Your guitar experience will be very  beneficial in learning the banjo. Hearing chord changes, recognizing chord's knowing progression's. I just wish when I started the banjo that I had some musical experience and/or musical knowledge. I found out that I am alway's learning, learning from those that are more experienced than I am and those that are less experienced than I am. You never stop learning!

Big Bird

Hey DC -

Life is over as you knew it, but on a good way.  Welcome

I'm with Big Bird.  When I started playing the banjo, it took me a long time to learn -- too long -- to focus on the chords and chord progression as the foundation for everything I was trying to play.  Everything is build up from the chords.  That's especially critical if you're learning to play by ear.  I lost that focus in a lot of published instructional material, which seems note-based rather than chord-based.  [Perhaps it's because bluegrass banjo chords are usually arpeggiated, i.e., broken down into their component notes.]  Once I learned to work from the chords, everything else got easier.  Jamming became 1,000% easier.

At jams, I notice how naturally attuned guitar players are to the chords.  There's a reason you're told to watch the guitar player's left hand if you don't know the progression.

So, DC, while you'll now be learning a lot of new things, you will be starting with a foundation I took many years to acquire.

Good luck.

Edited by - Rich Weill on 02/04/2012 07:37:03

DC, that's an impressive guitar room.  Replace each one with a banjo and it will be more impressiver.  Enjoy the journey.

Welcome DC !!  I rock out on the Banjo every day.  Hang in there and you will to........

Holy cow, that's an impressive arsenal of axes you got there!

Do any of those amps go up to eleven?

To those that commented. Can you really ever have too many guitars and yes I am afraid that it's just a matter of time till I have more banjo's then I need. The nature of me I guess. I attached a few more photo's of my guitar room and as you can see I don't just mess with the guitars. I'm all so in to ham radio and recording. And then there's the Harley. Why do all my interests eat money? This don't even include my woodworking stuff ( I make duck calls ) or my fleet of R/C aircraft. I have too many hobbies ( ask my wife). I figure I'll only live so long so I want to enjoy all I can. And yes the amps all go to 11. Back to praticing rolls. I do dig this banjo. And after looking down at a guitar neck for 30 years that tuner half way down the neck of a banjo messes me up...dc

I flew R/C aircraft for over 30 years before the banjo took over. Sold all my stuff to finance my first good banjo. That's how dangerous the waters are, that you have just stepped into!

Nice collection DC! Mine is about half that size. Sadly though, yours are going to start collecting alot of dust, because as several have already mentioned, the banjo is very addicting! And once BAS kicks in, you'll have to either start taking a few of your less favorites off the wall, or add on to your room! Good luck, and welcome aboard!

the banjo I bought which I know to be a budget banjo doesn't have a arm rest on it. I've already noticed my right forearm is sore from lying across the edge. I've seen several armrests on e-bay. Is it pretty much one size fits all? I'm thinking I need something. I ordered a strap last night. I never could play a guitar without a strap don't know what made me think I could play a banjo without one. Your mileage may vary, dc

I fly RC Helicopters from 250 size up to 700 size 3d style mostly, and sold some of my helicopter stuff to purchase my recording king R97, which i love. by the way that guitar room is awsome, and a very nice bike.

So it looks sounds like I need to start selling stufff so I can buy bigger and better banjos for the future. damn'it. dc

holy crap...I was just looking at some high quality banjos. I could by a really nice Les Paul for them prices. I hope I don't get hooked. :)

Edited by - DCinMO on 02/04/2012 14:31:09

Good luck. I'm also a guitarist and have been playing metal/classic rock since I was little. I thought banjo would be an easy transition since it seems very guitar like. The left hand will be the same for you and you won't have any trouble with changing chords or playing hammer ons, pull offs, slides and bends (chokes). Your knowledge of chords and scales will help.as well as your general musicianship that you have developed. With that said, the right hand is completely different and has a decent learning curve to get everything up to speed. I am a great guitar player and very beginning banjo player even after close to a year of banjo playing. If you want to instantly play another instrument, get a mandolin. I started that also about a year ago and its quite guitar like with the left and right hands. Don't let this discourage you. I just thought the banjo would be a lot easier with the guitar background but banjo is a different thing altogether. Have fun.

