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riverstein - Posted - 07/13/2009: 13:53:45
Anybody got any heartening stories about taking up this weird instrument late in life - over 50, let's say - and actually Getting Somewhere with it? Not in terms of 'success' or popularity or any of those improbables, but just in terms of getting the fingers to play, fluently, the things the mind is hearing??
best,
Steve
chip arnold - Posted - 07/13/2009: 14:00:41
Pretend you're 16 again. A friend of mine began fiddle at age 51. He's seventy something now and last year won a good sized bluegrass fiddle contest. And please don't say 50 is "late in life" ;-)
**********************
Take what is given
Give what is taken
Chip Arnold
Penchaser - Posted - 07/13/2009: 14:30:10
Steve,
I started playing when I was 59 and now three years later I can say that it is entirely possible to learn how to become a pretty good banjo player at any age. Do you have a teacher. Certainly helped me with getting the basics fairly quickly so that I could actually get some tunes going, which is a highly motivating experience.
Having played other instruments, the banjo is not a particularly hard instrument to learn after figuring out the basic clawhammer technique. I play about an hour a day for no other reason than it is a lot of fun.
Make sure you give your self some time. Also worthwhile, if you have some recording equipment to record yourself at various times and then listen to yourself 6 months later. You should be pleased with your progress.
Anyway, welcome to this group and keep reading, and ask lots of questions, I do!
Bob
_____________________________________________________________________________
"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Benjamin Franklin
oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 07/13/2009: 14:54:22
I strongly recommend finding a teacher. You can learn a lot fro someone used to hlping beginners, even if he plats bluegrass or some style you aren't interested in learning. One lesson can get your positions sorted out and comfortable. If you can find an old time teacher you are going to be fine. I know a lot of people who took up instruments after 50 and they mostly have fun now. Some haven't stuck with it, but that is true of 15 year olds too.
On a teacher
Are you anywhere near Munich?
Even if not I could forward your message to a friend there who might know someone in your area.
My book (url below) is free and has all the basic strokes of clawhammer, a lot of tunes and exercises. It is free. Just download and begin.
The main thing however is to take it slow and easy. Yes it helps to think like you are young, but don't play through sharp pains and serious cramps, which are signs of something wrong.
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. Along with the full text in PDF you will also find the four current RSB videos and the "25 EZ Clawhammer tunes at:
http://www.rocketsciencebanjo.com
Looking for a tab? Ask The Woodchuck - If I''ve got it or will do it - you can get it for a buck.
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
BigDaddio88 - Posted - 07/13/2009: 15:18:13
Was a lefty player. Decided to relearn as a righty at age 49. I play better now than I ever did. Keep the faith. Small steps. Play everyday. Ray
Kazoo - Posted - 07/13/2009: 15:18:23
I think whenever you start, once you get into it you feel like you started too late. I felt that way at 25.
I play with plenty of folks who picked up a mandolin, guitar, banjo, for the first time at 50+. They're in bands, playing festivals, having a good time. They're not playing on David Letterman, but I wouldn't rule it out for you.
michael
-------------------
But I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.
switzforge - Posted - 07/13/2009: 15:32:44
I started at 48, not quite 50. I wish I had started many years ago, not because it is so hard as an adult, but because it is so much fun. Three years later I am still have a great time with the banjo I can play a couple of dozen songs well enough to please my ears and about a half dozen well enough to jam with. I have learned to keep up in a jam with just simple right hand techniques and playing chords with the left hand (not the ideal, but a good starting point). If the kids are out of the house there are fewer interuptions and you can probably justify the mobey for good banjo at this point in life.
Go for it, even if your 100 and want to play the banjo, why not?
Will play Banjo for food, will stop playing banjo for money.
