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banjopocolypse - Posted - 09/24/2008: 14:16:41
This thread gives me a headache.
Tony, your posts are borderline impossible to read....
Rollin Along - Posted - 09/27/2008: 09:11:50
I attended a show by Ken Hamm last night. He played blues banjo using a glass slide. It was amazing. Does anyon have any tips on using a slide?
zami - Posted - 09/29/2008: 12:07:18
Greetings Everyone:
Great thread 
I play blues guitar (primarily country blues . . . mostly the Piedmont style perfected by the great Etta Baker) and am currently in the process of trying to translate this knowledge to the five-string banjo, concert ukulele, and A-style mandolin (with an oval hole, of course).
I agree with many of the folks who argue that learning to play blues on the five string banjo, or any instrument for that matter, requires listening to the blues masters, both old (e.g., Big Bill Broonzy, Blind Blake, Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Bukka White, Charlie Patton, Elmore James, Furry Lewis, Leadbelly, Lightnin' Hopkins, Lonnie Johnson, Mance Lipscomb, Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters, Rev. Garry Davis, Robert Johnson, Skip James, Son House, Tommy Johnson, "Yank" Rachell, etc.) and relatively new (e.g., Alvin Young Blood Heart, Chris Thomas King, Corey Harris, Eric Clapton, Guy Davis, John Fahey, Keb Mo, Otis Taylor, Taj Mahal, etc.). Oh, and don't skip over the all too forgotten blues guitar women (e.g., Algia Mae Hinton, Beverly "Guitar" Watkins, Elizabeth Cotten who played a right handed acoustic guitar upside down, Etta Baker, Memphis Minnie, Precious Bryant, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Bonnie Raitt, Rory Block, Sapphire, Susan Tedeschi, etc.). Parenthetically, these lists are by no means exhaustive, but should help you to start to develop a blues repertoire.
It also helps, of course, to listen to blues players playing blues banjo. To that end, might I recommend folks take a listen to Etta Baker's cd, "One dime blues." It's one of my favorite cds and it includes at least two songs that I can think of that feature the banjo. The song titles are "Marching Jaybird" and "Going Down the Road Feeling Bad." Etta also put out a few collaborative cds that include some “banjo blues.” Check out the cd she did in collaboration with her sister, Cora Phillips, entitled “Carolina Breakdown.” The songs “Railroad Bill” and “John Henry” feature the banjo. Take a listen to the songs “Johnson Boys” and “Sourwood Mountain” on the cd “Etta Baker with Taj Mahal,” for a few more examples. In addition, Elizabeth Cotten has some great stuff on her cds “Shake Sugaree” and “Freight Train . . ..” that might also be worth a listen. Finally, you should also check out Algia Mae Hinton, a lesser known blues artist that doesn’t get the credit she deserves, IMO. Her cd "Honey Babe" includes a song titled "Out of Jail" which features her playing the banjo. There are also the more obvious choices like Gus Cannon, Taj Mahal, so forth and so on, but you can just read through the thread for those recs.
Some might argue that these are examples of folk music rather than blues, but I think this music can more aptly be described as folk blues. In any case, I’m not sure what kind of “blues” folks are looking to learn, people generally talk about the blues as if it’s some sort of monolith, but good stuff nonetheless.
Enjoy,
Zami
Tom Hanway - Posted - 09/30/2008: 09:47:55
quote:
Originally posted by Rollin Along
I attended a show by Ken Hamm last night. He played blues banjo using a glass slide. It was amazing. Does anyone have any tips on using a slide?
Preferring metal to glass, I gave some advice about "bottleneck" slide playing on page seven of this thread. Just go back to that page and type in the word "slide" in the "Edit: Find on this Page..." function.quote:
Originally posted by zami
By the way, here is a site that teaches some basic blues banjo:
http://stovermusic.com/Five_String_Banjo/blue.htm
Good luck!
Zami
That’s great stuff Zami, and you’re spot on - great chord examples! I wholeheartedly agree with your previous post, and I think it's important that we also take into account the popular 5-string banjo music at the turn of the 20th century, what people today call classic, popular or ragtime music from that period. Early recordings, e.g., Vess L. Ossman, show the transition from cakewalks to early ragtime, which, especially through the music of ragtime piano composers, has connections to the blues and later boogie woogie and stride piano.
Practicing the classic cakewalks and "proto-rags" give us the skills and dexterity to tackle up-picked blues and jazz banjo. I have put up a TAB of ‘Whistling Rufus’ in 3-fingerstyle, as a photo on my BH homepage.
By the early 1900s a “coon” song called ‘Whistling Rufus’ was quickly gaining popularity and marked the transition from the European-style march to the syncopated cakewalk, a forerunner to American ragtime and jazz. Written by Frederick, A. “Kerry” Mills in 1899 and described on the original sheet music as a characteristic march, ‘Whistling Rufus’ epitomized a popular style that was being played on the banjo at the turn of the 20th century. It can be used as a two-step, polka or cakewalk. It is a prize example of a cakewalk, using classic rag syncopation that also turns up in piano ragtime music, particularly in the compositions of Scott Joplin, who also put “blue” notes into his compositions. My version uses this period ragtime syncopation, e.g., in measures 3, 7, 8 and 11.
Although ‘Whistling Rufus’ doesn’t generally make use of any “blue” (flatted third or seventh) notes, this version uses a raised fourth or “blue” flatted fifth (Db) in measure 10 of the B section, adding some color. To play it in bluesy fashion, in the the A Section substitute 2-3-4 (A, Bb, B) for 0-2-4 in measures 4 and 12. We are now adding a flatted third (Bb). Also, in measures 1, 2 and 9 of the B Section, substitute a 2-3 slide on the first two strings for the 2-3 hammer that occurs on the second string (where it pedals on the D note - open first string). Instead of having a ringing D note, we have a slide going from 2-3, or E to F, incorporating a flatted seventh. Bluegrass players are familiar with this bluesy lick from playing 'Shucking the Corn'. Now we have incorporated both the flatted third and seventh pitches - the traditional "blue" notes - without drastically changing the bare bones arrangement. It sounds good to my ears and makes a fun variation.
