Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Locked thread
Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

I've been hoping someone would make a banjo thread. As a British banjo player I've never met anyone else who plays the instrument, a fact which I kind of enjoy but it has its downsides.

Like someone else said, I've never been able to really get my head around clawhammer so I play bluegrass almost exclusively. One problem I have with bluegrass though, is I don't understand how anybody can work it out by ear, theres so many notes so fast that I just cannot tab it. As it is, I'm pretty reliant on tabs from the banjohangout website. Anyone got any advice for this sort of thing?

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Thanks for the advice. I do listen to a fair bit of bluegrass as it is, which is sort of the reason I took up the banjo a year or so ago, but I'd love to know what sort of stuff you're into as I'm sure I have a more limited window into the bluegrass world than a local such as yourself.

You guys have inspired me to make a concerted effort to finally get to grips with clawhammer too. I've been watching alot of the tutorials on youtube (of which there seem to be hundreds) but I still have a few questions. The rhythm itself isn't a problem, I've been playing music pretty much all my life and that part of it I find easy, my problem is rather with the hand movements.

1)I've seen some videos of people using their index fingers, and others with their middle, can anyone explain to me why one or the other would be a better choice? I can't really determine my personal preference because neither seem to really be clicking at this stage.

2)Secondly, the bum-dit is supposed to be played with the same finger, yes? I'm always really tempted to do the 'bum' with one and the 'dit' with the other but I haven't seen anyone doing this and I worry it might be a bad habit to get into.

3)And lastly, I've seen someone emphasise the importance of keeping your fingers tightly together and moving the whole hand as one but I find this utterly impossible to get anywhere with, my inclination is more towards letting each finger do its own business - is this a bad idea?


And I'm sorry for reviving an old thread for my silly questions, any advice would be appreciated.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Clever Hans posted:

New banjo player here, found an interesting website for clawhammer tunes. The dude plays it a bit fast to really pick up on it, but at least it's a mess of tabs.

http://www.bluesageband.com/Tabs.html

Thanks for this, I've been doing fairly uninspiring clawhammer excercises the past few days and I didn't really feel like I was making any progress, but I had a go at the cripple creek tab on that website and suddenly it all just clicked and fell into place.

There's something really enjoyable about the rhythmic nature of playing clawhammer thats much easier to get yourself into than bluegrass banjo. In bluegrass I've always been guilty of swinging out of time now and then depending on how excited I get, but clawhammer keeps you in steady without you really needing to try. I'm enjoying myself, thanks clawhammer advocates!

edit: oh and having just seen the new OP I've a question for you Planet X, I've been toying with the idea lately of picking up a 2nd hand violin and teaching myself fiddle because I can't stop collecting new instruments. I thought banjo was a relatively easy thing to teach oneself from a guitar background - I was wondering how you think the fiddle compares? Its always seemed like a slightly more daunting instrument to learn by yourself.

Captain Mediocre fucked around with this message at 12:44 on May 17, 2011

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Something I've been thinking about recently, where do you 3-finger players stand on the issue of anchoring your ring and little fingers? I've always played with them floating up in the air and never had any trouble because of it, but I've recently come across some discussion on banjohangout about how essential it is to anchor them down. Are you all of similar opinions?

I can see how the extra stability would be a bonus, and I have no problem keeping both fingers anchored when trying it, but one nasty result of playing anchored is that my middle finger taps against the head every time I play the 1st string, making for a really annoying tapping sound. It seems as if anchoring my fingers brings the picking ones down too close to the head because I can't stop them making contact.

Captain Mediocre fucked around with this message at 14:40 on May 26, 2011

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Darth Windu posted:

Augh, so, I've found both banjos and fiddles around here in my price range, and lessons for either. Which should I go with? I've been listening to a lot of Sam Amidon, so I am inclined toward banjo at this particular moment, but the fiddle seems more versatile and perhaps more interesting. I've also heard that banjo can be a son-of-a-bitch to learn for people who are used to playing guitar, which I am. Help!

At the end of the day you should choose whichever you like more and not what someone on the internet tells you, but I would like to say that I came to the banjo from guitar (/ukulele/piano) and if anything it made the learning process much easier.

Once you already have all the skills to strum, pick, and finger chords on a guitar you'll find a huge part of that is just straight up transferable to the banjo. Sure you use different picking patterns and different chord shapes but thats more or less all you have to learn, whereas someone who hasnt come from guitar has to learn all the basics of coordinating a string instrument from scratch.