John Switzer
Beulah, Colorado
www.blackbearforge.com
poorboyslim - Posted - 07/13/2009: 15:46:16
Abraham and Sarah were just getting started at like a hundred years old. I'll echo what others have said: You probably always feel like you're getting started too late. Take it slow: every player--novice or pro--always has another doorway to go through, always feels like they need to improve. Check out some good video lessons for inspiration too, like Patrick Costello's stuff on YouTube. He's awesome and inspiring. Find a copy of Glenn Kurtz's PRACTICING: a musician's return to music. Great book about playing an instrument, playing music, and the process of just keeping on.
Poorboy
rendesvous1840 - Posted - 07/13/2009: 16:16:13
If you wait 4 or 5 more years to start, how much pleasure will you have missed? The real truth is most of us play because we love to. We don't expect to please a crowd of CD buyers, or a concert hall full of fans. If I can entertain myself, I have a good time. My wife & I spent last weekend with her Aunt & Uncle, whom we hadn't seen for several years. She insisted I bring a guitar as her Aunt loved to sing. We sang every old time' bluegrass song we could remember enough words to start. Next time we'll bring a songbook or two, so we don't have to trust our memories as much. I'm about your age, 59 later this year. The elders, in this case, are somewhat older than us. But we all had a great time, and they want a repeat "performance." I'm not sure I want it to get any better than that. Don't let your lack of an earlier starting age stop you, somebody in your aquaintance is waiting for you to pick a few with them. Ya don't wanna disapoint 'em, do ya?
Paul
"A master banjo player isn''t the one who can play the most notes. It''s the one who can touch the most hearts." Patrick Costello
http://www.banjohangout.org/forum/t...IC_ID=128303 IBARD topic
http://ibard-rendesvous1840.blogspot.com/
youdye - Posted - 07/13/2009: 17:00:36
My mother is 69 and just started in December! She is doing FANTASTIC!!! I have a picture of her on my homepage. She is just as addicted as the rest of us!!!!
Mike Montgomery
4+1=Hootnanny!
O==''={::}
docham - Posted - 07/13/2009: 17:12:16
I'll be 68 in Sept., got my first open-back banjo (Fairbanks) about a month ago. I'm learning slowly but steadily, but better still, I'm having great fun with it. There are several good YouTube clips on getting started and that helped me a lot. I also got Brad Leftwich's excellent book (and CD) on the Round Peak style. The tab in there shows where the drop-thumbs are. My teacher told me to not worry about drop-thumb for a while until I got some basics down smooth, and most important, don't try for speed at first. I attempted some clawhammer licks years ago when I was playing Scruggs-style and just couldn't make it happen. But this time I stuck with it and the old fingers are starting to catch on. You'll get there, but better still, you'll have fun on the trip.
fred davis - Posted - 07/13/2009: 17:25:24
I started at 64 and my wife started at 72 and she plays a whole lot better than me
Coonskin - Posted - 07/13/2009: 17:40:44
My friend Rich started at 61 and played until he died at 77...he had had no previous experience on an instrument, but wanted to play the banjer his whole life, so he did. His frailing was slow and deliberate, and nobody I've ever heard could groove on a song like him; I called him the "Elvin Jones of banjer". I still have a hard time grooving on anything slower that 120 bpm unless I'm fingerpicking, so Rich is still a role model for me.
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/BANJOKEL
Relax, folks, it''s only banjo...it ain''t rocket surgery! ;:^)>
BRUNO25 - Posted - 07/13/2009: 18:33:52
They say we learn faster when we're young. I disagree. I've learned more as an adult then I did when I was young. Of course there is all that stuff you can't help but learn, like the best way to pick your nose and stuff like that. But I don't think I could have learned an instrument when I was younger. I didn't have the attention span, dedication or passion. I'm 35 now and will have been playing for three years this December. Like others I wish I had started a long time ago. But I think ultimately things come to us when they're supposed to. So if the banjo has just come to you, I'd say go with the banjo, love it and have fun. If it does that for you, you're sure to be able to do it, at least at some level. Good luck!
John
mwc9725e - Posted - 07/13/2009: 19:38:15
quote:
Originally posted by BRUNO25
They say we learn faster when we're young. I disagree. I've learned more as an adult then I did when I was young.
