maryzcox - Posted - 06/09/2019:  11:15:20

Music for a new found Harmonium

Already knew the melody and parts because I learned it a few years ago on guitar :)

But recently Andy Alexis posted his clawhammer version of it on the TOTW here on BHO & I got interested in it again & am starting on Andy's version to just to know the basics of it--then will either play along with a cd or find others to play it with .   

Best wishes,

Mary Z Cox

maryzcox.com

Ps.  Sometimes I'll play tunes for many, many years and play several different versions on different cds--so just because I know a tune doesn't mean I'm finished with it.  For example--recorded "Andrew Jackson Go Back Home" on a fretless minstrel banjo in 2003 on "A Secret Life Of Banjo"    . Just recorded it again in 2019 on "Carolina Banjo"  But this time its in a different key on my baritone banjo & Tim Gardner weaves a haunting  fiddle break around it.    :) Some of these tunes just never end --haha :)

Carolina Banjo Tab Book 2019--17 tunes & songs & much more--metal spiral binding

Carolina Banjo/ Mary Z Cox

Mooooo - Posted - 07/22/2019:  10:53:12

I have been spending some time enjoying the excellent arrangement of Over the Rainbow in Alan Munde's Great American Banjo Songbook. This version sounds so good, and is relatively easy to play. I guess over the past month I have sort of merged what I learned from Vic Jordan's version and this one to come up with a very custom made for me version. Gonna work up the neck on this one now. If you want to pick some classics, this is the book to get.

warpdrive - Posted - 07/24/2019:  19:45:15

I've been spend time just seeing how clean and fast i can play this new banjo.

But the tunes that i am most often coming back to for playing are fiddle tunes. again played very fast....160 bpm is about crusin speed for me.

A couple of them are original arraignments ....casey Jones, and then New camp town races , but fast becoming my favorite is Angelina Baker, and cherokee Shuffle then there is a monroe tune...Tallahassee really neat tune, then there is a couple of my golden oldies that really i could use them as contest tunes i've got them down so fast and clean and impressive use of melodic scale being ran at fast speeds, that just stop and make you go HUH? Black Diamond, and then if i can hold it together. and version of John Henry that bounces from Scruggs to Reno , the speed is blinding, borderline record establishing....serious stuff, for a serious picker.

sirtwangalot - Posted - 07/29/2019:  09:00:02

Working on Shenandoah Breakdown, Up the neck for basic tunes like Willow Garden, John Hardy etc, Dixie Hoedown, and lots of Melodic stuff.

New Camptown Races, and Janet Davis's Up the neck.

I am playing as cleanly as I can, and not concerned with speed at all now. After @ 1/2 hour the speed picks up naturally, but I won't sacrifice rhythm and tone for speed.

warpdrive - Posted - 07/29/2019:  10:54:33

sirwangalot,

working on cleanliness is a way more important factor than speed!

I know in my post, after waiting too long before i could edit it....it reads like i put speed first and foremost, and nothing could be further from the truth.
Speed is really over rated if you can't operate in a band format, and the only reason i am concentrating on speed, especially at this time in my life is because i'm fast watching the years catch up to me, and i won't be able to pick fast forever, but i would never put speed above cleanliness.
Sounds like you really got your priorities in the right order....good for you!
Warp !

spoonfed - Posted - 07/29/2019:  11:16:28

currently learning "Whistling Rufus" my method is to listen to/watch as many versions as I can find and cherry pick what I need to play it my way and, not sound like anybody else.

chuckv97 - Posted - 07/29/2019:  11:27:43

I put Heartaches on the shelf - I’ll get back to the GABS later. More pressing stuff lately that other picking friends want to play. So I worked up Ste. Anne’s Reel, Rebels Ye Rest, and started on Second Cup of Coffee. I work up breaks to songs in either G or C position, depending on where I can sing’em, then capo if I have to.

Mooooo - Posted - 08/05/2019:  10:59:49

quote:

---

Originally posted by chuckv97

I put Heartaches on the shelf - I’ll get back to the GABS later. More pressing stuff lately that other picking friends want to play. So I worked up Ste. Anne’s Reel, Rebels Ye Rest, and started on Second Cup of Coffee. I work up breaks to songs in either G or C position, depending on where I can sing’em, then capo if I have to.

