[Snarkyfishguts]

1 hour ago, Laghail said:

 

I approve of you! 

 

 

Big hugs. Complicated family is complicated.

 

 

Loooove this!! From the picture you shared, there's no tone ring, which would have looked like your banjo pot is pressing outward in front like a mum carrying high in early second trimester. All that really means is your neighbors can't hear your practice sessions while you're a beginner, which was a win for me when I realized my banjo was the same. 

 

 

Right?? When it's time to change your strings, holler and we can chat through it. Luckily strings last a long time for us newbies, especially if you're playing without picks. I only bring up string changing re: 5th string because there's a tiny rubber hose on your 5th string right by the peg that prevents the 5th string from scratching the finish on the neck just there. Of course I instantly lost that protector the first time I changed the strings myself, and of course it's impossible to replace. No harm done but I was annoyed with myself.

 

 

Eli!!!!! That 30 day tutorial is where I started too! Only took me 60ish days to get through his 30 day course, so, guess you could say I'm pretty cool.... Please read the rest of this with the understanding that I am, in Banjo terms, a 7-year old child explaining the mysteries of the universe to someone barely younger than me lol!

 

But yeah, Eli is so soothing and does such a great job, right? I just felt reassured and empowered by him to enjoy my banjo at my own pace. He's going to have you progressively learn a short list of songs, then practice accompanying recordings of him playing the melody and you doing some simple accompaniment. One of the last things he'll do is throw one more song at you that uses techniques you've already learned from earlier songs, and then sorta teach you how to teach yourself a song. Cannot recommend him high enough and I'm so happy you're enjoying his series.

 

Dumb question, did you find Eli's PDF songbook okay? I felt stupid when it took me a few days to realize there was a PDF and I didn't need to keep rewinding and replaying the vids in order to practice. Oh, and when you get to Cumberland Gap B part on day 20 (day 40 for me bitches!) he'll tell you that the pinky-stretchy bit is the hardest part of the course and don't stress if you don't get it during the 30 days - that's so real. Apparently you're slightly reshaping the ligament in your left pinky as you work on that piece, and working slow and steady there is best. After I finished the course, I wanted more and I found a local teacher, and teacher Bob really liked the instruction I'd gotten from Eli. Teacher Bob affirmed that stretching your pinky for that skill should be a process over days/weeks because some workaholics want to master that move in a day and they end up tearing their pinky ligament! Teacher Bob says work on that skill for like 2-3 mins at the beginning and end of every session and go slow. 

 

My teacher (the dork with the double instruments) ended up being $30/lesson and just the right mix of mentoring and instruction for my preferences. Zero shade if you finish the YouTube course and then keep learning by yourself, there's a ton of people that just enjoy the banjo's associations with self-paced learning and uncomplicated self-expression.

 

Oh, picks. You don't need them to play, despite Eli teaching you the 3-finger Earl Scruggs style that uses them. Finger picks for 3-finger style only costs $6 for two sets, and you can fuck around with different materials, but looks like even the best picks in the world with freaky cobalt alloys only run like $40. But you're just gunna be quieter without picks, and if you get to a place where you're playing faster, you might want picks to give you more flexibility and precision. BUT, as teacher Bob keeps reminding me, this is folk music, not classical music. Anything you wanna do, if it makes you happy, just keep doing it. There's this whole style that doesn't use picks, just use the forefinger to strum down on a string, the thumb to string up, and then the other fingers on the right hand to strum. That style is called claw-hammer because the shape your hand takes.

 

Zero obligation, but if you have a spare minute, watch a little of this linked video of Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin) playing claw-hammer on a  NPR Tiny Desk Concert. The video does a great job showing you his right hand technique and the kinda crazy soundscape he makes with the claw-hammer style. 

Compare that with Noam Pikelny playing with picks using 3-finger style in this vid, and just notice what this mutant of a Slenderman-looking motherfucker can do in terms of precision with that style applied to the jazz/bluegrass he specializes in. 

 

I've been talking with teacher bob about directions in banjo, sorta what kind of musician I wanna be when I grow up. He doesn't play RPG's but the way he explained it sounded a lot like an RPG-class evolution guide, with the moral of the story being to explore what I like and respect the time it takes to grow into myself as a player. 