The cakewalk dance craze swept the country in 1889 and continued into the 1920s, originally growing out of the “chalk line walk” that was popular with plantation slaves. The cakewalk was the first popular dance to cross over from black to white society. It also had origins in antebellum minstrel shows. For a copyrighted source, with cleaned up lyrics, go here for more:
http://hetzler.homestead.com/NBCakeWalk.html
I have put the tab up in my Photos, my version using an AABB structure. Some old-time versions have it AAB, or AB, and the original version had three parts. Vess L. Ossman recorded it (AABBACCB), and it is still popular to this day in old-time and bluegrass music circles.
Here are the sanitized (singable) lyrics (AAB), with credit to Edward and Louise Hetzler, Copyright © 2000-2008 Earth Harmony, LLC All Rights Reserved.
quote:
Whistling Rufus
Ole Rufus would go to a ball or a party,
Rainy weather or shine,
And when he got there he was handsome
After the chicken and the wine.
When he got through with the chicken and the wine,
Then he whistled and he sung so grand
That they thought the angels' harps was a-playing.
And they called him the one-band man.
Chorus:
Don't make no blunder, they couldn't lose him,
For perfect wonder they had to choose him;
A great musician with a high position
Was whistling Rufus, the one-band man.
I learned this classic tune from multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell, who played it on the fiddle for me, just before a gig. Larry is a legend in both the folk and rock music worlds. He spent years on the road with Dylan and is currently touring with Phil Lesh and Friends (of Grateful Dead fame). Phil calls him “the master”. Larry is a musician’s musician. My deep appreciation to Larry for showing me this tune and making me learn it on 5-string banjo. I had to research it a lot more later in order to come up with a contemporary tab for it, one that suits my style. My version is unique, especially in that I repeat both parts, also owing to my Celtic fingerstyle, where I freely combine two-finger (TI) and three-finger work and use lots of ornamentation, especially triplets.
Remember, you can play each part once or just play the second part once. Vess L. Ossman played both parts twice (also playing a third part).
Here are two videos of it for comparison, first, a bluesy-hot fiddle version by the Lynn Morris Band, featuring Ron Stewart and David McLaughlin, followed by a ragtimey version by The Seekers, featuring the immensely talented Judith Durham ('Georgy Girl') playing piano - I love her hat:
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=5ChQH...ture=related
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=Pok0d...ture=relatedHappy pickin, Tom http://www.tomhanway.com/discog.htmhttp://www.tomhanway.com
Tom Hanway - Posted - 10/02/2008: 06:48:50
quote:
Originally posted by zami
By the way, here is a site that teaches some basic blues banjo:
http://stovermusic.com/Five_String_Banjo/blue.htm
Good luck!
'Badbelly's Banjo Boogie' - an original 12-bar blues with three driving breaks and three sets of blues (and jazz) chord changes for the intrepid!http://www.banjohangout.org/myhango....asp?id=4317
It's on my Banjo Hangout photos page. Standard notation to follow for you mandolin and guitar players. It's blues and it's jazz.
Blues? There was a lovely lonely blues singer who sang better than all the instrumentalists...combined. Let's stop messin' around with licks: Here's a real blues story that Lady Day gave us - check it out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Fruit
Ya know, Zami, this is a really good thing you did, because it gives people a basic structure and some standard patterns for blues. Fair play to you! (That's an Irish expression folks.) This link also touches on Gus Cannon, and describes his down-to-earth style. What more can anyone add to that?
I thought it apropos to retrieve a piece of music I've been playing for years, a 12-bar blues that was inspired by my dad's traditional jazz - something that I learned by aural osmosis from the crib on up. I've put it in tab and in standard notation, and I call it 'Badbelly's Banjo Boogie' – inspired by Wild “Jack” – all of them. It's three breaks of 12-bar blues in G, and three different ways of playing standard blues (or jazz) chord changes. Blues is jazz, from the cradle to the grave. Duh! 
Feel free folks to print it, as with all my tabs, and get into playing 12-bar blues on the banjo, which is really where it all begins – thanks for reminding me, Zami. My dad, a cornet and trumpet player, will now get the standard notation for this tune (for piano). Heh heh heh. 
This boogie tune – okay, it’s very piano-oriented – can be played very fast, and it is an exercise in 2-finger up-picking (with fingerpicks - the only way to play at tempo). Okay, think Don Reno meets traditional 12-bar boogie-woogie piano lines.... Enjoy.  Pat Cloud could go way further with this, but this is for starters.
Many thanks to Brian Vollmer for hanging in there and facing the banjo blues head on.  Happy pickin, Tom http://www.tomhanway.com/discog.htmhttp://www.tomhanway.com
Tom Hanway - Posted - 10/02/2008: 15:50:43
Here goes nothing. So that folks can see and discuss this tune, an exercise in standard 12-bar blues (in G), I'm posting it here.
Folks can still go to my BH photos, enlarge and print clean copies from there. This is an original piece that also serves as an exercise in two-finger up-picking (popularly termed "single-string" or "Reno style"). I saw fit to put in fretting- and picking-hand fingerings. The picking hand is obvious enough, but the fretting positions, e.g., which finger to use where - took some figuring out and a lot of trial and error. I play it this way. When I get my new digital recorder interfaced with my PC, I'll try to record it and put it up on my music files.
'Badbelly's Banjo Boogie' - I've christened it, in G, and it's something I've been tinkering with for years, based on something I heard on a traditional jazz recording (tenor banjo), and it involves single-string work and playing all over the neck. Yet, the basic runs (first break) can be played in closed positions in any key, so this tune is really transposable without having to slap on a capo. Notice how I've used standard jazz chord substitutions for the second and third breaks.
I play it hard and loud and with as much drive as I can muster - it is not at all bouncy. It's sort of a Casey-Jones-railroad-boogie tune, if you know what I mean. You don't have to go fast, but play it straight - play it like a train rolling down the line.
If you want to check out the standard notation (scary with all the sharps, flats and naturals), just go to my Photos. I've also put in Nashville System chords in the standard version. Have fun and don't try to play it too fast. Make every note even and clean. This is my gift to y'all - gratis.
Happy pickin,
Tom
http://www.tomhanway.com/discog.htm
http://www.tomhanway.com
Edited by - Tom Hanway on 04/20/2009 04:54:34
Mirek Patek - Posted - 10/03/2008: 02:12:09
quote:
Originally posted by Tom Hanway
Folks can still go to my BH photos, enlarge and print a clean copy from there.