Best answer: learn both! I'm in the process of buying myself a fiddle at the moment too to learn alongside. Learning multiple instruments at the same time is not difficult like you might expect, if anything it helps to have something to switch to once you get burned out practicing one. Although if cost is a consideration then obviously this might not very helpful.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Do any of you guys use D-Tuners for the banjo? I'd love to fit some on mine but I was shocked to see that they seem to cost hundreds of pounds each wherever I look. That doesn't really seem worth it to me, so does anyone know of any cheap or even DIY alternatives?

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

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?

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.

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.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

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 :cry:

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.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

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.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

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.

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.

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

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

1000 umbrellas posted:

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?

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.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

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.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

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).

Where would I even start?

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.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

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

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

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.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

ImDifferent posted:

So I've been learning banjo for a little over a month now, and it is officially awesome. Stupid fingers won't move anywhere near as fast as I'd like them to, but hopefully that'll come with time.

My buddy and I recorded a bit of "Banjo in the Hollow". Naturally we're playing it at about a tenth of the intended speed, our timing is awful, lovely mic, etc... etc... but I don't care. We're drinking beers, playing bluegrass and it's fun, dammit.

http://k003.kiwi6.com/hotlink/880knqip2y/bith_nr2.mp3

This is crazy good for a month in. Your banjo sounds nice too. Listening to this also prompted me to learn that song, so cheers. There's an unintentionally gushy trio of positivism for you!

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Peas and Rice posted:

Just learning banjo playing - I'm 33 and have always wanted to play. It turns out it's never too late to learn a musical instrument.

My teacher referred me to Chordie.com for chords to various songs - it's great but it seems like I need to be translating things up or down some steps to get the right key for my banjo (standard 5-string g-tuned banjo.) Chordie defaults to guitar - to get songs to sound right (I think it's just the key that's off) do I need to transpose up or down in addition to selecting 5-string banjo tuning? The couple of songs I've looked up just sound really.. out of key when I use chordie's chords without transposing, but I don't know what the default standard is.

The easiest solution here is to buy a capo, which allows you to play the same chord shapes further up the neck to play the same progressions but in a different key, as you need. To do this you will also need to raise the pitch of your 5th (little) string in one of a couple ways. Either your banjo will have nails or a slider attached already to do this for you, or you can jimmy it with a pen lid.

Alternatively, you can transpose the chords yourself into a different key and play them like that instead. I don't know how much musical theory you know, but even if its none transposing is pretty easy. For example, this website lets you copy&paste your chords into it, you tell it how many keys higher/lower you want it and it'll give you a new set of chords to play which will sound like the recorded version of whatever you're learning. One problem with this method is that you may find yourself being asked to play some weird chords which aren't suited for the banjo in standard tuning. This means retuning your banjo, which can get confusing if you aren't too familiar with music theory. For that reason I suggest you invest in a capo!

Pantomime Horse posted:

While this isn't a banjo, this still seems like the best thread for this sort of thing. I took a day and made this crazy abomination:

http://i.imgur.com/lBJnS.jpg

which is a washtub upright bass with a bass guitar neck / bridge.

More pictures here: http://imgur.com/a/Kep9m

It's a little on the quiet side but sounds remarkably like a real upright bass. Looking forward to jamming with it. I'll post audio as soon as I get it back home to my recording gear.

Also loving this, I'm pretty jealous of your abilities to get that done (in a day, no less). Looking forward to hearing how that thing sounds!

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Peas and Rice posted:

Yeah, I guess that was my question, I didn't know how many keys higher/lower to go.

So here's a song (Deadman's Gun from Red Dead Redemption. Yes, video game music) in guitar chords (looks like Key o' C):

http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/a/ashtar_command/deadmans_gun_crd.htm

Using that tool, I'm not sure how many steps up/down to transpose to get it to sound right on my five-string. Or would it be different for every song?

Unfortunately I never learned any musical theory despite 5 years of piano lessons and 8+ years of high school band.

That is indeed in the key of C. I looked up the song aswell and checked, it is also in C. I'm not too sure what you're asking, the chords you have on that page already match the key of the recording (that I heard anyway). I had a go playing along and it sounded fine, maybe your banjo is out of tune? Alternatively, it might depend on what you're trying to do. If you're strumming the banjo it never tends to sound right matched up against guitar chords. But if you're picking out bits of the right chords or following a melody in the key it ought to sound fine as it is.

