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A great way to learn to play banjo etc.
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A great way to learn to play banjo etc. |
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Subject: A great way to learn to play stringed instru. From: Steve Latimer Date: 02 Oct 01 - 11:05 AM I have posted this link to a current thread asking how to learn to play banjo, but thought I would start a new one as it offers instruction for Banjo, Guitar, Fiddle, Bass etc. Many years ago when I first wanted to learn to play the Five String my Uncle (a fine player) put me in touch with Murphy Henry who had developed a series of instrucional audio tapes. She has a method that teaches people to learn by ear, no Tab etc. She starts with some basic instruction, and then goes right into teaching you to play very simple tunes. Every lesson is a new tune presented slowly and simply. She builds on what you have already learned and before you know it, you're playing music. I was visiting Rick Fielding last week and was plunking around on his five string. He asked me how I learned. I mentioned Murphy. His eyes lit up, he has talked to Murphy on the phone, thinks she has a great way of teaching and proceeded to loan me one of her videos which have replaced the audio cassettes. The video is even better, you can see her fingering etc. Check out www.murphymethod.com (sorry, can't blueclickything) I would recommend this to anyone wanting to learn to play a stringed instrument.
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: catspaw49 Date: 02 Oct 01 - 11:49 AM A "Blue Clicky" to Murphy.... Click here for the Murphy Site Spaw |
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: catspaw49 Date: 02 Oct 01 - 11:56 AM Try again??? Spaw |
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: catspaw49 Date: 02 Oct 01 - 12:00 PM Well, at least the addy is right that time, don't know where I picked up the "loki.mudcat" addition before...........On the other hand, the site doesn't seem to be working at the moment.....Maybe later....Sorry Steve. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: Steve Latimer Date: 02 Oct 01 - 12:05 PM 'Spaw, The Blicky worked like a charm for me. Thanks, Steve |
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: catspaw49 Date: 02 Oct 01 - 12:30 PM Workin' for me now too Steve....Neat site and really interesting material!! Thanks to YOU!! Spaw |
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: Steve Latimer Date: 02 Oct 01 - 08:58 PM 'Spaw, You're welcome. I'm off to practice. P.S. I learned to Blueclickything today.
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: GUEST,Arjay Date: 08 Oct 01 - 08:05 PM this sounds like a good permathread--too good to be buried now, do you have a simple method for learning the flute? |
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: BluesMojo Date: 09 Oct 01 - 12:35 PM I'm taking banjo lessons. I'm doing good with Scruggs-style, seems like everyone can manage that pretty easy, but nobody within 100 miles of me seems to be able to do the frailing stuff, which I love equally. Where the #@$#$@ do I learn this? Every instructional site gives an explanation of it that I just can't follow, the Pete Seeger book isn't even much help to me.. |
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: Steve Latimer Date: 09 Oct 01 - 12:56 PM BluesMojo, There are a couple of Clawhammer videos avaialable at her site. I've only ever tried Scruggs Style, but I think that Clawhammer and frailing are one and the same, are they not? |
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: Steve in Idaho Date: 09 Oct 01 - 01:23 PM Blues - I tried too many times to count to learn to frail. Even had a good friend who was good at it show me - still couldn't get the hang of it - gave up and went back to my guitar! Good Luck!! Steve |
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: Little Neophyte Date: 09 Oct 01 - 07:27 PM It is kind of difficult to learn frailing without lessons from an instructor. I was blessed to have been taught by Rick Fielding. There are some good videos out there but I still think it is difficult to pick up clawhammer from a video. Seems it is best to have learned frailing from someone first before attempting the videos. Then the videos can help you fine tune your form. Bonnie |
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: Little Neophyte Date: 10 Oct 01 - 06:53 AM BluesMojo, here is a wonderful discussion on clawhammer we had going a while ago. I especially learned a great deal from BSeed's postings. Frail here Good luck, Bonnie |
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: Charcloth Date: 10 Oct 01 - 08:25 AM Murphy Henry used to have a frailng video. Homespun Tapes has several. Wayne Erbsen used to have some material. His web site is www.nativeground.com (he says he can teach a frog how to frail.) Ken Pearlman's material IS NOT FOR THE BEGINNER. I know Pearlman's title is "Basic" But it is NOT I repeate NOT beginner stuff. It is great material for someone who has a good grasp on drop thumb frailing. Simple frailing is a lot like Carter Family guitar. If You Count ONE, TWO AND, THREE FOUR AND, you have the basics for the rhythm. It is all done in downward motion (like a down stroke on a guitar.)It kinda breaks down as follows: One)pluck the base note with either your first finger or middle finger -it is your prefence. Two) continue downward movement as a strum of the remaineder of the strings. AND) catch the 5th string with your thumb utilizing the same downward movement of the the # 2 stroke. [this means you have to hold your hand kind of like you were loosely holding a pop can sideways- with your thumb resting onthe upper portion of the can-that would be in relation to the banjo- your fith string. for the rest of the count 3, 4, &, you repeate the steps above. Just for clarification the AND's) for timing would correlate to your up strokes on the Guitar. I hope this helps. Good luck, Jeff |
