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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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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 07:27 |
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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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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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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?
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Mar 6, 2012 19:09
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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.
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Mar 11, 2012 03:57
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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.
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Apr 4, 2012 17:11
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Do you build speed/accuracy from simple just playing or should I practice playing songs fast? I haven't played any enough to play it without the tabs, but I can't seem to play anything faster than medium/slow without screwing it all up.
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Apr 14, 2012 00:33
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I don't know how often you're supposed to tune an instrument but I check it with an electronic tuner every few days and the 3rd string on my Deering Goodtime always ends up being very sharp while the rest of the strings hold their tune well. I noticed the knob for that string is looser than the rest, is this something I can fix or should be concerned about? Its a minor annoyance.
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May 23, 2012 21:03
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Thanks, there is a screw at the end of the knob. Ill tighten it a bit and see what happens.
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May 25, 2012 23:52
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I've never touched an instrument before the banjo and I really don't know anyone who is very musically inclined, but do most people learn more than one tuning? I've always played open G, but now that I've gotten to something new in the book I'm learning from I feel like a complete newbie.
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Nov 25, 2012 05:46
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sailorjosh posted:If you're playing bluegrass, you can get away with just G, and maybe D tuning once in a while (f#DF#AD), if you're playing old time/clawhammer you'll probably want to be comfortable with Open G, Double C (gCGCD), and sawmill (gDGCD). It pretty much totally depends on what tunes you want to play, and if you eventually start playing with others, what tunes they play. There are like a gazillion banjo tunings, you can't possibly know them all, but it's good to know a couple. I'm playing clawhammer and the tunings in the book are open G, double C and sawmill so I might as well suck it up and learn those instead of half assing it. Thanks.
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Nov 25, 2012 16:47
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When I wear finger picks to play clawhammer (almost never unless I accidentally cut my nail way too short) I wear them like little metal finger nails. It makes perfect sense.
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Jan 11, 2013 03:42
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 07:27 |
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When/if ever should I be concerned with head tension? I've had a deering goodtime for about a year and have done nothing but change the strings. It doesn't sound bad to my untrained ear, but is head tension upkeep a thing? Man, when I say I've been playing for a year it makes me wonder where all that time went. I'm like half way through Ken Pearlman's book and can only remember two or three songs at a time. 
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Feb 20, 2013 05:12
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