Tom, thanks for your tunes and exercises. First I did not know how to get the large photo but then I figured out: one has to select the wanted photo, then put the mouse over the photo (which is medium sized) and by right-click of the mouse to choose the "copy of the link address" (not the "copy of picture address"). The copied link to large photo is to be pasted in new browser window. Edit: deep links removed upon Tom's request.Thanks again Mirek http://www.youtube.com/user/mirekpatekhttp://www.geocities.com/patekstylebanjo
Edited by - Mirek Patek on 10/03/2008 06:58:15
Tom Hanway - Posted - 10/03/2008: 15:04:00
Mirek, thank you for removing those deep links which were dead since I had to delete them to hone the tab; also, the working links might have diverted folks from reading the tune descriptions and posing their comments or questions in the Comments section.
I now have streamlined versions of 'Whistling Rufus', in both bluesy and ragtimey settings. This is a cakewalk I got from oral and written sources, adding personal touches that work in my style of playing. 'Badbelly's Banjo Boogie' is an original piece, gleaned from years of hanging out, listening and playing blues and jazz in smoke-filled bars.
What's fun for me is being able to interact and help folks, especially those with "beginner's mind" and no axe to grind, folks who want to learn more about playing in the here and now. I'm not looking for ultimate, single-thread or segregated sources, but hoping to help people pick blues on banjo - right now. For me it's all about "beginner's mind", about playing and sharing actual blues music, using concrete examples.
Playing BLUES is simply being part of an active musical subculture, a "living tradition". As a professional, you just do it and it's about bringing the music to the people, in clubs and theatres and at festivals. It is not buried in bibliographies, lost in footnotes, established by cronyism, or dictated by academia.
So, I want folks to check out these tunes on my Hangout photos page - http://www.banjohangout.org/myhango....asp?id=4317 - and make comments or ask questions that they might not want to pose in this more public forum. I have other tabs and photos here too, including the original cover art for 'Whistling Rufus'.
As a composer, session player, concert and stage performer, I have no small amount of work or "field" experience (school of hard knocks) and have made traditional blues recordings (on guitar and banjo) and I hope to make more, God willing.
Thank you Mirek for ditching the dead links, being understanding and for always being courteous and helpful.
Happy pickin,
Tom
http://www.tomhanway.com/discog.htm
http://www.tomhanway.com
banjofanatico - Posted - 10/03/2008: 16:44:37
I'm not sure it's best to point to British bands playing ragtime or dixieland music - they obviously don't "get it".
David
Tom Hanway - Posted - 10/03/2008: 18:10:43
quote:
Originally posted by banjofanatico
I'm not sure it's best to point to British bands playing ragtime or dixieland music - they obviously don't "get it".
David
Keen sense of the obvious. LOL. I see your point, even if this one sounds anti-British and teetering on ugly Americanism. Yeah, maybe the Beatles and the Rolling Stones didn't get it either. This is old footage, like the Dillards (as the Darlings) appearing on the Andy Griffith show. It's just like Hollywood schtick. There's just one hitch: The Seekers, the band to whom you refer, are AUSTRALIAN. Go figure!
In fact, rivalling the Beatles and the Stones, they were the first Aussies to chart in the UK and America, also to reach No. 1 in the States. They were folkies and they were not simple weekend warriors.
Many Europeans (and Australians), in case folks haven't heard, have a healthy suspicion of prevalent American attitudes and rushes to judgment (usually of non-American cultures). My first wife, Kathleen (Low), from Perth, Western Austalia (whom I lost to cancer), was often complimented heartily by educated Americans on how good her English was. They thought being "Australian" meant she was from AUSTRIA. Wow! Kathleen had a great sense of humour and played along, taking such misplaced compliments graciously. Australians understand Americans, even if Americans can't quite figure out the accent.
To be sure, Australian Judith Durham, a serious jazz, blues and gospel singer, GETS IT. And, like Scott Joplin, W.C. Handy and many American ragtime and jazz pianists, had classical training, before she got into ragtime and jazz. Anything wrong with having talent?
Judith is the real deal, and has more talent in her little finger than a lot of wannabe pickers who cannot read a lick and have trouble putting their banjo bridges in the right place ... and forget about tuning the darn thing.
Judith wisely got out of the commercial end of the music business early on and kept her musical soul, which, folks, is grounded in blues and jazz. She IS a blues and gospel singer - a down-to-earth musician - not another poseur hoping to score points on American Idol - where's Simon from again?
http://www.judithdurham.com/biography/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Durham
Hey, anybody, how do you like the tunes and the tabs? 
Edited by - Tom Hanway on 10/03/2008 19:31:48
Tom Hanway - Posted - 10/06/2008: 11:03:48
Country blues and early ragtime (and jazz) have roots in 19th-century rags, marches and cakewalks. See my earlier post with the YouTube videos for some background to 'Whistling Rufus' and a reference to the "blue" notes. For printing, I have put up (1) a bluesy version, below, and (2) a straight cakewalk version in my Hangout Photos. Fingerstyle and ragtime blues guitarists will be familiar with much of the phrasing and melodic contours. Folks familiar with Scruggs, melodic and Reno-style playing should be able to pick this easily - no problem.
This venerable cakewalk is really fun to play and still contemporary and popular - no doubt because of its catchy melody. It's ragtimey - here with "blue" notes and bluesy double-stop phrasing - reminiscent of both Son House and Earl Scruggs - that's right - at the top of the B Section. Notice the ragtime syncopation in measures 3, 7, 8, 11, 14, 15, and on the final G chord at the end of the B Section.
There's a completely straight "cakewalk" version of it on my BH photos page, just click on my name at left, then scroll down to my Photos, click, and scroll down again until you see 'Whistling Rufus' - CAKEWALK version. I actually prefer that version, but this one's got "boogie" in it and makes for a nice variation.
Check out my earlier post for the two videos to hear a contemporary bluegrass and an older ragtimey (dixieland) piano version. It's a bit out of sync, corny, but cool with a young Judith Durham tickling the ivories. I love Australians, what can I say....