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: Tom French Date: 13 Oct 01 - 01:29 AM Clawhammer Style It has four pulses in each full stroke set. The sound is four equal length sounds (4 even 16th notes) (bum-pa-tit-ty. Or if hammer/pulloff is not done with left hand, the rhythm is long short-short (8th note plus 2 16ths) (bum__tit-ty) Below are each of the 4 parts of a single stroke set. 1) Back of middle finger nail stokes downward on a single sting 2) Left hand finger hammers down or pulls off for 2nd sound (or if tune doesn't demand a sound here, let 1) above ring thru this pulse. 3) Back finger nails of ring and small finger lightly brush all 4 (or the most convenient of the 4 ) full strings. 4) Thumb follows downward striking the short 5th string with the flesh of thumb
Suggest starting with 1)__3)4) and adding the hammers or pull offs after the fingers develop a smooth accurate stroke. The explanation is easy, which is why Pete covers it in a paragraph. Pete uses his index finger on 1) plucking a single string upward. The remaining three pulses of his style are identical to clawhammer style. I'd like to be able to do it too, but I had a lousy banjo with too much play in the strings. A good stiff string action is better. Learning to do it well is mostly a matter of getting control of the middle finger back nail downward stroke. Try playing notes or simple melodies with the middle back nail. When it seems to feel logical to your hand add a 3)brush-4)thumb after a note. Finally hammer or pull-off another note at 2). When any of this bungles your rhythm go back to the middle nail. Initially this can drive you crazy, but once you get it, you'll wonder why you couldn't do it immediately. Go back to Pete's book and read his explanation again. Honest, he told you all you needed to know. Good luck!
Basic Scruggs Stroke
The above stokes can be used in any order and can be skipped at any time. Indeed, in order to clearly play just the basic melody or get the effect of clear single string work or chords, the bluegrass stroke is abandoned. However the basic bluegrass sound is a continuous string of fast 8th notes (8 of them in every 4 beat measure). You have three types of plucks: three of them played consecutively is a roll, two of them is a partial roll. In a 4 beat measure you can play two full rolls and one partial roll. Alternately you could play four partial rolls. However you could endlessly play full rolls and rarely coincide with a 4 beat bar length. Ie: your rolls roll over the beats. Partial rolls will coincide with the beat. Remember the sound is always 8 continuous 8th notes per bar, or 16 sounds per 2 bars or 32 sounds per 4 bars. So you start playing endless steady single 8th notes grouped as rolls and partial rolls. At first don't tap your foot because it will hinder your stroke pattern. Using 1,2,3 to stand for the three types of plucks, try the following:
Try your groups of 8 starting with thumb, then middle. Try different combinations of two fingers on the half roll. Make up all sorts of strokes and as you do it try to invent other new patterns without stopping, or simply let you fingers do what they prefer. The patterns are only for practice. When you can endlessly play out strings of 8th notes almost unconciously you can now add the beat in your foot.
In a measure your foot taps four times, once to each beat. There are two 8th notes to each beat. Try the easiest: play four partial rolls, four groups of two plucks. This coincides with your foot beat very nicely. Two even 8ths are sounded to each foot tap. This is cool but it's not bluegrass because it is steady, more like a simple march beat. There is no syncopation: which is places where the foot beat do not coordinate with the beginning of a roll. Let's go back to the first roll pattern we practiced:
12312313 = 123,123,13. Next we are going to indicate which notes coincide with the foot tap by bracketing the coinciding note. We'll also spread it out so it reads more easily:
[1] 2 [3],1 [2] 3, [1] 3,
Notice you 2nd foot tap came before the first roll was completed and your second roll group starts before the 3rd foot tap. However, to your satisfaction the half roll final group coordinated with the 4th foot tap. You have been introduced to bluegrass syncopation and if you kept your eight 8th notes all steady, it had a jazzy rolled over rhythm where taps came without a tune emphasis and also where tune emphasises (roll group starts) occured when there was no tap (the off-beat) Here you will be happiest to just try this same pattern until your foot can tap smoothly and your fingers play evenly in rolls. Let the mistakes happen, but always put plenty of full rolls in your playing. Partial rolls just kick you down to simple unsyncopated steady music.
