Mostly D major and G major. Of the 105 popular session tunes I’ve gathered here, 98 use the key signature of D or G major, one or two sharps. About a quarter are in E or A dorian, which use those same notes. That’s why I start every new banjo student on the D scale, then G: between them, they cover nearly every tune at a session.
Here’s every key in the 105 Irish tunes in my library, as each tune is written. Click a key to see that scale on the banjo, or one of the tunes under it to learn it.
Only 63 of the 105 tunes (60%) are in a plain major key, so you might expect to need a lot of scales. You don’t. E dorian uses exactly the notes of D major; A dorian and D mixolydian use the notes of G major. The tune just treats a different note as home, which is what gives so many reels that lonesome, minor-ish sound.
Group the tunes by key signature instead and it’s almost all one or two sharps:
So when a student asks me what to learn after D and G, my answer is: nothing new yet. Play the same notes, and listen for where the tune comes to rest.
| Type | Tunes | Most common keys |
|---|---|---|
| Reels | 41 | D major (11), E dorian (8), G major (8) |
| Jigs | 27 | D major (9), G major (8), A dorian (4) |
| Marches | 7 | G major (3), D major (2), A minor (1) |
| Airs | 7 | G major (3), D mixolydian (2), C major (1) |
| Hornpipes | 6 | D major (2), E minor (1), E dorian (1) |
| Barndances | 5 | G major (3), D major (2) |
| Slip jigs | 5 | E minor (2), E dorian (1), A dorian (1) |
| Polkas | 3 | D major (3) |
| Slides | 2 | E dorian (1), G major (1) |
| Waltzes | 2 | D major (1), D mixolydian (1) |
The same count tells other traditions apart. In the 50 American old-time fiddle tunes here, A major is the second most common key (14 tunes, 28%), and only 4 aren’t in a plain major key. In the 50 trad jazz tunes, the keys swing to the flat side: 34 of 50 (68%) are in B♭, E♭ or F, the keys of the horns.
D major, then G major. In this collection 32 of 105 tunes are in D major and 27 in G major, and 98 of the 105 use the key signature of one of those two.
A dorian tune uses the notes of a major scale but treats a different note as home. E dorian uses the notes of D major, and A dorian uses the notes of G major, so they sound minor without needing any new notes.
D major, then G major. Those two key signatures cover 98 of the 105 tunes here, including the dorian and mixolydian ones, because those use the same notes.
The Irish tunes are thesession.org’s most-saved tunes, plus a hand-picked set of well-known marches, barndances and slow airs: 105 in all, each using the first setting on thesession.org. The American fiddle tunes come from Jim’s Roots & Blues and the trad jazz tunes from The Public Domain Song Anthology.
Each key is the one written in that transcription. Transcribers don’t always agree, so the same tune can be written as E minor in one place and E dorian in another. “First position” means every note lies between the open G string of a fiddle (the G below middle C) and the B played with the fourth finger on the E string, the same written range on mandolin and tenor banjo. These are popular tunes, not every tune ever played, so treat the numbers as a picture of what you’ll hear at a typical session. Counted October 2026, from the same files the tune pages are built from.
Tune settings from thesession.org and Jim’s Roots & Blues; jazz melodies from The Public Domain Song Anthology (CC0). Every tune here is traditional or in the public domain.