 

 

 

The internet says resonator banjos (the kind with the back on) are supposed to be loud enough to play lead, but tend to be too loud to easily fit into a trad session; sorta like someone mic'd a single one drum in a drum circle, and then tried to have a normal back-n-forth in the circle. Something about the resonator banjo being incepted to play rhythm for Dixieland jazz sets and dance halls circa 1877-1910, while the 4-string banjo went back across the Atlantic and the quieter flat picked tenor banjo embedded itself in Celtic trad. 

In any case, I trust your experience with folk sets StS, sounds like you've had quite the time with them!

 

 

It's soooo pretty!!!!

 I love Steve Martin playing the banjo! It was in his stand up bits for a while and it was just so...different and fun. It's fun to just watch him play without trying to be funny and just see him look peaceful.  The other dude has giant hot dog fingers, and it looks like he can hyperextend them. holy moly. I have okay fingers, but if I had those fingers, I'd try all the instruments. I honestly had to stop watching and just listen.  I'm super geeked that you like Eli's videos too, and I'm really glad you found a good teacher in Bob. I'm not really sure that I'm gonna find a teacher when I'm done, I may just continue with online stuff until I feel like I'm hitting a wall. I will definitely be checking in when it's time to change strings.  It's cool to see that diagram of Banjo paths, thanks for sharing it! I wasn't really aware of half of them.  That is ALSO really good to know about the pinky thing. No injuries here, thank you very much. I appreciate the heads up!

 

[Sea-to-sky]

8 hours ago, Laghail said:

he internet says resonator banjos (the kind with the back on) are supposed to be loud enough to play lead, but tend to be too loud to easily fit into a trad session; sorta like someone mic'd a single one drum in a drum circle, and then tried to have a normal back-n-forth in the circle. Something about the resonator banjo being incepted to play rhythm for Dixieland jazz sets and dance halls circa 1877-1910, while the 4-string banjo went back across the Atlantic and the quieter flat picked tenor banjo embedded itself in Celtic trad. 

In any case, I trust your experience with folk sets StS, sounds like you've had quite the time with them

I had to look up what an open backed banjo even looked like. I have definitely never played with one before (they are weird looking, i would remember). 
judging by a hobgoblin they are probubly 5 strings. The ones with the longer neck. This kind of thing

we play in small pub rooms (sitting room sized or smaller spaces, as many pubs still retain their original internal walls here) and the volume is no more of an issue than having an accordian or concetina (of which we often have several) in the circle. 
people usually use finger picks, but i have seen flat picks used too.  I've never played with a tenor banjo, but I've seen them a couple of times on bluegrass vids. 

[Sea-to-sky]

6 hours ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

My teacher (the dork with the double instruments) ended up being $30/lesson and just the right mix of mentoring and instruction for my preferences. Zero shade if you finish the YouTube course and then keep learning by yourself, there's a ton of people that just enjoy the banjo's associations with self-paced learning and uncomplicated self-expression

The masking taped together instruments are amazing ?. 100% best use of that stuff ive seen. Hilarious, 

[Snarkyfishguts]

5 hours ago, Sea-to-sky said:

The masking taped together instruments are amazing ?. 100% best use of that stuff ive seen. Hilarious, 

I missed this link the first time around. That's impressive!!  

[Whisper]

22 hours ago, Sea-to-sky said:

I found it in my grandfathers attic with a broken neck. 
long story short, bowl back mandolins are incredibly specialist when it comes to getting them fixed ?

I want you to know that I had a dream last night that after playing a single note on my violin, the E string broke and managed to take out the neck with it.  Standing there, the body in one hand, the finger board in the other, the two linked by 3 strings and me going "what the hell man?!?"

[Sea-to-sky]

14 minutes ago, Whisper said:

want you to know that I had a dream last night that after playing a single note on my violin, the E string broke and managed to take out the neck with it.  Standing there, the body in one hand, the finger board in the other, the two linked by 3 strings and me going "what the hell man?!?

Yeah, that is the ultimate catastrophising nightmare alright. Mine is usually tripping down stairs whilst holding musical instruments (not incase. That would be too easy)

[Snarkyfishguts]

SWEET BABY CORN IT'S A NEW CHALLENGE!!