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Massasoit posted:I have been playing banjo for maybe three years now, however I am still terrible. A slowdowner helps. It also helps to sit down and actively practice, rather than just play. I go back and forth between the two, myself. Surely there must be a local bluegrass association or something in the larger towns? Put up a craigslist ad? How about this: What songs do you want to learn? There are ways to play the songs you want, but maybe without all the fill notes. Start with the melody, then put the fill notes in. Let me know what you want to learn, then maybe we can help you. Don't forget, you can play a lot of songs on the banjo. I can now play the last two songs on Dark Side Of the Moon on my banjo, and it doesn't sound like it's a novelty. Just taught myself Here Comes The Sun. Not everything sounds good on a banjo, but when you find ones that do, no matter the genre, it'll put a smile on your face Captain Mediocre posted:
I don't have them, no, but I'd like to get some one day. I think they're also called Scruggs Tuners. http://www.janetdavismusic.com/dtunpeg.html I learned how these work at camp, they basically stop the string at a certain point. I assume you want these so you can go to other tunings easily and quickly, or do most people buy them so they can rip on Flint Hill Special?  Thanks for keeping the thread going.
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Oct 11, 2011 00:40
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I play double bass, primarily (ok, solely) psychobilly and rockabilly stuff. A mate of mine asked me to join his 'newgrass' band (I didn't know that was a thing but there you go). Are there any recordings I should listen to just to get a feel for the genre, especially from a bass standpoint? I figure trusty ol' root-fifth will see me through, and from what I've heard it's not exactly a genre driven by virtuoso bass playing, but I would like to broaden my horizons a little bit.
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Oct 13, 2011 08:56
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Dr. Miracle posted:I play double bass, primarily (ok, solely) psychobilly and rockabilly stuff. A mate of mine asked me to join his 'newgrass' band (I didn't know that was a thing but there you go). Are there any recordings I should listen to just to get a feel for the genre, especially from a bass standpoint? There's alot of good recommendations in this old thread, I don't like all of the artists there personally but for genre-defining stuff its a good resource.
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Oct 13, 2011 11:19
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mesc posted:Anyone have experience with Recording King banjos? I've been renting for the past few months while I take bluegrass banjo lessons, and I'm about ready to purchase my own. After waffling for months about what to finally purchase, I went to the school that I take lessons at (Old Town School in Chicago) and tried quite a few out, the selection was on the shorter side but I'm sure banjos don't fly off the shelves. They had a gorgeous Deering Eagle II on sale, but it was pretty far outside what I wanted to spend. I came home the next day and my wife had it waiting for me.  Anyhow, now I need to look into capos. I'm leery of adding spikes to it, but I was wondering if anyone had advice on which capo / 5th string to pick up - I checked out BHO and found a bunch of conflicting info. Menstrual Show fucked around with this message at 19:33 on Oct 25, 2011 |
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Oct 25, 2011 19:30
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mesc posted:Anyhow, now I need to look into capos. I'm leery of adding spikes to it, but I was wondering if anyone had advice on which capo / 5th string to pick up - I checked out BHO and found a bunch of conflicting info. Spikes are definitely the way to go and incredibly simple to install. If you really don't want to I've found this little guy to be pretty decent: http://elderly.com/accessories/items/RBC55.htm It pops right on the string and doesn't seem to take it out of tune when changing keys. No where near as invasive as the metal strip option.