The partial roll can happen at the beginning 13,123,123, in the middle 123,13,123, twice 13,123,13,1|3,13,123,13|, never 123,123,12|3,123,123,1|23,123,123|, as little as you wish or as much as you wish. That you don't coordinate with each and every bar is not only not a problem, it is professional.
That is all there is to the basic stroke. Listen to some bluegrass and you'll notice that you distinctly hear tunes while all those endless 8th notes pour out. Indeed you may notice that full rolls and partial rolls are chosen to help sound those notes exactly or nearly where they belong in a tune. In other instances the player just simply plays the note louder (accents the note) which brings it out. However don't try melodies yet. Keep doing you old exercises and a listen for odd short tunes that you are creating while you are practicing. Change you left hand fingers and develop your odd tune. You'll be a bluegrass composer within the next half hour.
Do you want to play a tune? Choose an easy tune first. Play it noticing what left fingers have to fret and which right hand strings have to be plucked. If your tune is stead quarter notes (1 beat or foot tap per tune note), throw in a 5th string thumb on the off beat. (Remember you can play two 8ths to each beat) If the tune waits for a 2 beat (half note) note, you can throw in a full roll or three 8ths before you can continue. You are playing bluegrass again, but do it by starting with playing the tune and then start adding more notes to complete your full set of 8th notes. When you get moving, you will want to jog the tune around a bit so it accomodates your rolls. Sometimes you let the tune note hang beyond the time it should have sounded and then you'll catch it up by shortening some notes. Sometimes you'll drop an entire piece of the tune to show your bluegrass stuff and then suggest where the tune is toward its ending. Again, Pete Seeger's book has a good introduction to bluegrass. Turn to the bluegrass section, you don't need to read the entire book first. There may be other books that do the same thing, but you would do well to tell yourself that bluegrass is one basic simplicity (8 notes grouped in 3's or 2's) which easily suggests tremendously complex musical sounds. Practice mastering the simplicity, your mistakes will produce the rest. |
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: GUEST,JukeJointDaddy@AOL.com Date: 13 Oct 01 - 02:31 PM Anyone out there have info on open D tuning, blues banjo instruction? I've been learning on my own but I think I've hit a wall. |
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: kendall Date: 13 Oct 01 - 07:27 PM Pete Seeger told me it took him a full 3 months of work to get that basic frail down pat. It took me about 3 years. |
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: Tom French Date: 14 Oct 01 - 04:47 PM Open D tuning
Open D tuning is 5th = F# or A, 4th = D (same as G tuning), 3rd = F#, 2nd = A, 1st = D (same as G tuning)
Don't know of too many instances where this tuning is used. I believe Ralph Stanley uses it some. Any tuning is useful for various purposes, but many of the odd tunings present new fingering problems while they solve others. The central question on a tuning is does it facilitate picking out the melody, while keeping the desired chord tones. D tuning doesn't contribute a lot in this category.
Sugestion: try mountain modal tuning, but using G tuning and tuning the 2nd string up a half tone to C. You then have no chord on the open strings, but it rings this haunting hollow sound that just begs tinkering with unusual tunes on the strings; very Southern Appachian. In my opinion, one of most fun tunings created.
Blues Banjo:
No suggestions, but Pete Seeger illustrates some bluesy sounds he developed for using the banjo on certail blues songs. I don't know if other players have perfected the banjo as a blues instrument, but it's a possibility. Basically try playing some blues riffs similar to guitar blues riffs. On the banjo, blues sound will be heavily single string playing along with slamming a few accenting chords. I would tend to use it only as a lead tune instrument for blues as basic chords don't really promote it as an accompanying chording instrument. Get a guitarist to back you for the harmony. I'd be interested in hearing what are doing with blues on a banjo. |
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Subject: RE: A great way to learn to play banjo etc. From: SINSULL Date: 15 Oct 01 - 03:32 PM refresh |
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