To print just the tab (any of them), go to my name at left and click, or go directly to this link:
http://www.banjohangout.org/myhango....asp?id=4317
Then scroll down to "Photos" and click and scroll down some more till you get there. You can enlarge any of these tune settings and print. I have indicated picking-hand fingerings and suggested tempo settings as well. Personally, I don't like to take this one too fast. (It's a whistling tune, after all.)
I learned 'Whistling Rufus' (originally) from Larry Campbell, who insisted that we play it on a "hoedown" (corporate gig - only in Manhattan), just minutes before we played it on stage. Who was I to argue? I fell in love with it immediately and got through it, backing Larry, who was on fiddle. Larry later played mandolin on The Badbelly Project: Hesitation Blues (country blues and gospel), my last project with my old friend Vassar Clements, who played inspired blues fiddle that day (14 tracks). Larry, a multi-instrumentalist who can play anything, added calmness to the later proceedings. Read about the player whom Phil Lesh calls "The Master":
http://www.dead.net/features/interv...phil-friends
I hope these tunes help folks from an international community to get into the roots and branches of blues banjo. All the blues styles are intertwined - call it what you will and begin anywhere - one tune at a time. Just pick it, take your time, and adapt the blues to suit your own tastes. You have to like it, that's all. If you get into it and have fun with it, people will pick up on that energy. You don't have to be an American to play or love the blues.
We'll cakewalk in ... and we'll cakewalk right on out ... who said that? 
The old union musicians' joke in New York City is: You're either a bluesman or a Broadway guy.
Happy pickin,
Tom
http://www.tomhanway.com/discog.htm
http://www.tomhanway.com
Edited by - Tom Hanway on 04/20/2009 04:55:55
Gareth Banjoland - Posted - 10/08/2008: 02:53:54
Man you are great, its marvelous to see experienced professionals putting such effort into helping others. This thread should be renamed "Toms top tips and tabs"
Good on ya Tom!
Regards Gareth
ps. are you Bernie Hanways brother?
"why not? there''s no one here to tell you not to!"
<www.thepitts.com.au>
<www.vontrolley.com>
Emiel - Posted - 10/13/2008: 23:23:55
quote:
Originally posted by Tom Hanway
Nice one Emiel. That is really a great find of Pete Seeger with Rev. Gary Davis (1896-1972),
Nice thought about Rev. Gary Davis, Tom, I like him a lot. But that's not the reverend in this clip, those are Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee with Pete Seeger. Emiel http://www.flickr.com/photos/emieldk/http://www.bluerounders.com
Tom Hanway - Posted - 10/14/2008: 00:47:22
Nice one Emiel. Let me explain: If you follow the links at the Sonny and Brownie clip, there is another great find: Pete Seeger (again) with Rev. Gary Davis (1896-1972), and it shows how versatile Seeger (and white) Seeger is. Emiel, I move too quickly. Okay, I saw your Sonny and Brownie clip (enjoyed it), but I didn't really remark on it because because it is the Rev. Gary Davis clips that I find more revealing in a discussion of African American finger style picking on the banjo - not that Brownie, a disciple of Big Bill Broonzy, cannot be used as a model for playing chords and licks for blues banjo. The footage of Seeger, who is clearly an accomplished blues player, is fun and full of great blues licks - a MUST see - but it doesn't reveal as interesting a link (for me) to traditional African American up-picking styles, because, well, he is white and so mercurial, incorporatng so many folk styles into his playing, including white-, African- and Mexican-American styles, and then some. I'm focusing here on an African American crossover style, which Rev. Gary Davis has got for both banjo and guitar.
Here is close-up footage of Rev. Gary Davis' right hand, doing 2-finger up-picking, which is a venerable technique for playing the banjo as well as the guitar.
Davis was born in the 19th century, and it is safe to assume that he heard and brought a lot of 19-century music and techniques into the 20th century (and beyond). Want proof? Check out his 'Make Believe Stunt', clearly derived from Joplin's famous 'Maple Leaf Rag' - notice how "make believe" sounds like "maple leaf".
'Make Believe Stunt' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psAS...ture=related
Also, here is a close-up of 'Candyman', followed by 'If I Had My Way'. Notice the slides on the fourth string, which are akin to the 2-5 back-up slides that Earl Scruggs uses on the fourth string.
'Candyman' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlQZwHcBqyQ&NR=1
'If I Had My Way' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46Gl...ture=related
Happy pickin,
Tom
http://www.tomhanway.com/discog.htm
http://www.tomhanway.com
Tom Hanway - Posted - 10/14/2008: 09:08:33
quote:
Let me pose a big question that is historically related to this discourse. Granted that we can all play the blues on the banjo and some right bluesy music came on the banjo, but why did the five-string banjo not get taken into the arsenal of blues playing musicians?
That is to say, that with the exception of Gus Cannon, no recording blues artists used the five string banjo. Research on African American music indicates that the traditional string band repertoire was replaced by blues based music and dancing in a period between the 1890s and the 1930. It is with the inception of the blues that five string banjos disappear from the active playing repertoire of African Americans.
It cannot just be that the banjo was "old fashioned" or that the banjo was identified with the string band repertoire. After all, the fiddle is probably much older than the banjo and was the chief instrument of the old string band dance music. Similarly, the mandolin was used in the string bands too. Yet, both instruments continued to be used in blues playing bands, at least until the music went electric after WWII,
Some people might just [say that] it is the tuning of banjos, but from the most sophisticated. urbane, and jazz oriented like Lonnie Johnson to the most rootsy players like Charlie Patton, many guitarists of the blues put their guitars into G tuning, the most popular banjo tuning. Many other blues guitarists used the Open D or Sebastopol tunning, often used by banjoists. Even some of the most obscure banjo tunings like Tommy Jarrel's DfADf# was used by blues guitarist Skip James.
Why did blues musicians not use the five-string banjo?
Tony Thomas, a black banjo player
I made a HUGE breakthrough here! First, I got the above quote from a related thread where Thomas posed this important question - thanks to Emiel's thorough topic links on page one of this thread. I'm replying here (to this active thread) because it answers Tony's salient point about itinerant (African American) blues musicians not using the 5-string, preferring the acoustic guitar, played in standard and open (banjo) tunings. I've boldfaced that part of the reply. It's so obvious in its simplicity and solves a riddle which Tony asked a year ago in another thread.
