good to you as you experiment. The cigar box guitar is a good instrument for improvising, much easier than improvising on a 6 string guitar.
You will find that there are many more players of three string cigar box guitar than four string players. This means that tab and chord shape diagrams are more freely available for 3 string instruments. This is why I suggest tuning your four string guitar like a ukulele and using ukulele tabs for four stringed guitars.
Compare A 4 String With A Ukulele
I’ve already said that tuning your four stringed cigar box guitar like a ukulele will open up a whole range of tab music for you to use.
The main differences between a ukulele and four stringed cigar box guitar are:
- a cigar box guitar usually has metal strings whereas a ukulele will usually have synthetic strings
- a cigar box guitar will usually be tuned to a lower range than a ukulele, even if the notes are the same
- a ukulele has a shaped body, like a tiny guitar whereas a cigar box guitar has a rectangular body
See these articles I have written if you’d like to know more about the differences and similarities between a Cigar Box Guitar and Ukulele: Can I Put Steel Strings On My Ukulele? and Cigar Box Guitar or Ukulele?
Compare A 4 String With A Banjo
Another alternative or finding music to play on your 4 stringed cigar box guitar is to use music tab designed for a banjo.
Some banjos have a 5th string that acts as a kind of drone. A 4 stringed banjo is often tuned D G B E or C G B D.
If you want to play banjo tab on a four stringed cigar box guitar, choose one of these tunings.
Which Is Better – A 3 Stringed Or 4 Stringed Cigar Box Guitar?
If you are a beginner, you will find much more music tab and chord shape information for a three stringed cigar box guitar so I suggest that you might want to start with this.
Some would argue that a richer sound will come from a four stringed instrument, but the difficulty is that you will be much more tied to using a slide or one fingered fretting to make your chords if the 4 stringed guitar is tuned in open tuning.
The alternatives I have suggested are tuning your 4 stringed cigar box guitar to the same tuning as a ukulele or banjo and then using that tab. You will not be able to play one finger fretted chords with these tunings but they will open up a whole range of music tab that is freely available.
It’s surprising that we can remember chord shapes on different instruments and different tunings. I play 6 string guitar and ukulele as well as cigar box guitar and I can remember the different chord shapes for each. I expect it does help that I know some music theory and can work out chord shapes for myself too.
If you intend to play from tab rather than music on a stave, it really doesn’t matter what your guitar is tuned to as long as it’s the same as what the tab writer used.( or with the same intervals between the notes at least)
