|
Smeed posted: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? There's nothing wrong with a 4 string. You can play Irish music, jazz and ragtime, and even fingerpicking style bluegrass on them. There's a fellow on youtube with a bunch of videos and a decent website dedicated to bluegrass style tenor (search Mirek Patek.) Barring that, just keep your eye on Craigslist. I got a decent Vega archtop for $50 a few months ago that only needed a new 5th string tuner. These things come up cheap all the time.
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2011 18:24
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 00:36 |
|
|
So after a few months of wanting/pining for a banjo my parents got me one for Christmas this year. They got a pretty nice Gold Tone 5 string with a resonator. I am already a professional fingerstyle guitar player so I thought a banjo would be fairly quick to learn and so far I think I'm right. I've already got a couple easy rolls down (double thumb and couple variations) and have figured out most of the open position chords and I can already play a few tunes (mainly grateful dead tunes and Old and in the Way) However I'm having a really tough time getting the forward and backward rolls going. I play mostly alternating thumb acoustic stuff and I'm having a really hard time getting my thumb to not play on down beats. Is there any way to un-train my thumb? Also I already love the banjo and may be a life long convert. Who needs guitars?
|
|
#
?
Dec 28, 2011 20:35
|
|
|
HollisBrown posted:Also I already love the banjo and may be a life long convert. Who needs guitars? I'm with ya buddy, my poor guitar retired the day I got my banjo. Congrats on the awesome gift, they are a hell of a lotta fun. As far as untraining your thumb - I had the same issue, it just got easier with time. I practiced rolls super slow to a metronome and slowly sped it up. I found that on banjo doing exercises was not as tedious as other instruments cause it's pretty fun to see how fast you can get moving.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2011 16:11
|
|
|
So I thought this might be a good place to post this. After a couple days of learning this tune I figured I could play it well enough to try to record.  It's a Grateful Dead tune. What should be working on now? I got the double thumb roll pretty much to perfection. How could I spice up a tune like this?
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2012 03:20
|
|
|
How to spice up the banjo playing you mean? Maybe learn how to play G licks (and E Minor licks, the relative minor of G) up the neck and do a solo. I play this song on the banjo too, but I play it clawhammer style. Oddly enough it works. Like you, I like playing Dead songs on the banjo. I'm working on Mountains of the Moon. Grateful Dead banjo buddy!  
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2012 05:12
|
|
|
So I mostly play folk/bluegrass fingerstyle on a guitar. I figured that plus a nice bonus meant it was time for a banjo, why not? Holy poo poo. This thing is: fun as gently caress, loud as gently caress, and tricky* *most of the trickyness is the fingerpicks; doing everything to this point without fingerpicks means that donning them puts me just off-kilter enough to have trouble. If I play with my nails/flesh I can play not horribly; but may as well get the fingerpicks down. A lot of the rolls are very different patterns to what I'm accustomed to, but nothing that's really warping my mind just yet. This thing is way, way too fun. (Got a Deering Goodtime "Crow" package, sounded/felt the best of all the ones I played) Walked fucked around with this message at 13:33 on Jan 10, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2012 13:25
|
|
|
Walked posted:*most of the trickyness is the fingerpicks; doing everything to this point without fingerpicks means that donning them puts me just off-kilter enough to have trouble. If I play with my nails/flesh I can play not horribly; but may as well get the fingerpicks down. A lot of the rolls are very different patterns to what I'm accustomed to, but nothing that's really warping my mind just yet. This is something that annoyed me and I made it worse by playing without picks for about a year or so first. In solution, I found some excellent hollow picks that gave me the feel of the strings I was acustomed to. They let you feel which strings you're picking which can be really helpful if you're used to playing guitar with your fingers  I got a set of these for £3.50 (~$5) off amazon so they aren't too pricey either. Captain Mediocre fucked around with this message at 17:59 on Jan 10, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2012 17:55
|
|
|