If what you want to do is play it in a different key to the recording such that it will be easier to play on the banjo, then I apologise. Banjo is perhaps easiest to play in G, so if you transpose that song down 5 half-steps the chords become G D Em C (ultimate guitar actually has a built in transpose tool at the top of the page you can use to do this for the whole song). You won't be able to play this along with a recording or whathaveyou because the keys won't match, but you could realign them if you liked by playing it in G (the new way) and putting a capo on the 5th fret. This would mean you are playing 'as if' in the key of G, in terms of chord shapes, but you will actually be producing chord sounds in the key of C.

Do either of these answer your question? I am a little confused by what you're asking I confess.

---

Also, I'm hoping to start building my own banjo in the next month or two, presently based loosely on plans from this site recommended by banjo hangout. I've never built an instrument before, and I am doing so more for the joy of it than an expectation that I will produce a particularly good instrument. Has anyone in the thread ever done it, and have any pearls of wisdom they wish they had been told? I suspect I'll shell out the cash for some proper blueprints/a better guide but I'd nevertheless be interested to hear anyone else's story/advice if they've got it.

Captain Mediocre fucked around with this message at 10:31 on May 9, 2012

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

dexter6 posted:

I've played guitar on and off for about 15 years and I've started to get into bluegrass lately. My last guitar was from Rondo Music and I love it. It's a great guitar for the price.

Is the same true for their banjos? Specifically, this one: http://www.rondomusic.com/country5.html

I've never played one so this is mere conjecture, but that does appear to be a tad on the cheap side. I've personally had bad experiences with cheaply made banjos, I bought one more expensive than that and had countless issues with the thing beyond what I expect from an entry-level instrument.

Maybe someone else can give you a better idea about that instrument specifically, but I believe general thread consensus recommends a Deering Goodtime (if you can afford it).

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

dexter6 posted:

So my first banjo will be delivered Friday and I was wondering what other accessories I might have to head to the music shop to buy. The banjo comes with a gig bag, but here's what I'm thinking:

  • Chromatic Tuner (I already have a guitar tuner, but I've been meaning to get one that is more versatile anyway)
  • Strap
  • What kind of picks should I get?
  • Anything else?

Also, is there a recommended beginner's Banjo book? I'm coming from the guitar world, so the idea of chords and fretting aren't a big deal, but I'd like to have something to teach me a couple of songs and basic picking / fingering patterns.

Thank!

I don't think you need much else. And you should try the picks they have in the shop and see what you like, theres a lot of personal preference involved.

As for the book, I'm a fan of Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo. It has all the usual good introductory stuff, some personal advice from those in the know which makes a good read, and largely some really high quality tablature of Earl Scrugg's stuff (which is what you'll mostly be wanting to learn I'm sure) in a wide range of ease/difficulty. It's pretty comprehensive.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Apologies banjo thread, but I know there's a high fiddler concentration here so I've got a fiddle question.

I've been teaching myself to play for 6-7 months and I've hit that predictable slump. I have a few music books and I've burned through all the easy tunes, left only with stuff which is too facile and nursery rhyme-y to be interesting or which is beyond my capabilities. I was wondering if anyone could recommend me their favourite beginner/intermediate tunes?

Fiddle Hangout also seems to have quite a sparse selection to fill this gap, but any recommendations from their tab archive would be appreciated too. I find the fact that I don't really have any background exposure to bluegrass means I can't just look up the 'classics', whatever they may be.


also banjos banjos banjos

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Planet X posted:

I'm not a fiddle player, but if you're looking for a list of fiddle tunes in bluegrass, that's easy. With that said, I don't know what's easy / intermediate, etc.

Heck yeah, if you just know some songs you like with good fiddle parts, that would give me something new to get interested in again. Appreciated.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Bi-la kaifa posted:

It's a Canadian Thanksgiving miracle. My grandfather gave me his old Peerless banjo because he heard I picked up the guitar recently. I have no idea where to start. It's a five string, hasn't been tuned in twelve years and has a flimsy bridge. Do you guys have any tips? It came with finger picks, a key, and a capo. In other words, what the hell am I doing with an old and dusty banjo?

I'm jealous. Might be worth taking it to a shop to get it checked out? I imagine you'll need new strings and you might as well have someone look over it while you're there to see if it needs any work. A new bridge won't cost you much and it helps to have someone who knows what they're doing position it for you.

