[Steve DeRosa]

I'm working with two tenor guitar players right now, one who plays in traditional CGDA tuning (you'll need to learn a whole new set of fingerings) and another who uses DGBE"Chicago"/baritone uke tuning. In the first case we'll be using it at an old-time country gig later this month (along with guitar, bass, mandolin, and 6-string banjo), and it lends a shimmer and sparkle to the guitar parts - almost a 12-string or "Nashville" tuning character - that provides a nice contrast to the "plunk" of the banjo and the mandolin's "bark" in much the same register. The second player is making the transition from uke to tenor guitar, and since she's already familiar with baritone tuning she opted to use it on tenor as well. In this instance we're using it as a transition instrument, to fill out texture between a dreadnaught guitar (strong low end) and a tenor uke in re-entrant (high-G fourth string) tuning and help lend a smoother, more homogeneous sound to the mix...

That said, I've been using a tenor banjo tuned to drop-G tenor uke (GCEA low-to-high) extensively and effectively for some time. In case you're not aware, this all-but-forgotten alternate banjo tuning (TMK Chuck Romanoff of Schooner Fare - from whom I learned about it - is the sole active proponent) was adopted in the 1920's by uke players looking to move to tenor banjo and make some money in the speakeasy jazz bands of the day, and abandoned when both the banjo and uke gave way to the archtop guitar in the early-30's. If you're going to be playing with other musicians it makes an excellent lead instrument - I've used mine for traditional/neo-trad folk, Irish/Celtic, sea chanteys, gospel bluegrass (played fingerstyle when my 5-string had issues), and as a substitute for a samisen at a school chorus concert - and I have no reason to believe that a similarly-tuned tenor guitar will not be equally versatile; you'll need to assemble a custom string set though - tenor guitars are far more lightly constructed than their 6-string counterparts, and since pre-packaged tenor sets won't work for this application, I'd recommend using one of the online string tension calculators to help you put together an appropriate set...