It's Alive!

I don't know how I thought any of the (simple) bluegrass music I was playing before without finger picks was any good...

I started  playing with picks last week after getting some good feedback from some fellow Hangout members and my banjo started singing.  I went out and bought several different gauge picks and started pickin'.  I found that the lighter gauge (0.018) picks offered a softer (duh) feel and wasn't too much different than picking with my fingers.  For the first couple hours, my fingers were as a deer trying to stand just after birth- awkward and all over the place.  I caught myself staring at my picking hand to keep from picking two strings at once (as was the case every other note) and cringing at the wrong notes that were sounding because I was missing the frets.  I won't lie, it was very disheartening and I was seconds from throwing the picks in the trash, saying "screw it", and learning a new style.  Luckily I was born with a stubborn mind and so I sat there for three and a half hours playing the one and only song I knew how to play, ​Banjo in the Hollow (as taught by Murphy Henry).  I began to get the hang of it and was able to shift my focus back to my left hand and fretting the correct chords.  After a week of mind numbing practice and playing the same song over and over and over again, I can play that song at a pretty fast pace and am ready to move on to the next lesson in Volume 1.

Now back to the title of this piece...

There is certainly a beautiful difference in the tone of the banjo when playing with picks rather than with the bare hand.  The notes sound nice and sharp- also level of decibels louder- and I felt for the first time that I might have a chance at being a decent banjo player.  No wonder, Murphy Henry's music sounded so much different than the music I was playing (not mentioning the obvious difference in speed).

So, now I look forward every day to coming home and verifying that what I learned wasn't a fluke and could be repeated.  Today I start my second song and my wife is thrilled.  Sure, she's happy that I am continuing to learn, but, even more pumped up about not having to hear ​Banjo in the Hollow​ one last time (for a while at least).  I will admit, I was getting pretty sick of the song myself.  Until next time- 

Jake

My first entry...