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stanleyfan01 - Posted - 07/24/2009: 06:28:13
How fast did you all progress? I havn't touched the banjo in a litte while. I get frustrated easly. Music stuff ususally comes pretty easy to me, but sometimes things get a little hard, and I get frustrated. Encourage me y'all! LOL!
PRAISE THE LORD
Banjophobic - Posted - 07/24/2009: 07:15:02
Hang in there man-its totally normal to feel like this. Learning to play music on any instrument wont have a destination..its all about the journey. Its also good to take breaks from time to time. It will refresh you and give you a desire to play again.
dlaustin - Posted - 07/24/2009: 07:15:29
I ain't got there yet, but it's been fun along the way. I've been playing about 1-1/2 years. Main thing that helps me is just enjoying listening to whatever sounds are coming out of my banjo. It's rarely perfect, but once in awhile my wife or mother-in-law will say "Hey that sounds good."
If you're expecting perfection, look elsewhere. Just keep practicing the roll, lick, whatever, over and over and eventually it will get to where you don't have to think to do it and it will start sounding better. Also, practice it slow. Once its in your muscle memory, the speed will start increasing.
Set goals for what you want to practice on each day, but every once in a while, just doodle around and enjoy what your hearing. I am fortunate, that when I started playing the banjo in early 2008 I had a real good banjo, a Deering Siera to learn on. It sure sounded good, even when my picking didn't, which was real often early on.
Just recently I got a Stelling Golden Cross from Clyde at Guns & Banjos in Alabama (great guy and very enjoyable to deal with by the way). My picking has gotten a lot better and this new Stelling really sounds great. BTW, I'll probably wind up selling the Siera if anyone's interested.
All this about the quality of banjos just to say that the better the quality of the banjo when starting out, the more enjoyment you'll get out of practicing. The more you enjoy what you're doing, the more you'll practice ....
Like you, I have easily learned guitar (when a youngster), ukulele (as an oldster) and even got a little handy on a mandolin recently. Compared to the 3-fingers on a 5 string banjo they were a piece of cake. The 5 string is tremendously difficult starting out, but eventually you start getting the hang of it. Once you do, then the speed of your ability to learn new stuff will also increase.
Just hang in there and enjoy it! Don't kick yourself for screwing something up, because the banjo besides being the finest sounding musical instrument this side of heaven, is also one of the most humbling :) My teacher, Jim Penson, showed me a youtube of JD Crowe messing up the kick off to a song. He took it in stride and laughed about it.
So, praise the Lord that he gave you the opportunity to learn, practice, be humbled by and play the 5 string banjo.
Romans 5.28
aletheia - Posted - 07/24/2009: 07:16:27
It's like losing weight. You won't notice anything right off, and then all of a sudden, Wow, you can see the change! This coming from a guy that works a lot harder than he is talented. Also I should point out that after 2 years I am not where I expected to be, but I totally enjoy it. It's about the journey, getting there.
David
"A man that plays the banjo has got it made. It never interferes with any of his pleasures in life." --Stringbean
dlaustin - Posted - 07/24/2009: 07:19:53
sorry for the typo at the conclusion, it should read
Romans 8:28 :)
minstrelmike - Posted - 07/24/2009: 07:28:22
It is a lot like weight loss.
And some people find it much easier to lose weight by participating in group activities such as Weight Watcher's weigh-ins.
For the picker sitting alone in the bedroom practicing, it can get lonely.
Some people set up artificial goals such as one new song a week. Others connect with people and figure they will produce something new for their weekly/monthly jam or band rehearsal. That's also what many students use a teacher for--an upcoming goal they need to practice for. That's also the reason many teachers force you to prepare for a recital. Without any specific goal in mind, it's easy to become lackadaisical, then bored or discouraged.
Being forced to work towards an upcoming recital for your parents or a concert with your band can replace the ennui with fear and nausea instead ;-)
Mike Moxcey Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
http://moxcey.net/mike/minstrel/index.html
stanleyfan01 - Posted - 07/24/2009: 07:37:14
I wanna be able to play in a band.
PRAISE THE LORD
The KIDD - Posted - 07/24/2009: 08:08:25
Hey James
Were you over at Hillbilly DAZE this spring? About 9-10 players including myself talked EVERYTHING banjo for bout 2 hrs.Cant tell from your pic if ya mighta been involved?
John
http://www.myspace.com/johnkuhnbluegrass
stanleyfan01 - Posted - 07/24/2009: 08:36:05
quote:
Originally posted by The KIDD
Hey James
Were you over at Hillbilly DAZE this spring? About 9-10 players including myself talked EVERYTHING banjo for bout 2 hrs.Cant tell from your pic if ya mighta been involved?