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Oct 27, 2011 04:51
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So my wife has recently started getting into Bluegrass, and we happened to see a local ad for a very cheap entry level violin and so she thought hey why not, could be fun to try to learn the fiddle, and also hey, super cheap like I said so no biggie if it ends up in a dusty corner unplayed. I already play the guitar (Intermediately) and figured it could be fun to try to learn some bluegrass together. I don't want to go out and buy a Banjo yet as we don't know how much she'll enjoy trying to learn etc and whether she'll find it fun and go on to get lessons or find its just not for her. In the meantime, are there any good examples of guitar and fiddle bluegrass to give us a idea of what kind of thing we could try to learn together? We're in this purely for fun and our own amusement, but any ideas of the type of thing we could try to learn to play together would be appreciated, even if its more irish/celtic with a slightly bluegrass feel would be fine. Should I find a cheap 5 string Banjo, having already played the guitar, would I find the transition to a Banjo smooth or are they so different that I am better off trying to approach it as if I have never played a single note in my life? My chicken picking on guitar is pretty bad 
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Nov 9, 2011 15:00
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Lord Dekks posted:Should I find a cheap 5 string Banjo, having already played the guitar, would I find the transition to a Banjo smooth or are they so different that I am better off trying to approach it as if I have never played a single note in my life? My chicken picking on guitar is pretty bad I can't really help with the rest of it, but I can tell you that the transition from guitar -> banjo is pretty straightforward. You need to learn new chord shapes, new picking patterns and maybe the ability to pick a bit faster than you may tend to on a guitar. Other than that you will already have a huge portion of the skills, its easily understated how much of an advantage you have, already being able to fret, pick, strum and coordinate your hands properly. Also you should do it anyway because the banjo is a very fun instrument to play.
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Nov 9, 2011 18:35
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Lord Dekks posted:I already play the guitar (Intermediately) and figured it could be fun to try to learn some bluegrass together. I don't want to go out and buy a Banjo yet as we don't know how much she'll enjoy trying to learn etc and whether she'll find it fun and go on to get lessons or find its just not for her. Not sure of how big of a city you're in, but some shops rent them. I rented mine for a month, and the shop gave me that rental credit towards purchase. If you only play guitar, why not try something else? Like mentioned above, its not an incredibly difficult transition. Lord Dekks posted:In the meantime, are there any good examples of guitar and fiddle bluegrass to give us a idea of what kind of thing we could try to learn together? We're in this purely for fun and our own amusement, but any ideas of the type of thing we could try to learn to play together would be appreciated, even if its more irish/celtic with a slightly bluegrass feel would be fine. Sure, start with the easy bluegrass standards: 9 pound hammer Cripple Creek Soldier's Joy Blackberry blossom (a little more intermediate) Bile them cabbage down Will the circle be unbroken Freeborn man Milk Cow Blues Many are based on a I-IV-V blues progression, others have a more Irish / Old Time feel to them. Fiddlers like to play in A, so capo at the second fret to make it easier on her. She should get the fret markers, too, they help. My buddy who is learning fiddle said it was way easier if I played guitar and he followed on fiddle. When I switch to the banjo, there's notes and fingers flying everywhere; a deluge of notes. When I'm strumming the guitar, not only can he see more visually what I'm doing (as the chords on the guitar are more easily visually distinguishable than banjo) but also its easier for him to follow because it's a more rhythmic instrument, at least when strumming.
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Nov 10, 2011 01:19
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Also going to agree that, as a fiddler, its easier to follow someone playing guitar than a banjo. Not that that should disuade you from picking up the banjo if you fancy it.
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Nov 10, 2011 06:05
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Thanks for all the advice guys 
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Nov 10, 2011 10:32
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I'm a relatively experienced guitar player and I'm willing to spend a bit of extra money on a decent open-back banjo that I won't have to upgrade for a while. I know it's been getting good reviews, but is the Deering Goodtime Special still the best value for what I'm seeking? http://www.instrumentalsavings.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=ST-DB-GTSOB&gdftrk=gdfV21897_a_7c264_a_7c4817_a_7cST_d_DB_d_GTSOB
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Nov 11, 2011 08:05
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The Goodtimes are great instruments. Not sure if you're just using that link as example, but I'd get it from Elderly: http://elderly.com/search/elderly?terms=deering+goodtime&x=0&y=0 Or Zepp Music: http://zeppmusic.com/deering.htm Either of these stores will set up your instrument prior to shipping and they're great to deal with. If you're willing to spend the extra money, and are getting an open-back for old-time, I'd particularly recommend the Zeppified Goodtime. The setup on these makes the instrument competitive with instruments well over the $1000 range.