Edited by - JMalmsteen on 02/04/2012 17:52:08

Dc, welcome! I m from mo around lake of the ozarks. Look on the classifieds here on the hangout for an armrest. And no they r not one size fits all. U need to count how many brackets go around the head of ur banjo. Then find an armrest that will fit. Most of ur "vega style" ones will fit most banjos but they r little better than what u r dealing with now. There are some very nice wood ones and some brass ones sure to fit. Www.elderly.com and bob smakula have great ones. Also jdmc. Happy pikin!

I started as a Rockabilly guitarist.  still love guitar.    but there's something darn addictive about the banjo.

only thing I miss in bluegrass is really good slap bass.   you see a lot of wives and girlfriends, husbands, sons and daughters getting put on bass in bluegrass.

matter of fact, that's how I got in a band.. playing bass.  K.

Lots of that classic rock was just missing the banjo.

Your guitar room is incredible! I think your guitar playing experience can only help give you a big headstart with the banjo. Having several friends who played guitar, really got going with the banjo quickly, makes me think that. Very impressive guitar room. Expect it to become a guitar AND banjo room, now. lol. Many happy times on the banjo!

Once again thank you everyone for the warm welcome. It's a dreay overcast rainy day in North Missouri. I see banjo pratice in my future off and on all day. All so looks like a good day for overeating and napping. If I did it right I tried to attach a photo of my guitar room. dc




Well it's plain to see you already have GAS, so the transition to BAS should be no problem. :)

quote:

---

Originally posted by JMalmsteen

Good luck. I'm also a guitarist and have been playing metal/classic rock since I was little. I thought banjo would be an easy transition since it seems very guitar like. The left hand will be the same for you and you won't have any trouble with changing chords or playing hammer ons, pull offs, slides and bends (chokes). Your knowledge of chords and scales will help.as well as your general musicianship that you have developed. With that said, the right hand is completely different and has a decent learning curve to get everything up to speed. I am a great guitar player and very beginning banjo player even after close to a year of banjo playing. If you want to instantly play another instrument, get a mandolin. I started that also about a year ago and its quite guitar like with the left and right hands. Don't let this discourage you. I just thought the banjo would be a lot easier with the guitar background but banjo is a different thing altogether. Have fun.

---

You bring out some good points... but I think a key thing is that if you are a FLATPICKING guitarist, mandolin is going to be a natural jump, but if you are a FINGERPICKING guitarist, bluegrass banjo may still be more intuitive.  There is a local electric blues guitarist who started playing bluegrass banjo, but he was a fingerpicker from way back, so it comes naturally.

Still, I think for a rock guitarist, the banjo is going to have more appeal- in bluegrass anyway, it's the instrument with the most aggressive sound.

You stepped in it bigtime now ..................

You will find plenty of recovering guitar pickers here . I have played guitar for years and all of a sudden I picked up the jo and love it. I still pick my martin as much as I can of course .

Welcome!  Hey- if you're really into Civil War stuff you might wanna investigate some of the Old Time styles, like clawhammer. There were a lot of banjo styles in use at the time of the Civil War ('guitar style', aka fingerpicking being one of them) but clawhammer was one of the most prevalent. Here's a real master, playing a gourd banjo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxKlpK2_vlY

Wow, I have a lot of similarities with some the comments here... I used be a Civil War reannactor, sold my horse & gear to fund an RC addiction. Now I'm selling all my RC stuff to fund my soon to be banjo addiction. Anyone got a 800# I can call?

Hey DC, welcome to the hangout from down the road in Columbia MO! And I, too, played heavy metal and hard rock guitar back in the 70s and even into the "early Van Halen" 80s. I still play it some but not in a group. And although I don't have the collection you have, there are a few acoustic axes hanging around the house that get a lot of workouts. But the banjo is fantastic -- I just started playing a couple years ago and pretty much play it all the time now, with a guitar thrown in every now and then. You will love it but be patient as it is so different than bar chords and power strokes on the Strat.  And when you get a wild hair, take that Shure 57 away from your Marshall half-stack and stick it by your resonator, run it through the amp with a lot of gain. A fuzzed out banjo sounds pretty cool sometimes when you need a break from Flatt & Scruggs (but that just doesn't happen very often for me!)

Im a guitar player too, anything from heavy metal to classical to blues and bluegrass. I play guitar with and without a pick (plectrum) and ive dabbled in alternate tunings so the hardest part of this banjo thing for me is the finger picks but im getting used to it! im already hooked my guitars are gonna collect dust lol