As for playing the drat thing, just take a look back through the thread there's been some good advice in the past and plenty of links to learning resources(BanjoHangout is best).

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Dr. Gene Dango MD posted:

Can anyone suggest some simple songs to practice on Banjo? I'm having trouble with Cripple Creek and just practicing on Bile dem cabbage is frustrating. I read tabs for now.

He Will Set Your Fields On Fire is one of my first ones, and I recommended it to someone else who seemed to enjoy it so have a look.

Its also worth browsing through the beginner tabs on banjo hangout, there is loads of good stuff there.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Honestly just ask in a local shop, I'm a recent fiddle beginner and couldn't find much in the way of consistent brand recommendation. To be honest, think about renting first too. Fiddles do not scale down into bargain beginner models very well at all, and can sound pretty dreadful. Renting a decent one might be an affordable alternative worth considering.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Planet X posted:

I borrowed my friend's fiddle. I'm trying to squeak out Soldier's Joy and the Meow Mix theme.
This instrument is hard! :shepicide: Not only do you have to press down, get the bow angle right, hold the thing up, and fret it....but as a guitar / banjo player, I'm totally overshooting the spacing on the neck with my fingers.

I'm not going to pursue this seriously, but I figure since my buddy wasn't playing his fiddle due to interest, I'd pick it up and see what I could do.

Tell me about it. I had to make little frets out of masking tape in order to get my guitar/banjo bred head around it. The rest doesn't take that long to get used to though, surprisingly.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Pufflekins posted:

I went to a local shop yesterday and asked if they taught banjo or fiddle. Their response was no, but their guitar teacher taught very basic mandolin. And that mandolin was essentially the same instrument as the fiddle(said that it has same tuning as mandolin, basically if you turned it sideways, same instrument) and banjo(said that most people tuned 4-string banjos the same as a mandolin). They said the mandolin was essentially the 'weed' of the banjo/fiddle/mandolin world. Personally I am sceptical, I would appreciate feedback.

If they are trying to convince you that a guitar teacher who dabbles in mandolin will be able to teach you the fiddle... that is ridiculous and obviously not true. Irish banjo is often tuned the same as a mandolin sure, but if you're interested in bluegrass thats not really so relevant because standard 5 string banjo tuning is not the same. A mandolin teacher is unlikely to be able to teach you 5-string/bluegrass banjo very well at all.

If they are trying to convince you to learn the mandolin rather than the fiddle or the banjo, or even as a precursor to it or something then just look somewhere else. If you want to learn the mandolin, play the mandolin. If you want to learn the fiddle or the banjo then find a teacher who can actually teach them. Not really sure what their angle is here.

edit: the thing about mandolin/fiddle/tenor banjo all being similar is slightly misleading. They are all tuned to the same, and if you were a master of the fiddle you'd probably find it much easier to pick up the other two. This doesn't really hold so much in the other direction though, especially not for a complete beginner.

Captain Mediocre fucked around with this message at 16:20 on Nov 21, 2012

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Pufflekins posted:

I know I've posted both about banjo and fiddle in here, however, I can't decide which I want to play. I have enough money for both, and love the sound of both instruments. However, I can't decide which instrument I want to play. Any help would be appreciated. I have a pretty decent understanding of a 5-string bass. I understand that with my experience with bass guitar, I might be able to play the banjo. I appreciate the sound of the banjo and fiddle equally. I know the fiddle will take a lot more training to be able to master. But I enjoy the tin-ny sound of the banjo. I'm in a weird position with bluegrass music, however, I love it all.

Fiddle is a heck of a lot harder, and probably more expensive as you are more likely to need/want proper lessons. I find the banjo much more of a sedate, sit down relaxation instrument that I can pick up and play whenever. With the fiddle I have to decide a time for it to come out of its case, I stand bolt upright and concentrate very hard and just practice until my arms hurt. I love them both but learning each of them involves a very different experience. Maybe learn the banjo first because you're less likely to quit out of frustration? Real answer of course is to just to decide which one you want the most and go for it, nothing else really matters compared to that.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

snorch posted:

From a while back, but never answered. I would be interested in answers to this as well, as I find myself in the same spot.

I keep recommending it in this thread, and if you skip back you might find more stuff, but He Will Set Your Fields On Fire is good for a beginner-to-intermediate shift.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

I've tried bowing my banjo before and it's really difficult to do much with. As Loaf says, the flat surface means you can really only play the highest and lowest strings for melody. You can kind of get chords out of it by bowing them all flat across, the guy in the video you posted does a pretty good job of that, but it sounded mostly like a mess when I gave it a go.