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Nov 12, 2011 03:17
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I just moved to Florida and immediately found an awesome group of pickers to jam with. They're all like 30 years older than me so have shitloads of experience. I consider myself a dirty old man trapped in side a 27 year old body so I get along really well with them though. I jammed at the back of the circle for a month then the other day I took my first break on dobro and blew everyone away. I can't speak highly enough of jamming now as an awesome way to learn. I've started building my own dobro too since I can't justify the cost of a true custom maple guitar.
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Nov 13, 2011 14:36
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This thread finally pushed me over the edge to pick up a banjo yesterday (a Gold Tone). I've played guitar for many years so I have a bit of a headstart, but what I'm really looking for is picking exercises. There are a ton of different patterns on banjo hangout, but I want to know which is the best one to start incessantly practicing? Right now I'm doing a forward-reverse roll with a metronome for 15 minutes at a time and lazily switching from G-C-D as I get bored. What other basic patterns should I practice alongside that are going to help the most? Right now most of them are a mindfuck because of the high G string. My guitar brain keeps wanting to go back and plant my thumb there for the start of the phrase and it throws off my groove.
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Nov 13, 2011 16:57
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1000 umbrellas posted:This thread finally pushed me over the edge to pick up a banjo yesterday (a Gold Tone). I've played guitar for many years so I have a bit of a headstart, but what I'm really looking for is picking exercises. There are a ton of different patterns on banjo hangout, but I want to know which is the best one to start incessantly practicing? Right now I'm doing a forward-reverse roll with a metronome for 15 minutes at a time and lazily switching from G-C-D as I get bored. The rolls people mean when they say a particular name never seems very consistent so I'll just write out my favourite pair. "5" being the short/high G string, "4" being the 'lowest' in pitch, "1" being physically closest to the ground, etc. Simple one: 2-1-5-2-1-5-2-1-2-1-5-2-1-5-2-1(etc.) Gives a full chord sound: 3-2-1-5-1-2-3-1-5-2-1-5-1-2-3-1 The simple first one seems to crop up in most all beginner/intermediate bluegrass tabs. Get the free version of TablEdit and check out the tabs on Banjohangout, their selection is amazing and the TablEdit ones can be played out loud to get an idea of how they should sound (lots of people have added in a full band midi backing track which is pretty neat). Its more fun than just practicing rolls alone and you don't want to make yourself bored of the banjo straight away. Captain Mediocre fucked around with this message at 18:33 on Nov 13, 2011 |
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Nov 13, 2011 18:27
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N183CS posted:I took my first break on dobro and blew everyone away. On which song?
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Nov 13, 2011 18:45
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Captain Mediocre posted:The rolls people mean when they say a particular name never seems very consistent so I'll just write out my favourite pair. "5" being the short/high G string, "4" being the 'lowest' in pitch, "1" being physically closest to the ground, etc. Awesome! The first half of the second one you've posted there is what I've been practicing. What do I move to after rolls, as far as the right hand goes? Progressively more complex patterns? What about left hand exercises? Chords/fretting come pretty quick to me, being a guitarist, but I love the sounds of all the slides and hammer-ons in bluegrass. Got any suggestions for exercises of that sort?