---

I am also slowing down on the Great American Banjo Songbook because I have the urge to breeze through these great old songs without really learning them and getting them down before moving on. I am deliberately taking my time and trying to get as much as I can out of the songbook. I have enjoyed researching the songs as well...I am trying to get into the habit of research instead of simply copying one version of a song, and trying to choose a key to pick in that is in my vocal range (with or without a capo), as you seem to be, instead of simply playing like the records.

Edited by - Mooooo on 08/05/2019 11:07:00

chuckv97 - Posted - 08/05/2019:  11:27:34

Yeah, Mike, I get a kick out of playing through a lot of the GABS tunes,, even at slow & halting speeds. I think they’ve done a nice job of setting those arrangements on the banjo...big kudos to Alan and Beth.
BTW, I finally went after tabbing out a new tune I like from YouTube - slowing it down to .25 speed. Harder than I thought it would be,, all the stopping and starting,, getting 4 notes at a time. One good thing is the pitch remains the same regardless of the speed you choose to slow it down. Nice feature - first time I’ve tried it.
Is that how you do your tabs?

Mooooo - Posted - 08/05/2019:  11:43:39

quote:

---

Originally posted by chuckv97

Yeah, Mike, I get a kick out of playing through a lot of the GABS tunes,, even at slow & halting speeds. I think they’ve done a nice job of setting those arrangements on the banjo...big kudos to Alan and Beth.

BTW, I finally went after tabbing out a new tune I like from YouTube - slowing it down to .25 speed. Harder than I thought it would be,, all the stopping and starting,, getting 4 notes at a time. One good thing is the pitch remains the same regardless of the speed you choose to slow it down. Nice feature - first time I’ve tried it.

Is that how you do your tabs?

---

Yes, that's how I've been doing it for the past few years (since I noticed that YouTube vids could be slowed down...it used to be 50% before they started 25% slowdown, which is easier than slowing down albums to 16rpm). Some songs are easy enough to pick up at speed, but for the hard ones, I am grateful to YouTube.

Doug Knecht - Posted - 08/05/2019:  17:59:49

I'm learning to play the Bon Jovi song "You Give Love a Bad Name." I've tried working on it a bit with the rock band's video, but the best method that worked out for me is just to jump into it with our bluegrass band. It's a real challenge! Reminds me of something New Grass Revival might pick. There's a section in there that can double time on banjo and then return to regular timing. It's in Cm, which is kind of a challenge too. I'm enjoying this one

Froglips - Posted - 08/06/2019:  21:10:39

It's an easy old 3 chord tune I am strumming on the banjo called 'This Train'.

I have been attempting to play along with this video just because it is so addictive, infectious, and really fun to play along to.
youtube.com/results?search_que...his+train

Try it out, and if you do not start smiling, and having fun like they are... There has to be something wrong with you! LOL!

Mooooo - Posted - 08/06/2019:  22:05:34

quote:

---

Originally posted by spoonfed

currently learning "Whistling Rufus" my method is to listen to/watch as many versions as I can find and cherry pick what I need to play it my way and, not sound like anybody else.

---

I do something similar sometimes, I learn them all then play whichever lick or phrase I can remember, usually doesn't sound like any single of the arrangements I stole from...then add some of my own way to do things as well.

Originally posted by Froglips

It's an easy old 3 chord tune I am strumming on the banjo called 'This Train'.



I have been attempting0 to play along with this video just because it is so addictive, infectious, and really fun to play along to.

youtube.com/results?search_que...his+train



Try it out, and if you do not start smiling, and having fun like they are... There has to be something wrong with you! LOL!

---

Which link are you referring to? Your link has more than 10 versions of that same song. I had a Bunny Wailer record with that song on it, he played it really slow and soulfully.

Edited by - Mooooo on 08/06/2019 22:09:33

Froglips - Posted - 08/07/2019:  16:40:00

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mooooo

quote:

---

Originally posted by spoonfed

currently learning "Whistling Rufus" my method is to listen to/watch as many versions as I can find and cherry pick what I need to play it my way and, not sound like anybody else.

---

I do something similar sometimes, I learn them all then play whichever lick or phrase I can remember, usually doesn't sound like any single of the arrangements I stole from...then add some of my own way to do things as well.

Originally posted by Froglips

It's an easy old 3 chord tune I am strumming on the banjo called 'This Train'.