Captain Mediocre posted:This is something that annoyed me and I made it worse by playing without picks for about a year or so first. In solution, I found some excellent hollow picks that gave me the feel of the strings I was acustomed to. They let you feel which strings you're picking which can be really helpful if you're used to playing guitar with your fingers Yeah, I've been considering those and/or Alaska picks (similar concept) to give a whirl. Not sure if I should just learn "normal" finger picks, or try out a bunch. Theyre all going to feel pretty foreign I assume, so it'll be tough to say up front.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2012 18:45
|
|
|
I tried the Alaska picks, you pretty much have to have long fingernails for them to work, otherwise I found they just flop around a lot. I'm using propik reso's right now but I'm looking at perfect touch and Bob Perry's next.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2012 18:44
|
|
|
I've been jamming with some awesome older guys in FL for the past three months, here's a song we did that someone put on youtube. I'm the one in the hat with the black Dobro. Jamming alone has easily tripled my musical vocabulary and precision. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HujwyZHmVHg I got an MP3 recorder for Christmas, Here's the first test piece I did, just a bunch of noodling on my Beard Dobro 
N183CS fucked around with this message at 18:52 on Jan 11, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2012 18:47
|
|
|
I've been learning clawhammer banjo since July-- I've been wanting to start playing over the neck, but my banjo doesn't have that fretless section like a lot of clawhammer banjos have. Would do any undue harm to anything by taking a dremel and sandpaper to the neck to create enough of a gap to be able to pluck the strings?
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2012 18:47
|
|
|
fyo posted:I've been learning clawhammer banjo since July-- I've been wanting to start playing over the neck, but my banjo doesn't have that fretless section like a lot of clawhammer banjos have. Would do any undue harm to anything by taking a dremel and sandpaper to the neck to create enough of a gap to be able to pluck the strings? Do you mean dremel the frets down? Why not just pop them out? With that said, I wouldnt know how. I think that clawhammer banjos also have a higher bridge that raise the strings more off then neck than a regular banjo. Definitely consider seeking out a clawhammer specific bridge. Dremeling would be dependent on how expensive your banjo is and how much you care about playing on the upper neck ever again. It'd probably make it easier to play clawhammer, but someone may know more or could contest this. Maybe ask the clawhammer subforum of banjo hangout? I'm trying to get over my hands shaking when I play out or on stage, so I went to a few open mics this week. Last night I was monkeying around with "Fearless" by Pink Floyd. I like that people are posting up their playing! 
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2012 19:06
|
|
|
Clawhammer player here. I would advise against taking out the frets, dremeling or anything like that. The clawhammer scooped neck isn't just a fretless portion of the banjo, a bunch of the wood is taken out so you have a larger gap between the string and the fretboard area. It gives you a different sound, and the ability to play "the cluck" but other than that, just stick with picking over the head. Although, There are lots of players who frail over top of regularly fretted banjos. It's not impossible.
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2012 00:29
|
|
|
I mean I would pop some of the higher frets off and dremel/sand the neck around there down to create enough of a gap to be able to pluck the strings there. I don't see myself adapting any van halen songs for the banjo ever so I don't think I'll ever miss those frets. I was concerned it may mess up the structure of the banjo, but the chunk I'd be taking out isn't putting pressure on the pot at all. I'm able to get the four main strings over the neck just fine, it's the drone string I can't pluck since it's closer to the fretboard.
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2012 19:23
|
|
|
I have the same problem hitting the 5th string when playing round peak and have considered taking the dremel to my banjo as well. The way I understand it, you only have to be concerned about affecting the way tension is distributed through the neck. You're decreasing the mass and changing the rigidity by removing frets. You will likely need to adjust the neck angle once you've completed the scoop but the neck should not experience any undue stress. I only wish I had a crappy banjo to practice on before I attempt it on my nice one.
|
|
#
?