Rev. Gary's fretting- and picking-hand techniques transfer over to 5-string banjo, or maybe (for him and others) it was originally the other way around. His 2-finger up-picking technique is African American banjo technique, so why didn't he do it on that instrument? Well, he did at times but he was a powerful singer and preferred to back his singing by performing and recording on acoustic guitar. Why?
The guitar is better suited than the banjo in capturing the bass notes, low drones and contrary motion in rags, blues and gospel music, because of the two additional bass strings (E and A). This simple fact allowed Davis and seminal blues musicians to imitate the bass notes of the piano, whether it be ragtime, blues, gospel or some nascent musical hybrid. It's about the range of the guitar. (What's the range of a banjo?)
See the Davis interview below. Also, off the top of my head, for African Americans, the guitar did not have the stigma attached to it, a by-product of blackfaced minstrelsy, "coon" songs and the like. Further, it was probably easier to purchase, tune and maintain a quality instrument, and these guitars (and resophonic guitars) were plenty loud - loud enough to back blues singers (before the music went electric). These all seem like contributing factors - common sense.
Reverend Gary was a giant who had a harmonic sophistication that surpassed most seminal blues guitarists and OT banjoists who also played in a 2- or 3-finger style. He also played with a high degree of syncopation, sounding very ragtimey, like a piano, even in his gospel songs. In his book, Rev. Gary Davis/Blues Guitar, Stefan Grossman interviews Rev. Gary, asking:
quote:
Q. When was the first time you heard a blues?
A. That broke out in 1910. I couldn't tell where it came from. I first heard them from a fella coming down the road picking a guitar and playing what you call "the blues." They played other songs. The blues, they just began to originate themselves.
Q. Did blues playing start on the guitar first?
A. They started playing it on the piano too.
Q. What would you tell a guitar student about playing the blues?
A. Well a lot of things I would tell a person if I just had the time to study what they were fishing for. To play blues on a guitar I'd teach them to play the guitar like a piano.
-See Stefan Grossman, Rev. Gary Davis/Blues Guitar (New York: Oak Publications, 1974), 10-11.
Note: Davis sometimes brushes-pounds hard with his thumb, also brushing-slashing up with his index, on two or more strings. This can also work on 5-string for a more ragged sound, but it won't sound like bluegrass. Earl Scruggs, who plays a lot of blues and leads with his thumb like many Piedmont guitarists, tends not to brush upwards unless it's at the end of a tune - but he still does it. There is no question in my mind that Earl is a traditional country blues man on banjo - when it calls for it - especially 12-bar blues, e.g., 'Foggy Mountain Special'. The fact that he plays a country blues style of guitar on the gospel numbers is not lost on me.
* * * * * * * Finally, I have mentioned about using Double-C tuning, which make for fine blues accompaniment, with or without a slide (bottleneck), especially in "deep blues", e.g., for Son House "call and response" singing. So folks don't have to go back to page seven, I've taken two paragraphs from my earlier post, and beamed them here. I want to add to Tony's observation about open tunings. He left an important one out. There is another one that I got from Norris Bennett, an African American banjoist/guitarist who plays with the Ebony Hillbillies. I do a Son House Delta-thing on banjo, using Double-C tuning (g C G C E), which I got from Norris, and it is a standard old-time tuning (especially for "D" tunes). It makes bottleneck slide playing relatively simple, though one may give the slide a pass, and just pick out the notes. This is an important BLUES tuning, all one has to do is play barre chords at the second and third frets to hear it. Also, Double-C tuning makes slide-playing virtually idiot-proof. Yes sir, I prefer an 11/16 deep socket wrench attachment (NAPA/USA) for the slide. The weight (mass) of it, gives a better tone, in my opinion, than does a cheaper glass slide, e.g., a Coricidin bottle, especially on a 5-string banjo, which has lighter strings (than an acoustic guitar). Rev. Gary, in later life, really frowned upon bottleneck playing - Grossman asks: quote:
Q. What do you think of bottleneck playing?
A. I don't think nothing of that! You're cheating your own self. It ain't so respectable. People thinks it's a pretty thing but it's not.
Q. Did you ever play bottleneck?
A. Not too much for I didn't care for it.
Q. Did you ever try playing blues on the piano?
A. No. Fact is I didn't know too much about piano until I got started travelling. I didn't even know how a piano was shaped. I didn't have no time for piano or organ. I stuck to the guitar because I could carry that with me. I couldn't carry no piano.
-See Stefan Grossman, Rev. Gary Davis/Blues Guitar (New York: Oak Publications, 1974), 11.
Very few pickers could play blues like "THE REV" - as Jorma fondly refers to HIM. Jorma put money down on a Mastertone, but then ... there was a guitar. Jorma chose to play blues on guitar - not banjo - that's just tradition. Happy pickin, Tom http://www.tomhanway.com/discog.htmhttp://www.tomhanway.com
Edited by - Tom Hanway on 10/20/2008 23:13:41
Tom Hanway - Posted - 10/24/2008: 07:11:28
I wrote in my post above: quote:
The guitar is better suited than the banjo in capturing the bass notes, low drones and contrary motion in rags, blues and gospel music, because of the two additional bass strings (E and A). This simple fact allowed Davis and seminal blues musicians to imitate the bass notes of the piano, whether it be ragtime, blues, gospel or some nascent musical hybrid. It's about the range of the guitar.African American blues.
For BLUES banjo, it's not to African American Gus Cannon that we need to look to, but to Dock Boggs, in his modal tunings and DEEP use of modes, especially the DORIAN mode, which is really a BLUES mode. Maybe that's where, in part, blue modality (tonality) came from.
Listen carefully and check out his 'Country Blues' and other videos - scary stuff - as deep as Charlie Patton, Son House or Robert Johnson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oACJ3VOHmhYHappy pickin, Tom http://www.tomhanway.com/discog.htmhttp://www.tomhanway.com
Edited by - Tom Hanway on 10/24/2008 07:18:33
chill3570 - Posted - 10/25/2008: 04:02:27
I have been working on the "Banjo Boogie" and I must say that is alot of fun.
Thanks for the song.
I have about 2/3 of it down and it is just a blast to play and great practice.