I agree, provided you've made it a point to learn new things throughout your life. I believe it's pretty much conceded that what we are capable of learning depends on how much we already know. If you've spent a lifetime learning, then presumably yo know more when you're 60 than you knew when you were 20. Therefore, you should be capable of learning more at 60 than at 20. I started banjo from scratch at 72. I went down the wrong ( for me ) path, learning bluegrass. I played around with various old time styles, and went through a period for a while with non-functional hands due to surgery before I settled down to try to seriously learn clawhammer. That was about a month ago, when I'd just turned 78. I think I'm coming along ok with clawhammer, at least to my satisfaction.
minstrelmike - Posted - 07/14/2009: 06:24:55
You're supposed to PLAY music and are trying to learn to PLAY banjo.
It's supposed to be fun. You do have to learn identical copying at first (from tab/dvd/teacher) but don't treat it like work. You aren't getting a degree and you won't be graded so if something doesn't make sense or is too difficult, make it easier or move on. You'll come back later and correct.
If it gets to be a little tiresome after you've learned a few techniques and stuff, take some time off banjo practice and try just playing music on the banjo like a guitar. Get a chord chart and simply strum your way thru books of songs you've heard before such as The Beatles or the Grateful Dead or Hank Williams or the Reader's Digest Collection of Patriotic Songs. That will teach you to PLAY music without anyone having to teach you new songs in addition to giving you all these rules about putting your fingers here and keeping time and listen to what you're doing. The library is full of music books as is every piano bench in the homes of your friends.
If practicing licks gets overwhelming, go kick the dog and then strum something fun for a bit. (BTW, you'll also learn far more far faster about chords and chord progressions by playing actual, popular songs than by almost any other method around).
/* Age has nothing to do with it. Most people who take up banjo give it up (because most people who take up anything give it up).
This occurs at all ages. I think older folks have a better perspective on their own personal effort vs enjoyment and actually tend to give it up less and enjoy it more simply as a past-time than young'uns (because older folks are better at enjoying life than younger folks period) */
Mike Moxcey Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
http://moxcey.net/mike/minstrel/index.html
edsnyder - Posted - 07/14/2009: 07:23:16
I started a week before my 51st birthday. Now 6 years later I gettin pretty darn good, or at least OK. Having a lot of fun with it. Play both 3 finger and a bit of claw.
Ed e
You''re only young once, but you can be immature forever!
slabounty - Posted - 07/14/2009: 07:25:28
I just remember the story of the woman who was 100 or so and they asked if she had any regrets in life. She said she wished she'd taken up the violin at 60 because then she'd have been playing for 40 years now.
Scott LaBounty
Orange, CA
banjo bill-e - Posted - 07/14/2009: 08:34:38
I picked up my first banjo at age 52. I'm 55 right now. I don't know if I'm getting anywhere but I'm sure enjoying the journey. This is for "me time", my best time of the day.
------------------
Bill
I''m trying for that "ragged, but right" sound. I''m half way there!
Cottonmouth - Posted - 07/14/2009: 09:33:57
I started playing mandolin at age 60 and began my clawhammer journey at 71+ some eighteen months ago. I feel that if there is a shred of musical ability in you, that it will come out eventually. Playing almost daily is the key as well as listening to the music of the masters of the style you choose.
"Look upward; He IS coming back!"
"What happens in heaven, stays in heaven"
minstrelmike - Posted - 07/14/2009: 09:55:29
Dear Abby had a similar response (like the 100 year old fiddler's) when a 45-year-old lady said she was thinking of going back to school for her medical degree but it would take 7 years and then she'd be 52.
Abby asked her how old she'll be in 7 years if she doesn't go to medical school.
MM
joeblueg - Posted - 07/14/2009: 11:06:06
I started after 50 also. While, I can't wait to actually play well, I am enjoying the learning process ALLOT. I am not really looking to be anything more than a front porch picker but, hey, like the say in NY when you play the lottery, " you never know"
I guess I am saying, you get something out of it every step of the way.