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Nov 13, 2011 22:17
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1000 umbrellas posted:Awesome! The first half of the second one you've posted there is what I've been practicing. I'm not sure, I've never been a big one for exercises of that sort with any instrument. I much prefer to just learn songs and find more difficult ones over time. I guess one thing to practice (because it was years before I ever did this) is making sure you have your little- and ring-fingers planted firmly to the head the whole time when you pick. Plenty of people swear by being able to play with just one or the other so as long as you use at least one its not so bad, but two is probably better. Similarly, are you using finger-picks? I played with bare fingers for a year or so first and even now playing with finger picks is cumbersome and sometimes frustrating as heck, so I'd recommend using them from the start because they give you alot more consistency and clarity. Otherwise I can't think of any exercises other than practicing rolls, though someone else might be able to chime in with something. In terms of learning songs though, one of the first things I ever learnt and really enjoyed was this version of He Will Set Your Fields On Fire. It contains alot of standard rolls and sounds really nice to boot so its good fun and healthy practice. A few years down the line its still the thing I can play fastest just from how often I used it to practice it. As a final thing, you could always check out some clawhammer stuff (as opposed to Scrugg's style/3-finger/bluegrass picking, whatever you want to call it) because its a nice way to play the instrument without needing accompaniment. Very different, I just started learning it myself but it has some positives over 3-finger. As a prior guitarist like yourself I find the rhythm aspect alot more intuitive than keeping steady time while 3-finger picking. This is a good resource if you're interested at all.
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Nov 14, 2011 00:02
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Planet X posted:On which song? Long gone, I just took every Josh Graves, Rob Ickes and Mike Auldridge lick I knew and threw in some arpeggios. I basically tried to keep the time and cram as many notes as I could in. When I try to play it at home it sounds terrible, it's amazing how the rest of the instruments fill the gaps.
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Nov 14, 2011 00:07
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Captain Mediocre posted:In terms of learning songs though, one of the first things I ever learnt and really enjoyed was this version of He Will Set Your Fields On Fire. It contains alot of standard rolls and sounds really nice to boot so its good fun and healthy practice. A few years down the line its still the thing I can play fastest just from how often I used it to practice it. This is a great little song, thanks for posting. Even on day three I can fumble my way through it. Now I just gotta practice it!
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Nov 14, 2011 19:22
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Can anyone recommend a good lesson book for clawhammer banjo? I've been teaching myself off of youtube, but I'm finding it'd be a lot easier to have a bunch of songs and, more importantly, exercises all in one book.
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Nov 24, 2011 19:44
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I'm getting my master's in classical guitar performance. I played a banjo recently and it was incredibly fun. I also could produce insanely fast/complicated-sounding things with arpeggio patterns I was already familiar with. Is it reasonable that I could just apply my guitar technique (straight right wrist, nails, "a" on right hand included) to the banjo with any degree of seriousness? I want to get one. I use fakes, if that matters, so nail endurance is a non-issue. An Enormous Boner fucked around with this message at 01:10 on Nov 27, 2011 |
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Nov 27, 2011 01:07
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PoorPeteBest posted:Spikes are definitely the way to go and incredibly simple to install. If you really don't want to I've found this little guy to be pretty decent: I decided to just get spikes installed, there's a place a short drive a away that can do it - http://www.hogeyemusic.com/ - I haven't had a chance to go yet so I purchased http://elderly.com/accessories/items/ESC.htm as a temporary solution. Really easy to use but I'm definitely taking myself out of tune when I take the capo off.
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Nov 27, 2011 18:27
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Here's a question I've wanted to ask folks for a while: where do you all stand on resonators? I keep putting on and taking off mine, can't make up my mind.
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Nov 29, 2011 02:46
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Troll. Ignore me. posted:I'm getting my master's in classical guitar performance. I played a banjo recently and it was incredibly fun. I also could produce insanely fast/complicated-sounding things with arpeggio patterns I was already familiar with. Technique wise, sure, you'll be fine. I've never seen someone use anything other than steel picks when playing Scruggs style though. To get that attack, you're really picking hard, and quite perpendicular to the strings. I'd be interested to hear if you can pull it off. If you're good with scales and arpeggios, you're probably going to be better at melodic style banjo than traditional / Scruggs. fyo posted:Can anyone recommend a good lesson book for clawhammer banjo? No, but I'd recommend something that has a CD along with it, I've found it really helps to hear the exercises. I saw this guy at an acoustic camp, maybe try his books or series. Call him up, see what he says. http://clawdan.com/
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Nov 29, 2011 05:11
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Manky posted:Here's a question I've wanted to ask folks for a while: where do you all stand on resonators? I keep putting on and taking off mine, can't make up my mind. I'm the same as you, but I've seen people argue for resonator on for scruggs style and off for clawhammer. Not sure how much there is in it.