Thanks again
Charlie
Tom Hanway - Posted - 10/25/2008: 08:27:53
quote:
Originally posted by chill3570
I have been working on the "Banjo Boogie" and I must say that is alot of fun.
Thanks for the song.
I have about 2/3 of it down and it is just a blast to play and great practice.
Thanks again
Charlie
AWESOME! Charlie: Thank you for the compliment. 'Badbelly's Banjo Boogie' is my gift to this topic. Isn't it gas? I like playing it too; it's that third break that is really tricky, and it ain't easy to get up to speed, and do it cleanly. That's why I put in fretting-hand fingerings. Make every note count and play evenly ... that's my advice.
This tune, I think, fits into the Reno tradition; it's definitely not Scruggs- or Boggs-style or any of the melodic/chromatic players. There are a lot of chromatic passages, but this type of phrasing was around long before bluegrass, in jazz improvisation, on tenor banjo.
"Badbelly" is my bluesman alias - in concert/festival situations where I play acoustic blues guitar, breaking out the banjo at times, just to keep 'em on their toes! Happy pickin, Tom http://www.tomhanway.com/discog.htmhttp://www.tomhanway.com
Edited by - Tom Hanway on 11/12/2008 16:18:35
travis_towle - Posted - 11/09/2008: 21:23:20
Wow - still trying to nail this style down! But thought since there is so much interest I would point you guys to this other thread I posted about this long ago:
============= COPY =============================
I just got an e-mail back from Pat Cloud on my question about Blues Banjo techniques and the style to make the BLUES sound on a banjo today and here is what he said:
He has a short blues instruction video that is available for free to anyone who will send him an email asking about it. This is a great instructional video that gets down to the basic's of the blues on the banjo. It will take me a while to get it all down and be able to master this part of it, but it is very worth watching if you are into this.
Go to his site www.PatCloud.com and send him an email using the link provided and he will get the link for the video to you.
Travis E. Towle
Founder of WorldwideRadio ®
Topeka, Kansas
================== COPY ========================
Here is the forum link:
http://www.banjohangout.org/forum/t...PIC_ID=75509
Travis E. Towle
Founder of WorldwideRadio ®
Topeka, Kansas
Tom Hanway - Posted - 11/12/2008: 16:28:00
How cool is that? Anything Pat Cloud has to teach about playing blues or jazz or just plain old good music on the banjo is well worth checking out. Nice one. I can't think of a more germane video addressing this topic ... and it's by one of the most talented masters of banjo improvisation. Playing the blues also has to be about improvising the blues. Pat Cloud .... no better man!
Happy pickin,
Tom
Please check out my webpage and digital stores.
Tom Hanway - Posted - 12/06/2008: 19:27:32
I have made a groundbreaking discovery (for me), started a new music theory thread and put up 12-bar blues accompaniment to ‘Stormy Monday' – in two amazing jazz/modal tunings that I recently discovered. I will give charts, discuss BLUES, jazz, chord substitution and music theory applications here.
Happy pickin,
Tom Hanway
Please visit my digital stores on my new homepage.
Edited by - Tom Hanway on 12/06/2008 19:29:47
gorf - Posted - 12/07/2008: 05:51:20
Nice site, thanks for the info. I playing along with the blues on there and it's got a nice sound to it.
quote:
Originally posted by zami
By the way, here is a site that teaches some basic blues banjo:
http://stovermusic.com/Five_String_Banjo/blue.htm
Good luck!
Zami
johann - Posted - 12/14/2008: 10:35:34
I can highly recommend Fred Sokolow's bluegrass book. It has a really great chapter on bluzing up the 5-string with some tunes and examples. He's a great all around picker (guitar, banjo, etc). It is a beginner book but contains a ton of information! He also has a few other books which might have jazz/blues stuff though I am not sure.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Blue...79569&sr=8-2
JOnkka - Posted - 12/18/2008: 20:14:23
I remember a Hallmark or something card that was a Peanuts cartoon that said that everyone should be issued a banjo when their born. Something about keeping them happy.
I don't think that the blues can really be done on the banjo. You might have to think of it as sort of a parody.
Ronnie Ramin - Posted - 01/06/2009: 08:04:30
quote:
... preferred to back his singing by performing and recording on acoustic guitar. Why?
The guitar is better suited than the banjo in capturing the bass notes, low drones and contrary motion in rags, blues and gospel music, because of the two additional bass strings (E and A). This simple fact allowed Davis and seminal blues musicians to imitate the bass notes of the piano, whether it be ragtime, blues, gospel or some nascent musical hybrid. It's about the range of the guitar.
I agree completely with this statement. I recently started working on playing Bottle Neck Blues guitar. there are a lot of open tunings and Banjo skills transfer easily, too easily in fact. But having the two extra low strings is like an answer to a prayer. I think banjo players could benefit greatly from learning bottleneck, if only to see a slightly different way of using the same tunings. You don't have to play slide you can bend the notes forexpression. Ronnie
Edited by - Ronnie Ramin on 01/06/2009 08:14:11
banjofanatico - Posted - 01/06/2009: 14:27:38
Blues on the banjo sounds great to me. The fact that it isn't as popular in the blues as the guitar doesn't mean a whole lot. It isn't as popular as the guitar in almost any field of music, like folk music, pop music, jazz music etc., so I don't see what imitating a piano has to do with it. I doubt most blues guitar players were trying to imitate a piano any more then
Chet Atkins was trying to imitate a piano on his guitar.
David
steve davis - Posted - 04/20/2009: 05:00:48
Listen to Jim Kweskin.You'll find a lot of blues there.
Blues in the Bottle
Memphis Blues
Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gave To Me,etc.
I think they had a banjo player...:)
Pool
Tom Hanway - Posted - 04/20/2009: 05:10:12
I dreamed up another 12-bar blues boogie, starting with a melodic phrase from 'Whistling Rufus', combining it with the Lester Flatt G-run, then a bluesy variation of the 'Whistling Rufus' phrase, transposing these phrases to the C7 and D7 chords, and putting in a dash of the famous bass line to 'My Girl', phrased a bit differently.
It all makes for a 12-bar blues (I hope) - and the assorted melodic contours become one melody. Actually, the bluesy 'Whistling Rufus' phrase is almost the classic bluegrass G-run (adding a "blue" flatted third), and it's no big stretch to follow up with the bass line to 'My Girl', which is ascending major pentatonic mode.