"Banjo, what an experience"
Dwalker1926 - Posted - 07/14/2009: 13:35:23
I'm 47 and just started learning clawhammer. It's the most enjoyable part of the day, in the morning when I play before going to work. I've also got into building banjers too.
No higher''n corn, no lower''n taters.
Hole up boys, they''s banjers in nem boards
riverstein - Posted - 07/14/2009: 14:23:01
Thanks everybody for the great, great answers. I feel better already. This is an inspiring community, you know. Hats off to you all for refusing to let age be any hindrance in new learning.
To answer The Woodchuck's questions above: Yes, I live in Munich, a Scottish/Irish Englishman stranded here for 30 years. And yes, I downloaded the RSB about a week ago and have just begun to explore it - obviously a very useful resource, and I very much appreciate the laconic wit with which the info is imparted.
At the moment I'm ringed around with How-To books and DVDs and CDs. As well as RSB I have several Ken Perlman books, I have Clawdan's Old Time Festival Tunes (what's the definition of 'festival tune' by the way?), I have Banjo for Dummies, Frailing An Instruction Manual, the New Lost City Ramblers Songbook, the classic Pete seeger book etc etc
On the DVD front I have 4 Mike Seeger instruction discs, a couple by David Holt, I also have Cathy Fink, John Hartford and Béla Fleck. and then there also is the CD set by Happy Traum (which I do like a lot, that's definitely helpful )..
Of course I may well have paralyzed myself with too much info all at once! That's certainly possible... I'm trying to make sense of it all, and to pinpoint the things I personally want to hear from the banjo.
My tab-reading is fairly dire, if not hopeless, but I'm starting to find melodies by ear - especially when I'm in Sawmill which for some inexplicable (?) reason often seems to induce a yearning Scottish homesickness (is there an ethnomusicologist in the house?).
best wishes
Steve
Edited by - riverstein on 07/14/2009 14:58:17
whyteman - Posted - 07/14/2009: 14:56:30
I started trying to play the fiddle 2 years ago at age 50. I'm not very accomplished, but I'm proud of what I have accomplished.
Don.
Haul off your overcoat and roll up your sleeve.
mwc9725e - Posted - 07/14/2009: 15:01:19
quote:
Originally posted by riverstein
Thanks everybody for the great, great answers. I feel better already. This is an inspiring community, you know. Hats off to you all for refusing to let age be any hindrance in new learning.
To answer The Woodchuck's questions above: Yes, I live in Munich, a Scottish/Irish Englishman stranded here for 30 years. And yes, I downloaded the RSB about a week ago and have just begun to explore it - obviously a very useful resource, and I very much appreciate the laconic wit with which the info is imparted.
At the moment I'm ringed around with How-To books and DVDs and CDs. As well as RSB I have several Ken Perlman books, I have Clawdan's Old Time Festival Tunes (what's the definition of 'festival tune' by the way?), I have Banjo for Dummies, Frailing An Instruction Manual, the New Lost City Ramblers Songbook, the classic Pete seeger book etc etc
On the DVD front I have 4 Mike Seeger instruction CDs, a couple by David Holt, I also have Cathy Fink, John Hartford and Béla Fleck. and then there also is the CD set by Happy Traum (which I do like a lot, that's definitely helpful )..
Of course I may well have paralyzed myself with too much info all at once! That's certainly possible... I'm trying to make sense of it all, and to pinpoint the things I personally want to hear from the banjo.