John
http://www.myspace.com/johnkuhnbluegrass
Where was ya at? I was there. If ya all do that next spring let me know! I've been practicing with these Midi files ya get at www.virtualbluegrassband.com. With some of the quality of picking at Hillbilly Days, I'd be intimidated.  If your talkin about my avatar, thats Ralph, and Carter. PRAISE THE LORD
Edited by - stanleyfan01 on 07/24/2009 08:38:02
big bird - Posted - 07/24/2009: 09:17:29
Hey James, Just have patience with your learning journey and lots of practing and listening and you will overcome your frustrations. I do believe we all experience this at times, and just remember why you are learning the banjo-------It's so much fun!
Big Bird
Prof - Posted - 07/24/2009: 10:01:58
quote:
I wanna be able to play in a band.
I suppose how you envision your progress is correlated with how soon you want to play in a band. I would also like to play in a band someday, but I'm not in too much of a hurry. I envision myself as an old guy playing in a band at local street fairs after I retire...in about 22+ years! If I think about it that way, I think I'm making fine progress. If I wanted to be in a band this year, well then, I have a looooong way to go! If I end up getting to that point before that, then BONUS! If possible, get yourself an instructor. I agree with minstrelmike, that having pressure on you to reach some sort of goal by the next time you have lesson can be very motivating, and you'll probably get there faster than you would working on your own with no definite deadlines. Plus, an instructor can tell you the kinds of things you need to work on to eventually play in a band. Keep your eye on the prize, and you'll get there eventually. Dan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I''ve got it made in the shade if the tree don''t fall...  
stanleyfan01 - Posted - 07/24/2009: 11:42:38
I've been using the Murphy Method pretty much exclusively. I'm just on Beginning Banjo Vol. 1, but I've got all the songs down on it, except John Hardy. Plus I've been kinda tinkerin around with a few things, I'm tryin to learn by ear. I guess my problem is that I expect to be Ralph Stanley overnight, LOL! That ain't gonna happen!
PRAISE THE LORD
Tim13 - Posted - 07/24/2009: 12:46:14
quote:
Originally posted by minstrelmike
That's also what many students use a teacher for--an upcoming goal they need to practice for. That's also the reason many teachers force you to prepare for a recital. Without any specific goal in mind, it's easy to become lackadaisical, then bored or discouraged.
Mike Moxcey Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
http://moxcey.net/mike/minstrel/index.html
I think this is a huge part of getting an instructor. Even a poor instructor gives you that extra little bit of motivation to practice the basics that will improve your entire playing, and not just the song you're learning.
Taking time off from the banjo, for me, is a benefit. I have a lesson every other week. During the 14 days between lessons, I play on average 11 or 12 days. As my brain is coming to grips with what my hands want to do, taking a day or two off seems to help me to marry the theory and the physical application together.
Tim
Edited by - Tim13 on 07/24/2009 12:47:11
10gauge - Posted - 07/24/2009: 21:33:59
Many people will say that learning by ear is the only proper way to learn music. When I was in high school I got a guitar teacher who was teaching me by ear and I just coudn't do it. In learning to play the banjo I have been learning using tab and have had made a lot more progress. Not everyone learns the same way. I was practicing Amazing Grace the other day and it had been a really long time since I've played it. So I just started to play it and it came out sort of broken and not quite right, but the interesting thing is that the music that I played "naturally" had licks and rolls in it that were completely different than what I had learned in the tab. I feel confident that after several years of tab learning and jamming that I will be able to improvise along like I see other players do. In addition I'll be armed with the hundreds of licks that I learned from tab.
Jonathan O''bug
Edited by - 10gauge on 07/24/2009 21:35:18
minstrelmike - Posted - 07/25/2009: 09:04:31
"So I just started to play it and it came out sort of broken and not quite right, but the interesting thing is that the music that I played "naturally" had licks and rolls in it that were completely different than what I had learned in the tab. I feel confident that after several years of tab learning and jamming that I will be able to improvise along like I see other players do"
==============================================================
I feel confident that you'll be up and jamming in less than a year.
Tab isn't the problem with learning to jam; it's the students attitude. Teachers know if we can get someone to noodle (experiment) on their own, they will progress much faster than if they follow things by rote. Whether the thing is first presented by ear or by sight is irrelevant--it is what the student does with the knowledge that determines what happens next.
When you start plucking your own licks to a song and it sounds like a song, then you are improvising. Once you add something of your own, any teacher/method/questioning can expand that ability, but it has to start with the student doing experimentation. Nothing you are given from anyone else is an experiment. You could write your improvised Amazing Grace tab down and teach it to someone else and it won't be improv in their hands.
Start experimenting on every song you know. View it as practice, and you'll be jamming in 6 months.
Mike Moxcey Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
http://moxcey.net/mike/minstrel/index.html
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Feeds
My eyes are CRAP 
. I cant remember names unfortunately but Im sure you woulda known a couple locals.Yeah , dont be intimidated.Hangin around other pickers will PROGRESS you faster than anything IMO.