Now we need to finish tightening the head. It should be firm at this point and not sagging with the strings and bridge on. There are a LOT of opinions on the subject of head tightness. This discussion often revolves around tuning the head to specific note, usually either G, A flat or A. I feel that learning to hear the note the head is tuned to is very useful and provides a consistent way to measure the tension on the head so you can duplicate it later.

In general a tighter head has a sharper, crisper sound than a looser head. This is only one measure we can to figure out how tight the head should be on a specific banjo and for a specific banjo player. Like everything else there is a point of diminishing returns where continuing to tighten the head just makes the sound very thin and piercing.

Some banjos just sound noticeably better with a head that is either tighter than looser than another banjo even if they are both the same brand and model. Some people keep a head loose hoping to get a “fat” sound the banjo. Tone quality is often related to head tightness.

There's another factor I think is often overlooked in this process. This is how the banjo responds to your right hand when you play it. Head tightness has a huge impact on this. I don't have a particularly strong right hand since I'm left handed. I like to have the banjo respond quickly when I play a string lightly, but also like it to respond when I hit it harder.

The head, strings, and bridge are a system under tension that is used to amplify the sound of the string being played. The more efficient this system is the quicker it can respond and needing less force to start moving. Other factors also affect the responsiveness of the system, in particular the gauge of strings, the tailpiece, and the design and materials of the bridge. I'll talk about each of these later.