My tab-reading is fairly dire, if not hopeless, but I'm starting to find melodies by ear - especially when I'm in Sawmill which for some inexplicable (?) reason often seems to induce a yearning Scottish homesickness (is there an ethnomusicologist in the house?).
best wishes
Steve
I would suggest Clawdan's "clawhammer banjo from scratch book, too; I struggled with clawhammer for quite a while and gave it up, until I spent 15 minutes with Dan's "from scratch" book, reading about his right hand positioning description. That was the break I needed, I re-entered the CH world and I believe I've made very good progress since that point.
banjo bill-e - Posted - 07/14/2009: 15:06:07
-----"when I'm in Sawmill which for some inexplicable (?) reason often seems to induce a yearning Scottish homesickness"
Sawmill is a magical tuning that conjures up visions of ancient misty mountains, and such.
------------------
Bill
I''m trying for that "ragged, but right" sound. I''m half way there!
Brian T - Posted - 07/14/2009: 15:47:25
I started when I was 20. Put it down for nearly 40 years. Good ride the past 2 years. Never had an instrument
in my life where it was so easy to "listen" to what I am trying to learn to do (Scruggs-style). It's become a journey, an exploration.
Nickerson's encyclopedia and Trischka's Hot Licks books have been great guides, branching out in every direction.
I'll never be great, maybe never even good, but in the meantime it is thought-provoking when eyes and ears tell brain to make fingers do what they won't.
We do not know where we are going.
Nor do most of us care.
For us, it is enough that we are on our way.
Le Matelot
roywboy - Posted - 07/14/2009: 16:36:33
I was 75 when I started the banjo. I'm near 80 now. I play well enough to entertain
myself, but not well enough to inflict it on others. I really started it from scratch with
no musical background. I am certain that if I started 60 years before, the results would be the same based on my aptitude and talent. Fortunately for me I had the banjo hang-out
which helped me to determine which end to play and etc.
bosborne - Posted - 07/14/2009: 16:52:37
quote:
Originally posted by riverstein
Anybody got any heartening stories about taking up this weird instrument late in life - over 50, let's say - and actually Getting Somewhere with it? Not in terms of 'success' or popularity or any of those improbables, but just in terms of getting the fingers to play, fluently, the things the mind is hearing??
best,
Steve
Steve, I started at 52 and I'm enjoying myself tremendously. So you want to play "fluently", that's it? You're not interested in the pleasure of playing music?
rteale - Posted - 07/14/2009: 17:14:08
quote:
Originally posted by riverstein
Anybody got any heartening stories about taking up this weird instrument late in life - over 50, let's say - and actually Getting Somewhere with it? Not in terms of 'success' or popularity or any of those improbables, but just in terms of getting the fingers to play, fluently, the things the mind is hearing??
best,
Steve
With a commitment to practice for say an hour a day and the help of the various youtube videos, DVD's, CD's and other easily (and often freely available) instruction materials, even with no natural talent anybody can get to a point where they can impress friends and neighbours after only about 6 months, I reckon, and good enough to play confidently along with others after one to two years. Its not that hard really, and importantly its great fun particularly after the first few months. After that you just get better and better, although speaking personally with all the practice and time in the world I dont think I'll ever be as good as say, Adam Hurt. Here's a trick. Leave the banjo laying about the house. Don't put it back in its case. Pick it up and practice your basic stroke or a left-hand move whenever you walk past it; while your waiting for the kettle to boil, instead of watching American Idol or whatever. You soon end up putting the requisite time in. Ray
10gauge - Posted - 07/15/2009: 00:50:57
I feel like I started late at 37, though I'm not whining. I'll be thirty eight next month. This thread makes me think of Paul Simon. He wrote "I was twenty-one years when I wrote this song. I'm twenty-two now, but I won't be for long." Later he wrote. "We're not old, God is old, He made the mold."
Jonathan O''bug
g-hog - Posted - 07/15/2009: 05:24:12
I've heard from peope just learning who are in their 70s...
If the music is in ya... you just don't waste time thinking about age and just get in there & enjoy the learning process. Small rewards will begin to come and the next time you turn around it's a year from now... you can either still be sitting feeling like you're too old to learn, or have a whole year's worth of banjo tricks up your sleeve to show off by that time!!!!
