indigo_prime - Posted - 11/20/2009:  09:34:34

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Well, My name is Tony, I'm 37 and currently live in Cambridge, UK. I've recently picked up a banjo for the first time. The back story of it is that it was owned by my step dad (Ken) who sadly passed away from cancer a couple of years ago. We had a pretty rough upbringing and unfortunately my mums marriage with Ken didn't last long, but thankfully I always stayed close to him and often spent time at his when I was on leave from the Army. I'm not serving any more, but I used to love sitting and listening to Ken playing and always knew I was finally on leave when I walked up the garden path and could hear him "pickin' at the five string" in the kitchen :)

My brother inherited the banjo but as he often moves around he was worried about it getting damaged so entrusted it to me for safekeeping. It sat under my bed for the best part of a year with only four of the five strings on it and seriously out of tune on those four!! I bought a tuner, new strings and "The beginners guide to banjo", restrung it and started to see if I could make head and tail of this great instrument.

So far, I'm getting OK at basic rolls and can just about do Tom Dooley without any mistakes but playing the same old tune is getting a bit repetetive (but thats what practice is - right!). I'd like to know if there are any simple tunes that have tabs where it's simple picking, but that rolls can be added into to make a tune. The Tom Dooley in the book I have is a fine example and it feels good that I can almost turn something into a tune now!!

All I know about the Banjo is that it is a five string with resonator. It has Gibson at the very top of the neck, just above the nut, Epiphone inlaid into the head, some nice inlay work on the neck and Masterbuilt across the very bottom fret. My brother seems to recall it costing about 2500 GBP which worries me being a beginner with such a great instrument!

The worst thing about losing my step dad wasn't his actual passing. It was seeing him in hospital in the final weeks and him saying that he just wished he had the strength to sit up and play the banjo just a few more times. I guess me missing the sound of it playing is one reason I'd like to get better at it, reminds me of the good times :)

Tony

Surveyor - Posted - 11/20/2009:  09:39:21

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Hey Tony, sorry for your loss first of all. Seems though you can carry some of that good pickin on. The worst thing in the world is to leave that banjo in its case. Find the same joy Ken found. Sounds like you have a good banjo to learn on. Learn your chords up and down the neck and how to get there quick. Enjoy that banjo.

gradelyduck - Posted - 11/20/2009:  09:47:07

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Hi Tony, welcome to the hangout. There's a plethora of information on this site. Don't fall into the trap of surfing here and not practising the rolls and chords. Strum along to the tunes you know. It sounds like you've got a canny banjo there.
cheers

axsis - Posted - 11/20/2009:  10:01:12

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Welcome Tony, Many folks here to help you. I would reccomend checking the archives before posting a question. However most times all questions will be answered.
Good luck on your "banjo journey"

minstrelmike - Posted - 11/20/2009:  10:17:17

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Get a chord chart and try strumming song from any music books you can get your hands on. Do this in conjunction with practicing picking and by the time the pikcing gets up to speed, you'll have strummed your way thru 20 or 200 songs and have a good grasp of the chords.

ANY MUSIC BOOK WITH CHORDS works. If they have pictures of guitar chords, ignore the picture and just lay G or C9 (look 'em up). Beatles. Moody Blues. Elton John. Church hymns. They've all got chords and you can play them. Get a songbook of your favorite band out of high school or one of songs your father knew that you've heard and just strum them without expecting to sound like a profession banjo picker and see where that takes you.

wrentree - Posted - 11/20/2009:  10:19:51

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Welcome to the Hangout Tony. If you can find a teacher of banjo, you could probably learn faster. But you can still learn by yourself. A lot of people on here are self taught. One tool to use from here is the Tabledit program. It is a free demo program. Once you have it, you can download some of the songs(tabs) from here too. Play them over the tabledit program and you can see the strings you need to pick and hear the song as it is playing. You can slow the song down to learn it too. Try that even if you have an instructor. It will help you a lot. Best of luck. Harold

airborne - Posted - 11/20/2009:  10:19:55

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hiya Tony check out Jay Buckey's website he's in the BHO links or banjo hollow there's some great tab's on both.

all the best john.

Limey Bar steward - Posted - 11/20/2009:  12:22:24

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Hi Tony welcome to the HO, you know the Banjer is very adictive once you start theres no going back. I would recomend you take Mike's advice its very sound. Check out http://ukbluegrass.com/ you might find help a little closer to home. Joemac is doing beginners workshop in January near Derby, not too far but well worth a visit just to get aquainted with other players.

Cheers Graham

frihauf - Posted - 11/20/2009:  15:55:25

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Hi Tony,

Like you I am relatively new to the banjo. I would recommend www.banjoexpert.com. A life time membership is $47 and is worth every penny. Ryan has so many tips, videos, and advice on the site, you can't help but get better. It really helped me get over the same slump you are now in.

I hope this helps.

Ben

Leigh - Posted - 11/20/2009:  17:41:52

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quote:

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Originally posted by gradelyduck

Hi Tony, welcome to the hangout. There's a plethora of information on this site. Don't fall into the trap of surfing here and not practising the rolls and chords. Strum along to the tunes you know. It sounds like you've got a canny banjo there.
cheers

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Hello Tony, and welcome. You are a respectful sounding person. Kudo's to you. This is very good advise from gradelyduck. I can't begin to tally up all the hours I've spent on internet sites, gathering banjo and bass guitar equipment tech info. Possibly in the hundred(s). Practice instead. On Marty Stuart's web site, there's a paragraph where he asks some veteran player what amp's he's into, and the response is something like, "Well, I just don't remember, the same old stuff I guess." Equipment tech is captivating, but time spent playing the instrument is the goal.
Take care,
Leigh Vail

rhazelbaker - Posted - 11/25/2009:  20:25:15

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Hello Tony and sorry for you loss.

Its great that you have started playing the Banjo.

I am very new to this also so, I "feel your pain" when it come to practice, playing the same thing over and over again but I also know that developing skill and muscle memory is the only way to move ahead so practice I do.

There are lots of great folks hear with lots of great advice.

Welcome to the BHO.

rhazelbaker - Posted - 11/25/2009:  20:25:48

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Hello Tony and sorry for you loss.

Its great that you have started playing the Banjo.

I am very new to this also so, I "feel your pain" when it come to practice, playing the same thing over and over again but I also know that developing skill and muscle memory is the only way to move ahead so practice I do.

There are lots of great folks hear with lots of great advice.

Welcome to the BHO.

Blucat88 - Posted - 11/26/2009:  20:20:09

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Tony,
Sorry to hear of your loss. I am also 37 and just beginning to play after growing up listening to my dad jamming with a group of guys in our house when I was a kid.

I started with paying for a few lessons and picked up a book called "Banjo Primer" by Geoff Hohwald. It was easy, builds from one lesson to the next and has companion CD's that go through the songs in varying speeds so you can practice super slow to get it right, then move on to faster speeds with accompaniment that makes the tune sound "real" ;)

Probably the best advice I have gotten so far (and advice that sounds like it would solve a lot of guys' problems on here) is "Play slow to play fast" - In other words, play it right and forget the speed. The speed will come without your even trying. Going too fast will just make your playing sound sloppy and form a ton of bad habits that are near impossible to break.

BTW - Glad to hear you have a good instrument to learn on! My dad traded his Gibson back in the 80's for an old shotgun, an antique lamp and a dirtbike... :( As a result, I have an old Kay that I traded for an electric guitar amp I wasn't using.