Interesting as a gimmick but probably not a very fruitful playstyle beyond that.

edit: although here's another guy having a pretty good go at it. Very droning on account of every string being in constant use but I guess that's kind of the point.

Captain Mediocre fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Dec 29, 2012

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Pufflekins posted:

Banjo is definitely a lot harder than it looks. I can't seem to get used to the finger picks at all.

Make sure you have them on the right way around because I've....err....heard, that some people start by wearing them as little metal fingernails for an embarassingly long period of time before they realise that makes no sense whatsoever. :sweatdrop:

edit: and even try them on in the shop like that in front of an employee who doesn't say anything. Oh god.

Captain Mediocre fucked around with this message at 01:07 on Jan 11, 2013

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Pufflekins posted:

I made sure not to gently caress with the bridge by switching one string at a time. The head tension is fine as well. I'm assuming the fifth string nut is the little circle near the tuner? If it is I didn't miss it.

How close to the fretboard are we talking? My 5th string is always closer than the others and I've never found it to be a problem. Is it causing any fret buzz or making it difficult to play in any way?

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Also just check with a tuner/by ear that the intonation is still alright on every fret. If so then it's probably nothing to worry about.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

The Aphasian posted:

I just bought a cheapie beginner banjo after wanting one for almost 5 years. If I stick with it for two years I'll reward myself with a better model.

I have never played a string instrument before, and have spent the last three days just practicing cord changes while strumming (no fancy picking yet). As I don't have calluses yet, the very tips of my left hand fingers are literally numbed, like they are asleep, even though I don't see blisters. Can I keep practicing like an addict, or should I give my fingers a day off?

This is par for course I'm afraid, unless things start to look medically concerning or it really starts to hurt you should just push on. Soon you'll start to treasure your lovely calluses and eventually you'll be wielding fingertips of steel.

Dr. Gene Dango MD posted:

I restrung my banjo the other week and the metal piece at the bottom that adds tension to the strings is a little higher up than before. When I tune everything is fine but I'm worried that this might be changing the sound a little. Here's a picture to explain what I mean http://imgur.com/oHxdBht.

I feel like I'm making good progress on strumming but my chord changes are rough right now. Is there advice for what chords to practice in what order with what rolls to best teach your fingers, or is it just a do and learn sort of thing?

There should be screw(s) on the sides of the metal plate that allow you to tighten it up if you think it needs it. As far as I'm aware its not a major concern though.

I don't know that there's a specific set of chords in order to look for, just practice chords to songs you enjoy and you'll end up training the changes you're most likely to be using anyway. For what its worth, chords in the keys of G, C, D and A are probably going to get you the most milage but again its not something you really need to stick rigidly to. Play songs you actually enjoy and the rest will sort itself out.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

citarl posted:

How often do banjo strings need to be changed? The Deering manual says they should be changed every six weeks if played regularly, but that seems like a lot. I got a Goodtime for Christmas, if i change the strings now would it make a difference?

Depends on how fussed you are about sound quality too. You could leave the same strings on for a year+ if you didn't mind the fact that sound quality will continue to degrade the longer they are on. Basically, either change them when they have a tuning problem (as Brinx said) or when you are no longer happy with the sound.

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

I've nothing to offer in the way of advice but that thing is reeeaal purty and I'm glad you aren't selling it. Hope you do manage to fix it up because you'll have something quite special there.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Captain Mediocre
Oct 14, 2005

Saving lives and money!

Miltank posted:

thanks a lot I'll give that a try.

Unrelated note: Does anyone know where to find a tab for The Blizzard's Never Seen the Desert Sand by The Tallest man on Earth? I have been obsessed with this song for like a year now and have yet to find any sort of tab.

Ahh I worked this song out years ago and wrote out what I could in the 16 bars that free TablEdit lets you have. It's in a weird tuning and its not a perfect tab by any means, but if you'd like to take a look at it go ahead.

There's a couple bars I know aren't right (5&6 for one thing) and I'm sure plenty of other mistakes. It's missing a few of the grace notes which get slipped in around the place. Hope it helps though.

Tuning is GDF#AD, with a capo on 2nd, except the 5th string which has a capo on 4th.

Captain Mediocre fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Dec 11, 2013

  • Locked thread