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Nov 29, 2011 11:25
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Captain Mediocre posted:I'm the same as you, but I've seen people argue for resonator on for scruggs style and off for clawhammer. Not sure how much there is in it. Going from an open back (Goodtime) to a resonator banjo, its crazy how much louder it is. That comes from my new banjo having a tone ring as well, though. I haven't played with it at all without the resonator on, but when I practice at home I definitely keep a towel stuffed in it to keep the volume down - I'm sure my neighbors are sick of hearing Reuben and Foggy Mountain Breakdown at this point.
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Nov 29, 2011 16:53
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Why not just buy a mute?
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Nov 30, 2011 03:10
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Planet X posted:Why not just buy a mute? Shoving a towel inside has worked fine so far, seems to serve the same purpose.
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Nov 30, 2011 03:40
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I like this thread. What's everyone's technique for strumming with fingerpicks on? My banjo teacher uses his ring finger, but it always seems like I can't get enough volume that way. I watch live shots of people like Scott Avett, who strums a ton on the banjo, and he seems to just use the side of his fingerpicks. I wonder if that's just a matter of making sure they're tight enough, because I worry about them popping off. Also, looking back at the beginning of the thread (regarding thumb picks). I switched from the dunlop plastic pick that came with my rented Goodtime to a metal-and-plastic Pro Pik and drat, after about a month with the Pro Pik I'm a ton faster. The shorter blade really helps.
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Dec 3, 2011 18:09
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mesc posted:I like this thread.  mesc posted:
I'll have to give that a shot. I like the smaller 'speed'picks than the Dunlops. I will try out the Pro Piks. I did try the Pro Pik finger picks, and I don't like them - just the way the 4 pieces of metal fit onto my finger doesn't work for me. YMMV. I will say that I tried some Ernie Ball fingerpicks recently. They take some getting used to, but it's a lighter touch. http://www.firstqualitymusic.com/images/product/5864/P_5864_T00.jpg <-- these things There are some thumbpicks out there that are supposedly super high quality and never wear out, but they're like $40 and come in 2 sizes.
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Dec 8, 2011 02:33
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I've loved the sound of the banjo ever since watching Beverly Hillbilly reruns as a little kid. Im interested in learning the banjo, and I'm pretty sure my grandfather has one I can play with. The problem is, I know gently caress all about music. Outside of the recorder in 3rd grade I've never picked up an instrument in my life. How tough is it for a complete newbie to pick it up and learn on their own? I'm a pretty stubborn bastard who'd like to do something constructive with my free time instead of browsing SA (sorry goons). Where would I even start?
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Dec 8, 2011 05:16
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Smeed posted:I've loved the sound of the banjo ever since watching Beverly Hillbilly reruns as a little kid. Im interested in learning the banjo, and I'm pretty sure my grandfather has one I can play with. The problem is, I know gently caress all about music. Outside of the recorder in 3rd grade I've never picked up an instrument in my life. How tough is it for a complete newbie to pick it up and learn on their own? I'm a pretty stubborn bastard who'd like to do something constructive with my free time instead of browsing SA (sorry goons). I would absolutely say go for it. The banjo is not an especially difficult instrument to play, except perhaps the fact that much of it wants a strong sense of rhythm. I'm guessing you've never learned anything about music theory either which is not a huge problem since there is a plentiful supply of tabs online that more or less show you a diagram of what to play. You should be aware (if you aren't already) that there are two different common styles of banjo playing - clawhammer and bluegrass/scrugg style/3 finger. You can find youtube demonstrations of both which is probably easier than trying to explain the difference in words. Might be worth seeing which sound you prefer and focusing on one of them to start because they require different kinds of tabs. You can learn plenty of tunes and get alot better at playing the thing just by tinkering around with tabs for songs you like. If you really want to get your teeth into it though, learning music theory can help loads in working stuff out by ear, writing your own tunes, understanding different rhythms etc. As with every other instruments though, there are plenty of people out there who pick one up for the first time knowing nothing about music and figure it all out along the way. Good luck and most importantly make sure you're practicing in a way you actually enjoy.