This tune also works as a break for 'Badbelly's Banjo Boogie', which I put up earlier - just scroll back. In addition to Cannon-style chord arpeggios, one could lay it down as a break for 'Big Railroad Blues' (Cannon's Jug Stompers), which is virtually 12-bar blues, give or take a half measure.
For traditional bluegrass that uses 12-bar blues forms, it works in 'Foggy Mountain Special' (Scruggs), 'Double Banjo Blues' (Reno), in 'Freight Train Boogie' (Reno) and in other 12-bar tunes. 'Badbelly's Banjo Boogie' is a more complicated 12-bar blues in G, with three different breaks, using increasingly complex chord substitutions with each pass. It is chromatic and jazzy, whereas “Flatt Runs Into Rufus Whistling ‘My Girl’” has less notes, i.e., more pentatonic passages. Another difference is that the latter tune has more melodic-style playing and relies less on single-string playing, which is why I decided to tab it out for learning purposes.
In my Hangout Photos I have put 'Badbelly's Banjo Boogie' in standard notation (with Nashville System chords) for folks who want to try it on piano or other instruments, e.g., guitar, mandolin, fiddle, sax, etc.
I've given a plethora of examples here for BLUES on the five-string, in a finger style, composing tunes for this thread, and I hope I've helped to impart some germane ideas about blues music and put it all in usable context - that's why all the tabs, anecdotes and standard notation.
Anyone who has ever played ragtime or ragtime blues guitar and then tried to play the same tunes on banjo will notice and, in all likelihood, miss the two extra bass strings of the guitar, which make it possible to get bass lines like you would find on a piano. Guitar arrangements are fuller than banjo arrangements, especially as regards moving bass lines, contrary motion, octave doubling and overall harmonic range.
Enjoy.
Happy pickin,
Tom Hanway
Please see my homepage and digital stores.
''Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.'' - W. B. Yeats
Edited by - Tom Hanway on 04/20/2009 05:11:32
banjofanatico - Posted - 04/23/2009: 16:35:53
That was interesting. I've never heard blues with an Irish tinge before. I guess you lose some banjoistic qualities when you play the blues in only single notes, though. If you play the blues in a more 3-finger Scruggs style, it adds depth to the sound, so that it is not so sparse sounding. That's partly what 3-finger style is all about, otherwise, you might as well flat-pick it.
David
Tom Hanway - Posted - 04/24/2009: 12:11:32
Awesome, Doub! Folks, notice Doub's very evolved picking-hand technique. He's not limited to rolls across strings or TI patterns on a single string; he is adding the middle finger for TITM throughout. Classy job here. Great exercise - also notice the position shifts - very helpful. Thank you Doub. That's a keeper.
Happy pickin,
Tom Hanway
Please see my homepage and digital stores.
''Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.'' - W. B. Yeats
pearcemusic - Posted - 04/24/2009: 12:21:39
quote:
Originally posted by Tom Hanway
Awesome, Doub! Folks, notice Doub's very evolved picking-hand technique. He's not limited to rolls across strings or TI patterns on a single string; he is adding the middle finger for TITM throughout. Classy job here. Great exercise - also notice the position shifts - very helpful. Thank you Doub. That's a keeper.
Happy pickin,
Tom Hanway
Please see my homepage and digital stores.
''Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.'' - W. B. Yeats
right back atcha !!! The Pearce Family Bluegrass Band www.pearcemusic.com
Tom Hanway - Posted - 04/28/2009: 01:55:55
quote:
Originally posted by banjofanatico
That was interesting. I've never heard blues with an Irish tinge before. I guess you lose some banjoistic qualities when you play the blues in only single notes, though. If you play the blues in a more 3-finger Scruggs style, it adds depth to the sound, so that it is not so sparse sounding. That's partly what 3-finger style is all about, otherwise, you might as well flat-pick it.
David
David - Thank you for writing. I think you answered your own either-or question. Well said, very logical. It seems a "straw man", however, if we are talking about playing blues in an ensemble situation, where we are playing both lead and back-up, incorporating available techniques, building solos, jamming and improvising from a creative place. Don't let others box you in or trap you in a position or a style, folks. Trust me on that.
It's a fascinating, broad area for banjo, with many, many options, so before folks make the wrong inference about my blues recordings, y'all can hear me playing blues banjo on 'Crossroad Blues', the Robert Johnson tune, which I recorded for Bucket of Bees (produced by Tony Trischka). It's about drive, playing with others, and I am glad that I have a Scruggs foundation, or I wouldn't have been able to record this tune and others. Just go to my signature below and click on the link. It's not about an either-or choice, at least not for people who love to jam and love to pick the blues.
No Irish-laced single-note passages here - it's Scruggsy rolls and a bluesy single-string and rolls passage on the bass notes in the intro, going back to the signature 'Crossroad Blues' lick that we associate with Cream, which, interestingly, is not that far off the Scruggs lick on 'Foggy Mountain Breakdown'. David Grier flatpicks on it, so there is flatpicking, and then some! I composed seven tunes for this recording and recorded 'Nashville Blues', also a very rare and bluesy Scruggs tune, 'You Can't Stop Me from Dreaming', which Tony turned me onto. Are you familiar with it? Vassar sings on it. Bucket of Bees is decidedly NOT an Irish CD, though I did compose one Irish hornpipe for it.
On the 'Crossroad Blues' track is guitar maestro David Grier, playing "outside the box", Andrea Zonn (Vince Gill Band) plays hot bluesy fiddle, Barry Mitterhoff (now with Jorma Kaukonen) plays very tasty mandolin, Kevin Maul (Robin & Linda Williams) is on hound-dog guitar (dobro), the late Don Brooks (the Broadway actor/musician) plays blues harmonica, and Larry Cohen (Tony Trischka & Skyline) plays a super-hard-driving bass. Playing bluesy banjo on a track is still about playing in the ensemble. I can assure you this blues track has no "Irish tinge", whatever that means - no leprechauns or lace curtains here.