Jan 16, 2012 17:14
|
|
|
I have some questions for you guys. I know my boyfriend's been wanting a banjo for a long time, he's really into country/folk stuff on his acoustic so I want to get him one for his birthday or something. Thing is, I know nothing about banjos. Based on the links in the OP, I can probably only afford/find a Deerline. I was thinking probably something off this page: http://www.deeringbanjos.com/catalog/category/view/id/10 Only thing is, as I said, I know nothing about banjos and have no idea what the difference is between any of these or which would be a good one to get. He'd probably use it for country/folk/bluegrass type stuff, he does a lot of fingerpicking already so I don't think he'll have a hard time picking up on it. Yeah, I know buying an instrument you haven't played is a bad idea, so it stands to reason that buying one for someone else is a bad idea. However, seing as neither of us have ever owned a banjo so it doesn't seem that bad to buy an inexpensive one. Thoughts?
|
|
#
?
Jan 18, 2012 23:10
|
|
|
What do you guys think of this craigslist item? As far as I can tell, it's a Indiana Banjo IB-200. Anyone know anything about these banjos, or about cheap banjos in general? I have many years in music, but just recently picked up an electric guitar a few months ago.
|
|
#
?
Jan 19, 2012 00:21
|
|
|
Bill O'Riley is GENIUS posted:
Get the 5 string model for folk / bluegrass. I think you're right that its not going to make that much of a difference since he's a novice. If you sold it for half of what you got it for, that means you spent a few hundred bucks learning how to play the banjo. FWIW, I still have my inexpensive banjo, because my nice one is too heavy to play all the time and I won't take it camping. Goose Halo posted:Anyone know anything about these banjos, or about cheap banjos in general? Not really. Go look at it, and if the action isn't way up off the neck and it is in good shape, make him an offer.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2012 17:01
|
|
|
Got a super hunk of junk used banjo, it's older, the guy who had it dated it to at least the 70s because there were pre-Martin Vega strings in the case. It's a Silvertone brand... no serial # or ID. Anybody know anything about these? It's not nice by any means but that's kinda why I like it. And for someone coming from fingerpicking guitar, any observations on learning banjo?
global tetrahedron fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Jan 21, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2012 20:42
|
|
|
Just started bluegrass guitar and banjo with an instructor. Holy gently caress literally the most fun ive ever had at a lesson. Just informing you all that I am pumped. (is there a particular skill level I can identify "hey im ready to hit up a jam!? I suck still, but still want to play with others / improve)
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2012 12:57
|
|
|
Walked posted:
Honestly, the earlier the better. Once I started going to regular jams my skill seemed to improve monumentally. If you can keep up with the chord changes playing backup I'd say go for it. The trick is to play quietly until you get the song. Most folks are very encouraging as long as you don't get in the way.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2012 02:35
|
|
|
To add to that I'd say it's good to have a few tunes to call during a jam. You can just go, listen and try to play along, but I've found if new folks have a tune or two they can play, it helps them acclimate better. I may have listed them somewhere in the thread before, but should we add some bluegrass standards to the OP? Speaking of OP, it's almost a year old. Anything I should add?
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2012 04:05
|
|
|
Walked posted:Just started bluegrass guitar and banjo with an instructor. For banjo make sure you put the large majority of your time into backup. I, like many others, spent a lot of my first year working on lead breaks from videos and tab. I ended up with some good sounding solos but when I went to my first few jams I found that I couldn't keep up with the chord changes as I'd neglected backup so much. Also even if a song came up that I knew, the timing would be slightly different or it'd be played in a different key so my well rehearsed solo was rendered more-or-less useless. In the past couple of months I switched to a new teacher and really focused on backup. I've become much more confident on chord progressions, playing in different keys (nothing fancy but enough to play something at least), and playing all around the neck in all different positions. Definitely do backup from the start. You can make it sound very cool once you get past the initial basic vamping stage and you'll get a much better understanding of how the songs actually work. If you're in need of material there are a ton of backup DVDs out there (I've got Murphy Henry's) or for free search the banjohangout.org music section for what people have uploaded and use a slowdowner program as previously mentioned to change the songs to a comfortable pace. I'm still very much a beginner but thought that might be helpful.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2012 11:20
|
|
|
After having banjos on my mind for a while, I finally gave in and got myself one! A Deering Goodtime 2. It is fun as hell to play. I've just been working from a beginner's book, but I plan to take lessons soon, and hopefully find myself some group to jam with. I can't emphasize what a happy instrument it is, and I can't wait til I get better!