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Dec 8, 2011 11:13
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Thanks for the info. I'm excited to check it out. I spoke to my grandfather and was told the banjo he has might not be playable as the neck could be warped. I've never seen it in person and know nothing about the brand so I don't know how bad it is. How much does this cost to fix? The thing is probably 50 or 60+ years old.
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Dec 14, 2011 02:22
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Generally a basic setup will run roughly $60, but it depends on the luthier, I suppose. Take it to an acoustic instruments store, they should be able to easily assess if it's worth fixing before you spend any money. That or post it up on the banjo hangout. If the neck is warped, it may not be worth putting another neck on it, but it really depends on what you have.
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Dec 14, 2011 02:28
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Hi, asian living in Canada, getting ready to buy my first Banjo. Looking at picking up the Deering Goodtime but noticed that it has no back to it (no resonator). Is there a difference other than price in a backless vs banjo with a back?
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Dec 15, 2011 06:18
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fawker posted:Hi, asian living in Canada, getting ready to buy my first Banjo. Looking at picking up the Deering Goodtime but noticed that it has no back to it (no resonator). Is there a difference other than price in a backless vs banjo with a back? Resonators are much louder, but also heavy. Open back banjos are generally used for old timey clawhammer mountain music and back up a fiddle, while the resonators are played by fingerpicking bluegrass types. Either is fine for you to start out and the Goodtime models are awesome for the price. shame on an IGA fucked around with this message at 17:04 on Dec 15, 2011 |
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Dec 15, 2011 17:00
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Remember you can take the resonator off.. I took mine a day or two after I bought it and haven't put it back since, aside from the odd time to compare the sound differences. If you're just looking to play by yourself and learn the instrument, then don't worry much about a resonator. I guess if it happens to have one (like mine did), then cool, maybe you'll have a use for it later on down the road.
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Dec 15, 2011 20:44
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My first (out of two) banjos is a Deering Goodtime. I will never get rid of this instrument. Fyo's advice is great. I did the same, I bought a Goodtime with a resonator. If you plan on jamming with bluegrass folks, you'll be glad you have the resonator. The resonator on the Gootime isn't heavy and it's 4 screws to remove it. I have mine removed just so it's super light and wanted to have that Old Time sound for a while. It sits next to the bed, so I can just grab it and plink out a few tunes before I go to sleep. That's the best thing about it. As you go up in price, banjos get heavy with their resonators, so when you have a Goodtime, its a great lightweight practice banjo, but you can certainly get away with playing in a jam with it. They're great for camping and travel, too. If you are going to play mostly clawhammer, get one without the resonator. Otherwise, get one with a resonator and take it off. Only thing is the Goodtime without resonator has a metal disc on it where the resonator bolts on and isn't exactly sightly. Not really a big deal but worth mention. Bottom line is you should play them both, or have someone at the shop play both of them for you and pick the one that sounds best to you! edit: mesc, the black headstock on that deering is  here's a vid of Rob Bourassa playing an open back Goodtime. Quite good sound and playability for the price. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoYMgLRv3Ns Planet X fucked around with this message at 00:31 on Dec 16, 2011 |
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Dec 16, 2011 00:22
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I'm a little bummed. The banjo I got from my uncle is a 4 string. I was under the impression 4 and 5 string banjos are two different beasts and what I want to play is really only possible on a 5 string. I was looking at the deering goodtimes, but dropping $500 on an instrument I've never touched in my life is daunting to a poor college kid. What does a decent starter one go for second hand?
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Dec 27, 2011 06:05
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