gourd banjo

Subject: gourd banjo
From: Chris Cotton
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 07:18 PM

Are there any gourd banjo players out there?
If so, I would love to hear your thoughts on a few questions:
Why do you like the gourd banjo? How does it compare to the more modern metal banjo?
Is the technique the same on the two types of banjos? Is your gourd banjo fretted?
Lastly, could you point me to some good recordings of the gourd banjo?
Thanks!

Chris Cotton

Subject: RE: gourd banjo
From: GUEST,Arnie
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 08:36 PM

I recently played and recorded a tune on a gourd banjo for fiddler Erynn Marshall. You can hear this by going to http://www.merriweather.ca/album.aspx?album=20&style=Banjo
The banjo is fretless and I played it in a standard G tuning but tuned lower in the key of F.
Arnie Naiman

Subject: RE: gourd banjo
From: JedMarum
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 09:09 PM

Great sounding tracks Arnie!

I love the sound of these instruments, Chris - and would love to own one. Maybe one day ...

I found that playing in the first position I had no problems with intonation - but I'd have to develop some skill with instrument to move up the neck much ...

I'm thinking about getting a tiny banjo, right now - tuned to C, with the standard G tuning - so it's as if you capoed at the 5th fret, and capoed your 5th string too. I've played with one at Elderly - pretty cool sounding ...

I've been using the banjola lately - works great, but I put on heavier strings and tuned it down to E.

Subject: RE: gourd banjo
From: JedMarum
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 09:22 PM

I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed your "5 Strings Attached Vol.2" album,, Arnie. I think I know the album by heart! In fact, I had it on today while I was working in the back yard, rebuilding my fence. I hope my neighbors liked it.

Subject: RE: gourd banjo
From: Kaleea
Date: 23 Jun 05 - 03:48 AM

There's a local Banjo feller who has a little shop with a handful of secondhand instruments. He has a very old gourd mandolin. Quite interesting, but it would need a home where someone is willing to tweak it often.

Subject: RE: gourd banjo
From: GUEST,Arnie
Date: 23 Jun 05 - 08:28 AM

Jed - Thank you for your nice comments. Your neighbors might never talk to you again, but I bet the fence is nice.
There are 2 fellows up here that make gourd banjos - one is in Toronto, and one in Kingston Ontario. If you are ever up this way perhaps you should look into it. Every gourd banjo is different depending on the size of the gourd and length of the neck. The one Chris Coole has the bass notes seem to just fly out of the thing in a beautiful tone- a good gimmick for a performer too. The banjos are really fragile, so you need to be careful when hauling them around. They go for around $600-700 Canadian dollars. That banjeola looks nice!
Let me know if you ever come up this way,
Arnie

Subject: RE: gourd banjo
From: Chris Cotton
Date: 23 Jun 05 - 11:14 AM

To Arnie Naiman:
I loved those four tracks from your album with Erynn Marshall. Those are lovely old songs. Are all four of them recorded with the gourd banjo? I seem to detect a difference, but my ear is not that well educated really when it comes to banjos. I'm writing a story that will have a moment with a gourd banjo player. It's a minor detail in the story, but I want to get it right. Also, does the album include song lyrics?
Thanks!
Chris Cotton

Subject: RE: gourd banjo
From: GUEST,Arnie
Date: 23 Jun 05 - 02:21 PM

Thanks Chris. Only Calico has the gourd banjo - more of an earthy sound to it because it has nylon strings on a skin head. The CD does not include lyrics, but you'd probably be able to hear them o.k. if you wanted to learn the songs. The real cd has much better quality sound than the internet download. There are a few songs on the cd, but most are instrumentals.
Cheers,
Arnie

Subject: RE: gourd banjo
From: JedMarum
Date: 23 Jun 05 - 11:08 PM

I played a festival with a guy in VA a few years ago who was a very serious and a very fine banjo player. He played mid-19th American music, dressed in the style of the day, and played fretless, gut stringed instruments. He had two lovely hoop reproductions and one gourd banjo. All of them were great sounding instruments.

We played a few songs together when his set ended and mine started on the same stage. Fretless or no, he played cross key with me on one song and even managed the key change gracefully when it went up one step from there! Great chops - but his obvious grasp of music theory and ability to keep up on the fly really impressed me.

I said to him after we finished the set, "No woder they call you the Banjo Doctor" (that is how he was billed). And he answered that no, they called him that because he was a medical doctor and ran a family practice nearby!

I floored. This guy was as good or better then any of the pro I've worked with - so of course, I answered, "couldn't you find a better day job!"

Anyway - that was my first exoerience with a gourd banjo.

I saw a guy in Arizona who made banjos out of old metal gallon cans ... sounded like shit!

Subject: RE: gourd banjo
From: GUEST,Dale
Date: 23 Jun 05 - 11:19 PM

Mike Seeger frequently plays a gourd banjo, at least when he comes to Arkansas!

Subject: RE: gourd banjo
From: wlisk
Date: 24 Jun 05 - 12:08 AM

David Hyatt of Fayetteville, AR makes gourd banjos. He has a website with mp3's of several different artists playing a gourd banjo. He also teaches a class in gourd banjo making at the Ozark Folk School each spring. That is held at the Ozark Folk Center. David's website is www.dhyatt.com
His banjos are fretless and are 4 string and 5 string type. The 4 string has 3 low strings and a 4th high frailing string. The gourd banjo has a haunting sound and is strung with gut strings.
Bill Lisk

Subject: RE: gourd banjo
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 24 Jun 05 - 05:11 PM

Which reminds me to ask, ypically, how many strings are there on gourd banjos?

Subject: RE: gourd banjo
From: GLoux
Date: 25 Jun 05 - 01:16 PM

Here is a link to photos of Bob Flesher's Gourd Banjos. They are five string banjos.

-Greg

Subject: RE: gourd banjo
From: thespionage
Date: 25 Jun 05 - 07:32 PM

Mike Seeger would definitely be a good source for gourd banjo playing. He just played it as part of his "old music" set at the Clearwater festival. It was great.

Russ