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2012 07:45
|
|
|
My jam group ran pretty long last week so I hung out even after I was tired of playing. I got lucky and the remaining players did one of my favorite songs. I love the kickoff they do in it. It sounds so much better when played with a fiddle and dobro. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql3RsBAX8IE&context=C3620e8eADOEgsToPDskI9WzApWfsTar1aSb2z0R5d
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2012 16:22
|
|
|
I bought a Deering Goodtime last week and its been a lot of fun to play. I'm playing clawhammer style and I've been doing the exercises in Rocket Science Banjo. I'm treating it almost like a game, trying to play the chapter 1 exercises at full speed before moving on to chapter 2. Did any of you guys end up scooping the neck or putting a higher bridge on your banjos? I've only had mine for a week, but I'm already wondering if its worth it. How tough is installing a higher bridge?
|
|
#
?
Mar 6, 2012 19:09
|
|
|
A few years back I bought a Savannah 5string for $150. It's obvious even to me that it's kind of a crap instrument, but since I only get semi-serious about playing it a few times a year, I don't feel too bad. Anyway, I pretty much gravitated towards Scruggs-style playing, since that's already what I practice on guitar, more or less. My only problem is that I really don't like using the fingerpicks. Should I suck it up and force myself? It just screws me up going between banjo, guitar, and bass. Obviously there's no one right answer, but if I ever invested in a better instrument, would the loss of tone be significant enough that I really would want to pick?
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2012 17:29
|
|
|
It seems to me that the sharp snappy sound you get with a pick is a key aspect of Scruggs style, so if that's what you're after then it'd probably be worth it to get used to finger picks. Once you got used to them, switching back and forth probably wouldn't be that big of a deal. On the other hand, one thing I've learned from watching all the old timers playing banjo on youtube (mainly clawhammer, mind you) is that the banjo is one of the least strict instruments in the world with respect to "right" and "wrong" ways of playing. So many players have their own little nuances... if you feel more comfortable without picks and are happy with the sound, then you may as well just go with that.
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2012 01:05
|
|
|
I think I've said it a couple before in this thread but, it probably is worth learning with picks. Like fyo says its mostly a matter of personal preference and you could still play nicely without picks. However, I made the mistake of learning without picks for a couple years before giving them a serious go and boy did I have do alot of un-learning and rewiring of the brain. Once you get too used to feel of your strings without picks it can be pretty difficult to play with them, whereas the opposite is not really the case. You can learn with picks and still play well with them off if you want to, so it might be worth giving it a go.
|
|
#
?
Mar 9, 2012 12:06
|
|
|
Smeed posted:I bought a Deering Goodtime last week and its been a lot of fun to play. I'm playing clawhammer style and I've been doing the exercises in Rocket Science Banjo. I'm treating it almost like a game, trying to play the chapter 1 exercises at full speed before moving on to chapter 2. No, but it's easy to do. Dan Levenson told me that one can simply put a higher bridge to play clawhammer, but to also back the tension off the head a bit to do that. I just keep my Goodtime normal. Someone said earlier in the thread that scooping the neck is a pretty involved exercise. I'd say just play the Goodtime as is, and when you're ready to move up to something else after you've stuck with it, buy something that's clawhammer specific and scooped. Keep the Goodtime around as a camping / travel banjo.
|
|
#
?
Mar 10, 2012 23:02
|
|
|
Thanks I guess Ill look into a higher bridge once I can play a few tunes. I assumed scooping the neck would be as easy as a little cutting and sanding (but still not something I'd do myself). If anyone is just starting out like myself, Ken Perlman's clawhammer banjo book is nice and easy to understand while being a lot more fun than Rocket Science Banjo.
