stu-b - Posted - 05/18/2009:  08:23:21

I'm a beginner and and I can play various tunes and change chords. I see players moving up and down the neck and movefingers from string to string. Can someone explian or direct me somwhere on how to vary each verse because when I do a break at my local jam I sound very much the same each time.
An example: Red River Valley has a long G part where can I go on the fretboard to mix that G section up. I hope I make sense, if not, ignore the thread and I'll contemplate my problem over a bottle of moonshine!

Stu ( )------¬

Hankulator - Posted - 05/18/2009:  09:48:44

don't worry about variations too much right now stu. just keep playing and learning new songs and licks and pretty soon you'll be able to add different things into your playing. thats also whats good about CH playing a song in a nice clean even simple manner is just fine. just keep practicing and the fancy stuff will come.

ZEPP - Posted - 05/18/2009:  10:11:38

I humbly suggest looking at http://zeppmusic.com/Clearhead/person.htm to see if this will help you at all. It was specifically intended to help folks vary the way they play a tune without having to think about it.

Cheers,
ZEPP

WGE - Posted - 05/18/2009:  10:24:55

Thanks Zepp, anything I can end up doing with less thought is a definite plus. Is that what you mean by "Clearhead?" Most of my variations are the result of natural selection following random musical mutation. When I generate new variations due to random movements of the fingers of my left hand, some are found to be new, beneficial variants and are incorporated into the gene pool of a particular tune. Harmful variants are quickly selected against, hopefully, never to reemerge in the jam session.

Ron Ortegel - Posted - 05/18/2009:  10:27:49

In this case, clearhead means he used a transparent head to allow hand movements to be visible from beneath it..

WGE - Posted - 05/18/2009:  10:44:39

Yes, Ron, I know. I think you missed the joke.

ZEPP - Posted - 05/18/2009:  11:02:32

quote:

---

Originally posted by WGE

Thanks Zepp, anything I can end up doing with less thought is a definite plus. Is that what you mean by "Clearhead?"

---

Not originally. As Ron suggested, I initially called it that because I was using a clear-headed banjo to video the right hand from below.

But, as I added some other teaching elements--including left hand stuff--I thought the second meaning that you inferred was sorta appropriate, too, so I started using the term to describe my overall pedagogical approach to the banjo.

Your "survival of the fittest" approach to playing is spot on, IMHO. In fact, what I usually tell folks is to experiment and try everything. If they like something, do it again; if they don't like it, don't do it! Pretty simple!

Cheers,
ZEPP

stu-b - Posted - 05/18/2009:  11:18:12

Thanks Zepp great site!, looks usefull ,will get onto practising some of those techniques.

Thanks
Stu ( )-----¬

Ron Ortegel - Posted - 05/18/2009:  13:17:59

Yes, Ron, I know. I think you missed the joke
WGE,
Actually I did get the joke,but I thought it might interfere with giving a "clear" and understandable answer to the question.
Zepp's videos that explain how to expand a tune are great.

WGE - Posted - 05/18/2009:  15:07:01

And I get your pun as well.

oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 05/18/2009:  16:27:44

You might think about using a pattern while accompaning singing but then going SIMPLER for a break. Just play the melody, without any embellishments. IT is stark and quite unexpected fo the audience. Then try doing little grace note slides to any fretted string, or pull offs to any open string. Then start mixing up the slides and pull offs.

There are more notes on accompaniment in "Brain Surgery Banjo" which is available as a free download on the Rocket Science Banjo site. See the website below.

If you are interested in what I say on the hangout you should download a free copy of Rocket Science Banjo - the Advanced Method For Beginning to Intermediate Clawhammer Players, at:
http://www.rocketsciencebanjo.com

Along with the full text in PDF you will also find the four current RSB videos and the "25 EZ Clawhammer tunes. - which number around 40 now.

Banjo Brad is still hosting "How To Mold A Mighty Pinky" and some other material at:
http://www.pricklypearmusic.net
A site chock full of interesting banjo material

BRUNO25 - Posted - 05/18/2009:  17:09:02

Don't know how much you know about music theory. I can't say I know a lot myself. But I've been working on the same thing in my playing. When you know the basic melody, look at what the notes are that are being played. You can find those notes on other strings and it gives the opportunity to slide up the them. Also you can drop thumb as apposed to and ASPO or HO. Plus you can hit the same chord or even a key note from the chord further up the neck. I'm no expery, yet, but some of these realizations have really helped my playing of late.

John

It''s noon somewhere!

johnpatrick307 - Posted - 05/18/2009:  17:29:35

Something else to try is taking the tag off the B part of a different song, and sticking it on the end of the song you're playing. Learn lots of songs in the same key, and you can mix and match little bits.

ELWOOD - Posted - 05/18/2009:  18:49:48

You know there is an old playing technique called voice leading on the clawed banjo that is soooo effective .I hope i can describe this in words, Sort of a triplet that leads the melody chromaticlly up agalnst the 4 4 of the guitar. Its just enough out of time to draw the listeners attention back into a repetative phrase of an old time tune. Oh boy that's not clear is it. Help me guys if you can discribe voice leading. maybe I could upload something if this is important enough............Elwood

Steve

panthersquall - Posted - 05/18/2009:  20:53:38

Upload please! I'm very interested in hearing what you are trying to describe, Elwood Steve.

"Afflicted with an unnatural desire to see periods at the end of sentences."

stu-b - Posted - 05/19/2009:  00:57:21

If you could post something up that would be great, sounds interesting.
Big thanks to you all for your advice and tips this site has a wealth of knowledge amongst it's members, so valuable to everyones learning.

Thanks
Stu
( )-----¬

tunemakers - Posted - 05/19/2009:  06:24:46

Look for the different chord shapes up the neck. If you can move to a higher " G" chord ( 5th fret F form comes to mind) you can usually find enough melody or harmony notes up there to do something for a measure or two.....

 "The man that hath not music in himself and is not moved with concord of sweet sounds is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils; Let no man trust him."
               Shakespeare

minstrelmike - Posted - 05/19/2009:  06:55:40

To learn to go up the neck, start playing chords up the neck. You can start when you do your backup practice by playing chords up the neck. They may seem a little more difficult but you have to learn them some time and there are only 3 different ones so it's not like you have to learn to put your fingers _everywhere_.

Another technique is to locate the actual melody and see if you can follow that closer with your picking. Since the melody changes with each tune (except for some singing ones ;-), then the closer you can play the melody, the more automatically different your break sounds. It also gives you something to campare each of your breaks to instead of trying to compare them to each other.

Try plucking out the melody to some songs you already know. Most of the notes will be on notes of the chord you are supposed to be playing. The other notes will come from the other chords you play in the song.

If that's too hard, you can learn to read music (really easy to do http://moxcey.net/mike/minstrel/rea...c/index.html ) and use fakebooks to learn melody (my recommendation for several reasons) or you can get Wernick's Bluegrass Songbook and find the melody tabbed out for you.

Mike Moxcey Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
http://moxcey.net/mike/minstrel/index.html

johnpatrick307 - Posted - 05/19/2009:  13:21:48

Maybe Elwood is referring to the types of triplets that occur a lot in Irish reels? 0-2-4 hammer ons?