I picked up a copy of this and got it a few days ago.  What a strange book!

The book is arrangements of classical guitar exercises and pieces for "banjo."  Reading through it it is clear that "banjo" is 5 string as many of the Gs are fingered "0."

The LH fingerings are often very strange and in many cases don't follow the normal position playing that I am used to seeing (from first glance).

What is weird is his use scordatura throughout the book.  On some of the pieces it is entirely unnecessary.  Others are playable without it after some slight rearrangement. What the heck is with that?  Who was the market for this?  Were classic banjoists in the 1970s using scordatura like this?  They were not in the US.  In fact, it was/is common in the US to avoid raising the 4th even when it means dropping root notes on "bass elevated" pieces.

A few of the pieces are quite nice but I plan on whitening out all of his fingerings and using more normal positions on some of them.

"Menuett" by Femando [sic] Sor is fingered correctly and is a nice playable piece. 

The book is very inconsistent.

Anyone else know this work? 

At least one piece seems nearly unplayable.

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Cool. Funnily, I played "La Paloma" with the orchestra a couple years ago (viola). I really enjoyed it. I guess I need to work that one up...maybe re-arrange the guitar parts for CB.

I sent you a list of other stuff offline.

You tune  b flat Eb Bb D F?!!??  That's 1.5 steps above pitch. I'm thinking you might mean half steps. Even then that is applying extreme tension. Especially on a banjo with a scale of 27 inches or more.

String musicians all over the world use many tunings. It doesn't matter if the music is designated as folk, classical, pop, or something else. Nearly all  the musicians retune. This enriches the tonal pallete. Each tuning produces its own unique sound. It'is almost like a different instrument because of the change of timbre.    In my opinion music that uses only one tuning will be expressively relatively  impoverished compared to musics that employ a variety of tunings. 

I advocate enrichment of timbre.

Joel Hooks said:

Nope, I don't pull or artificially stretch my strings.  When I did that in the past I found intonation problems.

I install.  Then I raise each string 1.5 steps above pitch.  The next day they are almost in tune.  I touch up and they are ready to go.

I am perfectly happy with the string intervals staying the same. In the off chance that I am playing in a situation where I have to go back and forth with elevated bass (like my little concert where I played all 13 Bolsover Gibbs pieces) I used two banjos.

Since I am not a performer I don't need to do showmen stunts like explaining that an out of tune banjo will not affect my playing--  I then frow de banjo out ob tune by twisting the pegs.

When I install a fresh set of strings, instead of pulling on them, I stretch or "set" them by raising them all 1.5 steps above standard tuning.  The strings stretch overnight and by the next day they have stretched themselves into nearly being in tune to standard C.  I touch up the tuning and that is where they stay.

I would think the old William Tell bow pull would put MUCH more tension in the banjo than my method.

Yah, I pull the heck out of mine...much more tension than 1.5 steps. However, it is only momentary tension and I use my tensionating super-powers (experience) to keep from breaking them. I'm sure there is some molecular modification going on when nylon is stressed to some optimal point. Some chemist or physicisisist probably knows what's going on with that. No worries. As long as it works for you, keep doing it.

Manual stretching simply keeps one from waiting overnight for the strings to settle in. While I'd hate to replace one on stage, I can get them settled pretty quickly. BTW, a new set of steel strings needs to be stretched in the same way...they just settle in faster than nylons.

OK, I just remembered you use very light strings. They will withstand tuning that high with no problem. But tuning even a half step high will cause some of the strings to break immediately if the scale is 27 inches or more and the strings are from a set of Chris Sands Heavy or Nylgut or Clifford Essex gut.  Turn, turn, turn, SNAP!  The unbroken strings will have the same affect on the banjo neck of a 19th Century banjo built for gut at A tuning as a set of  steel strings will have. I  don't do the archery thing but I agree with Marc that an extreme pull and release is significantly  different from applying extreme tension for 8 hours or so.  Keep doing that an you'll end up with a warped neck. But not with light gauge nylon. That is safe, I agree.  
Joel Hooks said:

When I install a fresh set of strings, instead of pulling on them, I stretch or "set" them by raising them all 1.5 steps above standard tuning.  The strings stretch overnight and by the next day they have stretched themselves into nearly being in tune to standard C.  I touch up the tuning and that is where they stay.

I would think the old William Tell bow pull would put MUCH more tension in the banjo than my method.

Yeah, I use "cobwebs" for strings.  They are still pretty loose tuned up even for stretching. 

BTW, they stretch out in a few hours.  They are only tuned up for a moment when they start to stretch.

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