ThePicLicRoll - Posted - 03/18/2011:  23:02:56

Thanks Rob for the great lesson. I found them on YouTube a couple of months ago. I'm a beginner and this is the first song I'm learining. That third string pull off is hindering my speed but I will get it in time. Overall it took about 2 hours to get to Practice companion C. Thanks a bunch.

Mastercraft Left Hand Deluxe
Recording King RK-80L

Rob Bourassa - Posted - 03/18/2011:  23:51:02

I can wait till I can afford a banjo, because I really need to be working on my guitar instruction videos right now, and I have a ton of session work to do. I am also busy with songwriting workshops in public schools, and the grant money is good enough, that I might find a bit extra for a banjo.

I don't want to act like a charity case. I like the free lessons, and I am not under any pressure to produce more. If I had a banjo given to me, it would no longer be a no strings deal, and I would feel obliged to produce banjo instruction videos at the expense of my work.

I do appreciate the thought though, and I plan on doing more, whenever things lighten up, and I have a good banjo. I am shopping around actually, but just window shopping for now.

k-dawg - Posted - 03/20/2011:  13:46:21

OOhhh! You're left handed, that makes a big difference...

...Just kidding.

Keep up the practice, we beginners need to stick together.
Pick on!
Ken

Jazz Country - Posted - 03/20/2011:  17:48:10

Rob,

I just went through your whole Cripple Creek series. Thank you SO much for fighting the early morning fatigue in order to produce these videos. In two hours I learned more than I did during the last 3 weeks of book/DVD study. These are awesome lessons. I am very grateful.


Larry

curman - Posted - 03/20/2011:  21:04:47

I'm so glad I found this, I bookmarked it on my Droid and learning a little at a time. I just bought my banjo this march while working night shift on an outage and I don't have much time to practice, and its driving me crazy but with Robs lesson I'm learning cripple creek. One more week and the outage is over, I can't wait.

Rob Bourassa - Posted - 03/20/2011:  22:03:40

I'm left handed too, but I couldn't find a left handed banjo when I was learning.

Glad the lessons are working Larry.

I start teaching online early in the morning, usually around 8:00, because most of my students are in the U.K. That means I don't have much time to do this stuff, and many of the videos I had done earlier were lost, due to glitches in discs. Most of these vids show me at 1:00 A.M., and some go a couple of hours in taping. I simply never have time during the day, and all of the people running around my house make it hard to record at a regular hour. I have to wait till they are all asleep.

Unfortunately, by that time, I am half asleep too. I often nod out and wake up to finish a spot after a quick 10 minute chair nap. I have had a lot of comments saying that I look high as a kite; mostly on my guitar videos. I don't respond usually, but I really should just start making time in the day for these, so I don't get a reputation.

k-dawg - Posted - 03/20/2011:  22:34:44

Well Rob, in that case, for all you do, this Bud's for you.

Don't be ascared, he loves everybody.

Old Reddog

Rob Bourassa - Posted - 03/21/2011:  19:53:08

Ken,

Are those toothless gums? He still looks like he could tear something up.

k-dawg - Posted - 03/22/2011:  10:31:37

Oh no, he has plenty of teeth, he just doesn't use the for anything but eating.
The only thing I remember him tearing up was a big dog cushion about 5 years ago, when I went away for quite a bit of the day, and forgot to let him out first. I got home, and it looked like a snow storm happened while I was away.
Lesson learned.

miket786 - Posted - 03/22/2011:  20:51:45

Thanks Rob,

I have been struggling with Cripple Creek for a bit now. Well after you explanation of syncopation and the timing it all began to come together. How about cumberland gap next?

Thanks Again,

Mike Thomas

Tonecaster - Posted - 03/23/2011:  08:48:59

Rob,

You start at 7:00 Am and end at 3:00 Am. I know. I see you online.

PS. I don't think sleep would help your looks or mine.

Rob Bourassa - Posted - 03/23/2011:  12:29:42

Cumberland Gap might be after Little Maggie, (done, but not edited) Clinch Mountain Backstep, Power In the Blood of the Lamb, The Ballad of Jed Clampett, and several other requests. It is a good tune, but I would probably teach Sally Goodin' first, because a lot of people have trouble with Sally Goodin' if they learn Cumberland Gap first.


My U.K. guys take their lesson at tea time, and this week has been great, because there is only 4 hours difference till their daylight savings time kicks in. Back to normal next week. Germany is going back to 6 hours difference, and I have had some ask for 7:00 A.M. lessons, which is hard if you teach at 1:00 A.M. in Hong Kong.

But, I take a break before my East Coast lessons start, and read, usually to find myself nodding out a bit, so even with the crazy schedule, the breaks are very nice.

Beauty rest is for teenagers. Once you have hair in your ears, the game is all over.

Jazz Country - Posted - 03/24/2011:  05:40:56

It's great to see you're going to offer more videos. The basic drills are very important, but it's so enjoyable to play songs from the get go. Just a little bit of practice is yielding results already. Can't wait to see the next lesson.

ThePicLicRoll - Posted - 03/24/2011:  22:48:54

Ohh, the Man of Constant Sorrow lesson is pretty good to. It's becoming a little tough for me the beginner, but you make it practiceable (if that's even a word). Maybe we should donate to the "Donate a banjo to Rob" fund? lol

I learned Cripple Creek on my Mastercraft Deluxe L banjo and recently got a fantastic deal on a Recording King RK-80L and man this thing brings this song to life. I get a lot of compliments on this song. I've only been playing for a couple of months. My wife is really impressed. It's all thanks to you Rob.