Big Doug Nez - Posted - 07/15/2009: 08:50:01
I started last year at age 45. I plan on proving that it's possible, but your help would be appreciated.
WIz47 - Posted - 07/15/2009: 11:24:09
quote:
Originally posted by chip arnold
Pretend you're 16 again. A friend of mine began fiddle at age 51. He's seventy something now and last year won a good sized bluegrass fiddle contest. And please don't say 50 is "late in life" ;-)
**********************
Take what is given
Give what is taken
Chip Arnold
If it is, then a lot of us around here are hurting. :-) _______________________________ "F" The bloody agonizing chord of death.
fred davis - Posted - 07/15/2009: 11:44:26
 I started at 64 played in a band to entertain rest homes for a couple years but the rise in gas prices stoped that still play a hospitals once in awhile play with two jams on mondays take lessons on mondays jam tuestday , wensday and thursday night and once a month on sat where there are 50 or more practice a couple the rest of the days and my lessons are to learn to play Blues on banjo--mandolin
pegleg - Posted - 07/16/2009: 03:09:01
Let me say I started learning to play banjo a couple months ago at the age of 60. No other music experience at all. I started with Clawdans scratch book and DVD and made good progress. Then a few weeks ago I started lessons with a teacher here in North Carolina (Alan Julich). Now I am making good progress with his pointers, so I second getting a teacher for help. I will never win a contest but I will love picking and grinning on the banjo the rest of my life.
g-hog - Posted - 07/16/2009: 12:56:33
One thing good about banjo... probably fiddle too...
If you look old, people automatically assume you know what you're doing... even if you sound kinda rough... they assume it's just been a rough week for ya, but all that stuff you're doing is really great.
Guitar... another story, I believe... I think they all think guitar is for the young and restless, and agile. These are strictly my thoughts about social preconceived notions... they could be entirely wrong and psychotic on my part.
On the other hand, it could go the other way around... if you're young and playing banjo or fiddle (not talking bluegrass, but older stuff), they could very well assume you're just too green to get it, no matter how good you are. My guesses from what I've observed about our society. Generally I don't feel we honor the wisdom and experience of the elderly enough here, but as far as playing some styles on certain instruments... seems to me there exists that respect, even admiration for the elderly.
Just casual observation from my own limited experiences... but if you think there's something to it... then you've already got ONE big advantage going for you. Now get in there and start workin'. You'll be amazed at what 30 minutes a day for a year will do on banjo.
dewbanjo - Posted - 07/16/2009: 13:12:51
Good evening Steve,
I started at age 63.... but my mind thinks it is 36 (please don't tell it any different). I jumped around a bit with different books and CD/DVD's and finally decided if I want to learn, I'd need to stick with one (1) version/player/whatever you call it. I am using Dan's Levenson's material and find it very, very usefull. Last year I attended his ClawCamp East to learn the basics (no teacher for clawhammer where I live)... plus will go again this year for a "tune-up".
So, my humble advice is to pick your DVD/Book (Clawhammer from Scratch??) and start in... and I cannot stress this enough....HAVE FUN!!
Keep on the "sunny side"!
Don
riverstein - Posted - 07/16/2009: 13:53:00
quote:
Originally posted by dewbanjo
Good evening Steve,
I started at age 63.... but my mind thinks it is 36 (please don't tell it any different). I jumped around a bit with different books and CD/DVD's and finally decided if I want to learn, I'd need to stick with one (1) version/player/whatever you call it. I am using Dan's Levenson's material and find it very, very usefull. ".
So, my humble advice is to pick your DVD/Book (Clawhammer from Scratch??) and start in... and I cannot stress this enough....HAVE FUN!!
Keep on the "sunny side"!