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2012 03:57
|
|
|
I'd start with the higher bridge. The banjo is an instrument that is often hot rodded / parts swap out - necks, resonators, bridges, tone rings, etc. You may be able to rout it out and not have issues. The effort to do so may or not be worth the trouble, expense, or hassle of ensuring intonation and action. Then again, it may be an interesting undertaking. A few of the previous posters hit the nail on the head I think with respect to playing Scruggs style with picks. You've got to have them to get the sound. One thing I struggle with is keeping the picks perpendicular to the strings and getting a really poppy, individual sound to each string. Fortunately, as also mentioned before the banjo (at least to me) has a bit of leeway with respect to best practice, so do the best you can as far as technique and have fun. I go back and forth from clawhammer, Scruggs and electric guitar playing, so it's just a matter of time and muscle memory. N183CS its cool you're posting up jam vids and to see bluegrass with palm trees in the background Planet X fucked around with this message at 09:57 on Mar 11, 2012 |
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2012 09:54
|
|
|
Just started learning about a week ago. I'm left-handed, but have been playing the bass guitar right-handed for quite a while - hopefully that'll help with my crappy right-hand coordination. Some rolls are proving easier than others. It's been totally awesome so far, although the wife and dog are probably less enthusiastic about it than I am.
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2012 02:02
|
|
|
I have had a banjo for about a year now, but for my birthday the missus got a collection going and got me some lessons. How long until I stop sucking so hard? My left hand is like it is made out of hotdogs in a big rubber glove.
|
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2012 19:44
|
|
|
Bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs dies at age 88. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBIT_EARL_SCRUGGS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
|
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2012 01:44
|
|
|
Earl will be missed. He was truly the king. No one could pick like him. I finally figured out what Scruggs tuners were a few weeks ago after seeing my buddy play Earls breakdown with his. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBe5R276wL0
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2012 01:15
|
|
|
How long did it take you guys to get a sort of... ease, I guess, with the banjo? I don't play guitar or bass or anything, so this is my first music experience. I am not expecting to bust out Foggy Mountain Breakdown yet or anything, but maybe when I could look forward to hanging out with others and following along or what have you. poo poo is hard. Arrgh.
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2012 17:18
|
|
|
How long have you been learning? I'm about a month in and I can play basic songs and I only practice once every couple days. If you just began its boring to start, then a lot of fun once you're able to play a basic tune. I found the best way to breeze past a trouble spot is to put the banjo down and revisit it the next day. Its mostly muscle memory I guess.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2012 17:11
|
|
|
Smeed posted:How long have you been learning? I'm about a month in and I can play basic songs and I only practice once every couple days. If you just began its boring to start, then a lot of fun once you're able to play a basic tune. I found the best way to breeze past a trouble spot is to put the banjo down and revisit it the next day. Its mostly muscle memory I guess. I can noodle out tabbed songs, I guess I just am eager for when it sounds like bluegrass and less like me plinking away.
|
|
#
?
Apr 5, 2012 16:40
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 00:36 |
|
|
Fiddle player here to say Hi. I also play the banjo and a few other stringed instruments. I've just picked my fiddle back up after a 15+ year absence. It's about like starting all over again and I'm a squeaky, squealing mess. I did find a good source for fiddlers though search up johnsfiddlelessons on youtube. John breaks down the songs pretty well. Or just click http://www.youtube.com/user/JohnsFiddleLessons/videos Winson_Paine posted:I can noodle out tabbed songs, I guess I just am eager for when it sounds like bluegrass and less like me plinking away. If you can work out a simple song, stick with that song and practice it. Listen to different folks playing the turn to get a handle of the timing. For me getting that bluegrass "bounce" (drive, flow or whatever you want to call it) is what makes it bluegrass. With either Scruggs style, Clawhammer or even your bowing with a fiddle its still about the accent you place on your timing (if that makes sense) Stick with it and maybe even buy a cheap metronome to help you with timing.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2012 21:38
|
|