From reading your posts Rob sounds like you teach a lot. Any openings?

ThePicLicRoll - Posted - 03/24/2011:  22:50:50

Not to jack the originals posters thread.

You're doing great! Keep up the good work! I'm learning right along with ya!

Rob Bourassa - Posted - 03/26/2011:  17:09:41

Pic Lic,

I'm glad that the videos are helpful.

I don't have too many regular openings. I have about 250 students on Skype alone, so it is hard to fit everyone in on a monthly basis, let alone weekly. I do get cancellations every week, so I always have a spot open here or there.

For my guitar students, I have a very detailed program called the 7 Week Primer for Guitar, which is free on my Youtube channel. I advise all that call me for guitar lessons to take advantage of the program because it is free, and develops basic musicality.

I hope to get a chance to do a similar program for 5 String this year, which would allow my banjo students to develop basic musicality at no charge. Maybe in the fall.

Glad to help out.

Jazz Country - Posted - 04/03/2011:  12:12:17

Hey Rob,

It's been exactly 2 weeks since I checked out your lesson. I've been practicing the A and B parts over and over like a mindless drone. I made a real breakthrough today and played the song at 185 bpm to my BIAB backing track. It's beginning to sound like music.

Thanks again for posting the videos.

Larry

Rob Bourassa - Posted - 04/03/2011:  16:34:00

Glad to hear it Larry. The reason I change up Cripple Creek to incorporate a descending slide as well as the ascending slide on the 3rd string is so I can develop the right hand to break the in and out roll and play some single string patterns. This slows a beginner down at first, but once they have it, they seem to have less trouble with other exercises.

I wish I had the time to do a basic musicality program for banjo. That is the most neglected element in music today, especially for guitar. I had a student who had been on tour with a well known band, who came to my studio several years ago, and said that he wanted to "pick my brain" and see how I would improvise over a piece, and maybe he could get some "fresh ideas" from me.

I asked him to play a piece, and he played a jazz standard that I had played a million times. I improvised over it, and he wanted me to recreate my lines so he could copy them, but I like the adage, "give a man a fish, he eats for a day; teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime."

I asked him to name a song that he'd sung since he was little, and he said, "Take Me Out to The Ball Game." I asked him to play it, and he couldn't. He stumbled for a minute, trying to find the first note, then added incorrect chords, and after a minute of having it not sound very good, he was shaking and angered at himself, and mad at me for putting him on the spot.

I told him that he didn't need to "pick my brain", he needed to learn simple, basic musicality. He was so proud that he started packing up his guitar case, and complained that he didn't want to learn that song anyway. He missed the point. I told him that until he learned to play a simple song on the first try, without mistake, he was wasting his time trying to learn jazz improvisation.

This is the problem with the world though. So many have to have their ego stroked, and because they won't humble themselves to learn how melodies work through the template of a scales and a chord progression, they continue to miss the big picture, and waste countless hours of practice and even more money on DVDs, workshops and books, when they really need to sit down and knuckle out a chord solo for Happy Birthday, transpose it and learn how to play.

This doesn't mean a banjo picker can't jump right in and start learning arrangements. I like banjo for bluegrass tunes, and so do most, and the amount of ground work that needs to be laid for open G Bluegrass standards can be pretty well laid with the memorization of a dozen songs or so. The act of learning arrangements usually lays a pretty good foundation for melodic proficiency, because the memorization produces a musical analogy, and the player gets used to the sound of certain notes being at certain frets, and they learn how to play the melody in context of the corresponding triad.

I think banjo is a more natural way to learn musicality, because of the open tuning, and the fact that there are only 4 strings to chord. (Not counting 5th.) A good exercise is to take G, C and D in root and the next 2 inversions, and be able to play that progression up the neck. Play a simple song like Happy Birthday. First, you have to find which interval in the scale you begin the melody with. As the melody gets higher, you need to change the inversion, which is an excellent exercise. Getting the right chord as you change adds an element to the game that really helps you learn the neck well.

When I get a chance, I will do some lesson videos for banjo on this.

JGfan - Posted - 09/11/2011:  13:14:02

Thank you for posting these lessons Mr. Bourassa! I just started learning to play banjo about 6 weeks ago and have now learned to play Cripple Creek fairly well. Clinch Mountain Backstep, Little Maggie, and Cumberland Gap are all great tunes, and I hope that you will have a chance to do them as well. Hope you will be able to get another banjo soon too :)

Rob Bourassa - Posted - 09/12/2011:  16:04:33

I just did two videos, and am finishing up with a couple more. I have borrowed my buddy Russ' Liberty, and am doing Little Maggie as well as Clinch Mountain Backstep, and an original tune as well as some exercises.

I have been sidetracked with the filming of a series of videos lately. My buddy Gary Zimnicki, (luthier) is almost finished building a piccolo guitar for me, and I have been documenting every step on my YouTube channel.

We are finishing up in a day or two, then it's banjo city.

JGfan - Posted - 09/12/2011:  17:46:47

Can't wait lol. You're method is incredibly easy to follow.

Steve Howell - Posted - 09/22/2011:  19:40:43

HI ROB,
thank u for getting the link working. i am still hammering away at fmb, and am making speed progress. i've committed it to memory, now am practicing speed and technique. i am familiar with cripple creek, however, my version don't sound like i want it to, i will try ur s..thanks so much once again. ttyl, steve