Don
That sounds like good advice, Don. Yet there's so much interesting information out there that it's hard to decide where to plant my banner and say Yeah this is the guy I want to follow. As pure listening experiences, of the DVDs I've seen Mike Seeger's impress me the most. I have the feeling they're not ideal for a beginner though - too many tunings being proposed in too many styles. "Here's a piece Dock Boggs never sang played in Dock Boggs's style. Tuning: f#CGAD, one half step lower in C#"... probably not the easiest place to start... best Steve
Edited by - riverstein on 07/16/2009 13:54:20
riverstein - Posted - 07/16/2009: 14:20:22
[]posted by bosborne...
Steve, I started at 52 and I'm enjoying myself tremendously. So you want to play "fluently", that's it? You're not interested in the pleasure of playing music?
[/quote]
Well, I'm trying to keep my goals modest. If joy turns out to be a by-product of attaining fluency I won't protest!
Edited by - riverstein on 07/16/2009 14:27:00
farmer bob - Posted - 07/16/2009: 14:50:12
Im 55 and have been playing banjo and guitar for 40 years as of a month ago but I never played a fiddle. I hope to start in the coming year. BTW I never rode a bicycle until my 51th birthday. Your never too old to start something new...Enjoy yourself ,life is getting short...Bob.
Rustyinfla - Posted - 07/16/2009: 17:39:54
You're never too old until they start throwing dirt in your face.
If you''re gonna be stupid ya gotta be tough
oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 07/17/2009: 20:35:41
I feel that I've had to start over and over as I've had so many "conditions" "accidents" and aging changes. I keep overcoming them because in the end it is more fun to play than it is to not play.
I can hook you up with a fellow who can give you a few lessons in Munich.
There is also my free lessons on the web and Rocket Science Banjo the free ebook. See my 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. Along with the full text in PDF you will also find the four current RSB videos and the "25 EZ Clawhammer tunes at:
http://www.rocketsciencebanjo.com
Looking for a tab? Ask The Woodchuck - If I''ve got it or will do it - you can get it for a buck.
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
Edited by - oldwoodchuckb on 07/17/2009 20:38:17
stringbeaner - Posted - 07/18/2009: 11:29:27
My dad always loved my banjo playing and we used to do a lot of banjo and harmonica playing together but he wouldn't learn back then because he was a surgeon and wanted to keep his fingertips sensitive. When he retired (at age 74) he asked me if I had a spare banjo. Well, I did and he took to it like a duck to water. He passed away at 77 but by that time he was playing pretty well. There are a couple of photos of him on my home page. By the way, he played the fiddle until he went to medical school.
Stringbeaner
howseth - Posted - 07/18/2009: 12:52:53
I took up the banjo in my late teens - but, I am over 50 now - I put the banjo away for a few years. Coming back to it I notice the finger speed of my right, picking, hand has not really slowed - and my left hand (fretting) speed and dexterity has actually increased in these last few years; now, I just worry about the onset of arthritis ...
I think my overall hearing may be a little weaker now at 54, but my ability to hear musical intervals, and to improvise on the banjo, is much, much better now - than when I was 18, 20, or 30.
Concentration, when playing, is, perhaps, better now, than when I had the restless energy of youth. But, it was the energy, curiosity, and boldness of youth that got me started on playing banjo - in the first place.... but, hey, if you are bold enough to begin at 50, 65, 80 - more power to you!
Howard
abbey - Posted - 07/19/2009: 12:35:09
I have loved reading all the replies about older players. I have been playing since early this year and I'm 48. I have felt so old because I started some weeks after my fifteen-year-old daughter. She is such a whiz at it, plays so fast and well (while hardly practicing) that sometimes I am insecure about my own playing. But I love the banjo and enjoy all the time I spend practicing very much. I try not to get caught up in the "fairness" of it all because I know its pointless. Mostly I feel lucky that I discovered something that I love so much.
un5trung - Posted - 07/19/2009: 13:47:06
I suppose it depends on what you mean by "get somewhere with it." I started in my late 40s and I amuse myself, which is really the only "where" I'd hoped to get. If your "where" is to be invited to play on Adam Hurt's next album, well good luck.
;-)
Robert
Just breathe.
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