It's on the edge, and because it's originally a blues guitar piece, it's not what you call traditional bluegrass. The whole album has a newgrass feel, with Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan and Mark Schatz helping out, 33 pickers in all. It was a lot of fun to make, with lots of bluegrass, bluesy and even jazzier stuff. It's a mixed bag, for sure.
'Crossroad Blues' (key of E) is a flat-out burner, I kid you not, with super-Scruggsy banjo rolls, reversing the roll like you hear in 'Shuckin' the Corn' (on the C7 chord) - no capo and no retuning. Hey, folks, it’s available as an mp3 on the major download stores – not a throwaway ... but serious hard work, and you have to suffer if you wanna sing the blues, or pick it on banjo.
To be sure, I play the blues all kinds of ways, and being a blues guitarist, having training in Rev. Gary Davis alternating thumb-index patterns, I don't limit my technique to any one approach. I certainly do NOT use an Irish approach to play blues, David, though your post seems to suggest that. Maybe that's your assumption, but that's not what I do.
Also, we know Scruggs as a bluegrass musician, not a blues musician, though he plays some pretty bluesy stuff (in a bluegrass band context).
Come to think of it, David, the single-note lick that Scruggs uses on 'Pike County Breakdown' is one of his bluesiest licks, hard for people who shy away from single-string playing, but obviously not hard for Earl.
I have other blues influences, beyond Scruggs and Reno, as I am also a country blues guitarist and have a traditional blues and gospel CD with Vassar Clements, The Badbelly Project: Hesitation Blues, also digitally distributed as an album package, a la carte, or as ringtones. On this recording I play acoustic-electric blues banjo (Nechville Meteor) on ‘Southbound’ (Doc & Merle Watson's tune) – also a legal download for your listening pleasure. The Amazon link sounds better to me, but the iTunes, Rhapsody and Napster links are all good, and others. No messing around! Happy pickin, Tom Hanway Please see my homepage and digital stores. ''Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.'' - W. B. Yeats
banjofanatico - Posted - 04/28/2009: 09:25:13
I like single-note licks too, also "double-stops" . When they are played on the lower 2 strings, they sound similar to blues guitar bass-lines. I don't hear them on banjo much, though. I'll have to listen to "Pike Country Breakdown". I don't seem to have that recording. I did make up a tune called "Banjo Boogie Woogie" which I posted to the "Sound Off" section.
David.
Tom Hanway - Posted - 04/28/2009: 23:22:22
quote:
Originally posted by banjofanatico
I like single-note licks too, also "double-stops" . When they are played on the lower 2 strings, they sound similar to blues guitar bass-lines. I don't hear them on banjo much, though. I'll have to listen to "Pike Country Breakdown". I don't seem to have that recording. I did make up a tune called "Banjo Boogie Woogie" which I posted to the "Sound Off" section.
David.
Okay, David, 'Pike County Breakdown' is one of the earliest and most played Scruggs breakdowns, and I'm surprised that you don't have it in your toolbox, or under your fingers. It's one of those seminal tunes that Scruggs players have to know and be able to execute crisply and cleanly. It "separates the men from the boys" - and you cannot fake it. You know it or you don't. It behooves beginning Scruggs players to find the original recording by Earl, then maybe look at other versions for variations. Sonny Osborne recorded it when he was a teenager, but he was just a teenager.... You can do a search under Bear Family Records for Monroe's version (with young Osborne), but really, you need to hear Earl do it, first and foremost. That is truly the standard.
As for double-stop playing, clean double-stops and single-string work on all the full-length strings. Double-stops for blues (and rock) work all over the neck, on just the first four strings, just as bending works all over the neck, on the first four strings - though one could bend the fifth, I suppose. 'Shuckin' the Corn' has very important double-stops played up the neck, and it's important that you "get up on your nails" for those, if you're going for the Scruggs sound.
I would do some serious woodshedding on Scruggs and get to know the standards that Scruggs players must know. It will give you true authority in this most important aspect of 5-string banjo playing, whether it be for bluegrass or crossing over into blues. To get deeper into banjo blues, I would also digest Reno's 'Double Banjo Blues' for starters, and don't forget 'Green Mountain Hop', his take on 'Black Mountain Blues' (aka 'Black Mountain Rag').
There's a good thread here, which has some neat tab explaining the rapid-fire Scruggs 3-2 pull-offs, which you have to have in order to play 'Pike Country Breakdown' with authority. It has to be perfect ... or not at all. Tall order, I know, but that's the mandate.
http://www.banjohangout.org/forum/t...IC_ID=143086
Here's another interesting thread for you, but I would be careful of trying to learn Scott Vestal breaks before you've immersed and baptised yourself in the rolling river of Scruggs. Keep the faith, all who wander are not lost. Check it out:
http://www.banjohangout.org/forum/t...IC_ID=146551
Good stuff, keep it up.
Happy pickin,
Tom Hanway
Please see my homepage and digital stores.
''Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.'' - W. B. Yeats
Edited by - Tom Hanway on 04/30/2009 16:32:11
trapdoor2 - Posted - 05/01/2009: 07:07:31
Sorry to jump in this thread so late...
Here's a link to some "classic banjo" blues by Emile Grimshaw as published in the 20's. Rob MacKillop does a great job with the old sheet music. Look over on the left side (scroll down) and it is #6 on his list.
http://classic-banjo.ning.com/profile/RobMacKillop
And here's the link to his blog which has a .pdf of the original sheet music linked therin...should anyone want to see it.
http://classic-banjo.ning.com/profi...mshaws-blues
We suspect this is the earliest "published" blues, specifically written for the banjo.
===Marc
"If banjos needed tone rings, S.S. Stewart would have made them that way."
KI4PRK - Posted - 05/04/2009: 20:44:27
Double stops briefly caught my eye enough to post this:
Check out Don Reno's approach to double stops. While he occasionally just grabbed the strings with 2 or 3 fingers like most pickers do (when he wanted that tone), he also used a sweet technique where he rested his hand on the bridge and then brush the double stops with his thumb. For the most famous (and for good reason, it's... unbelievable) example of this, listen to "I Know You're Married" by Reno & Smiley, not the DOT recording but the King version (the earlier one). You can get sort of a rock and roll or electric blues sound with this. And you can really suddenly gain a whole lotta control over the tone of the banjo. Don't press too hard, or you'll noticeably change the tuning of the banjo.
73, Brennen
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