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Hey a thread I can post in  . I'm a banjo player going on 3 years now, pretty much mainly clawhammer. So I can hopefully help some people with that. I have been playing a lot of Irish music, which is kinda weird since it was made with a picked tenor in mind, but it still sounds great on the 5 string frail.I play a Nechville Moonshine and a Deering Goodtime openback if I'm going somewhere that I don't want to risk my instrument. I've got a good deal of sheet music and tab, mostly frailing from my old teacher. I was pretty lucky to live next to Clarke Buehling and got some great lessons from him. edit: I should add I'm in NW Arkansas if anyone close wants to jam. Jarmotion fucked around with this message at 04:39 on Apr 1, 2011 |
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Apr 1, 2011 04:35
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For a first banjo I would recommend a Deering Goodtime or a Goldtone. You will probably spend about 300-400 on one, but it is completely worth it. I have a 2600 dollar banjo, but I still use my Deering Openback all the time, it is so light and just keeps sounding better every day. You can find them used on the banjohangout site all the time. The Deering is made in America and will sound great right out of the box. The Goldtones are made in Korea or China I believe, and will take some setup before you get it sounding how it should. Also of note are Helix banjos, made by a user on the Banjohangout.org website. I haven't played one, but they are supposedly amazing for the price.
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Apr 22, 2011 00:54
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Captain Mediocre posted: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. 1. Really the choice of finger is up to you. I play with my index finger, and actually my fingernails on my index and middle finger are just a little longer than the rest. This way if my index one chips or breaks I can use my middle. Once you get the motion down, it really isn't hard at all to switch the fingers, since it is your whole hand moving. So just pick one that is comfortable. 2. The bumditty is the same finger yes. This is something that you will really want to work on. When you get to some of the more advanced techniques I think you may have some trouble if you switch fingers, in particular I'm thinking about brushing where you extend your other fingers and rake the strings. I mean, there is actually a famous guy (name escapes me) that does a bumditty by plucking up with the finger then strumming down. And he gets a good sound out, but it is just weird and I wouldn't recommend straying from the tried and true for this technique. Especially because it is the bread and butter of this style. This actually carries with the other question. 3. Really work on keeping your hand together, you are moving your entire hand to play, not just one finger. Lock all the fingers together, with the striking finger extended a bit to play with. Your thumb shouldn't be locked, as it will be doing its thing on the drone string or drop thumbing. Sounds like you have the right ideas, just need to make it habit. Walked: I think you should be able to move over pretty easily. Just basically learning different chord shapes. I play fingerstyle without picks, I'm a pretty forgetful person, so I made sure not to rely on having any. However they let you project so much more, and I also have a clawhammer pick that I love. edit: Missed this part. Captain Mediocre posted: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. Really my love is for Celtic music, which is weird that I play 5 String Clawhammer, instead of the Tenor. But I mean the classic for banjo is Earl Scruggs, Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley. Bela Fleck is amazing of course. I love playing along with the Dubliners for Celtic. And also Steve Martin's two albums are really good. Right now I'm learning Yoshi's Island theme. It has a banjo sound, but I think it was played on a keyboard because some of the chord shapes are stupid. Jarmotion fucked around with this message at 00:38 on May 14, 2011 |
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May 14, 2011 00:10
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If you get a Deering special, I promise you won't regret it. The special has the tone ring so it will have enough sound to last your entire playing career, and will be one of the lighter banjos you own so practice won't suck. I have a Nechville Moonshine which I love, paid a ton for it. But my old Deering open back probably gets more love, since I'll take it camping and down to the river. If that Fender is anything like the FB I tried, it will be heavy and just horrible to play. I really didn't enjoy it. Really I wouldn't get any of those that you listed. The Recording King is a great choice, as is a Gold Tone. I play open back so I can't comment on the sound of the resonator of either, but I know they are solid choices and banjohangout.org will recommend them as well. If you are doing fingerstyle, I would go with a Deering Goodtime 2 to start. Clawhammer, the open back model. If you have a bit more money, the special version of either is great and worth it. I wish I had bought one, but I can't bring myself to trade in my first banjo with guitar hero stickers. And TapTheForwardAssist, I'll have a banjo post for that thread in a bit. I need a proofreader :S.
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Jun 24, 2011 04:24
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