I have been attempting0 to play along with this video just because it is so addictive, infectious, and really fun to play along to.

youtube.com/results?search_que...his+train



Try it out, and if you do not start smiling, and having fun like they are... There has to be something wrong with you! LOL!

---

Which link are you referring to? Your link has more than 10 versions of that same song. I had a Bunny Wailer record with that song on it, he played it really slow and soulfully.

Sorry bout that, Mooooo!

The first one that plays. It is Mumford and Sons with Old Crow Medicine Show jamming with a bunch of people by a train that takes off when they are done jamming.

---

Mooooo - Posted - 10/11/2019:  01:45:47

I'm trying to listen to a whole bunch of different versions of Red Wing for inspiration. I recently heard it sung for the first time. Hearing a melody sung can be quite a different experience from hearing instrumentals all my life...having said that, there's lots of great versions of this tune.

Edited by - Mooooo on 10/11/2019 01:47:47

Richard Hauser - Posted - 10/11/2019:  07:57:07

At times, it seems like the banjo player is the only person taking a "break". Singers seem inclined to shout "Take it banjo !!!". A banjoist can't repeatedly play the same version of a tune. So I am working harder on adding versions to tunes I already play than to learn new tunes. Right now I am working on BHO member "corcoran's" versions of Theme Time. I especially like the "B" part.

My next project will be learning a couple more versions of "Farewell Blues".

Owen - Posted - 10/11/2019:  10:25:20

....I've recently decided to take a second run at Jack Hatfield's Bluegrass Banjo Method / Book One.    A month in, and I've halfway mastered (?) lessons 1 and 2, and am making progress on the forward roll that introduces lesson 3.   

Edited by - Owen on 10/11/2019 10:27:34

Laurence Diehl - Posted - 10/11/2019:  14:31:09

Anyone working up a Christmas tune yet? it is apparently, just around the corner...

chuckv97 - Posted - 10/11/2019:  14:41:33

Here’s one for Christmas I’m working on,, one of Vince Sadovsky’s. I’ve included a tab excerpt. youtu.be/n3aH7v-BGv4

and another of his I like :  youtu.be/NxMrYNePw3g

Edited by - chuckv97 on 10/11/2019 14:45:22

Mooooo - Posted - 10/11/2019:  17:58:21

I hadn't noticed Christmas was just around the corner, but I haven't been to Home Depot lately...

That's a nice arrangement you're working on there Chuck,

Ira Gitlin did a really nice Christmas song last year that would be a cool one to work on...I'm gonna look for it. I think there might have been some tab available, but I could be wrong.

steve davis - Posted - 10/14/2019:  08:10:25

I like slow tunes like Black Diamond and Bye,Bye Blues.

Laurence Diehl - Posted - 10/15/2019:  09:08:14

Good to know Steve! You all hear what Steve likes??

I think black diamond around 50bpm would be a slow tune

chuckv97 - Posted - 10/15/2019:  09:22:34

Ya, bye bye blooz being lounge music...? I think you mean “show” tunes, right Steve?

youtu.be/eLfFZhVJrew

Edited by - chuckv97 on 10/15/2019 09:22:53

steve davis - Posted - 10/15/2019:  10:13:08

I mean tunes that people like to hear and I like to play,Chuck.
I don't label music beyond that.

chuckv97 - Posted - 10/15/2019:  11:22:06

Sorry for sounding sarcastic,,, but I actually did think you made a typo and meant “show tunes”. You know,, the faster catchy ones.

yeoldbanjoguy - Posted - 10/15/2019:  16:01:27

KISS did a tune called Black Diamond. Not very Christmasy  though. About as much as the bluegrass version however

Edited by - yeoldbanjoguy on 10/15/2019 16:02:44

Helix - Posted - 10/16/2019:  10:18:33

COLE YOUNGER

i just play it in g along with the album
Peter McLaughlin
I speed it up in public

reiskorn - Posted - 10/25/2019:  15:35:42

Hello all, first posting here... This year I have finally got me a banjo -- I love the sound since my earliest youth!

Currently, I'm training my dexterity with Foggy Mountain Breakdown... I can play it around 160 bpm now, whereas the original is more like 320 bpm. Hopefully it's true what people say, that speed comes with practice.

My next dream project is a song I love since I was a little boy, called "Unsere Altreucher". There is a live version where the banjo comes out much better, in the intro they even explain it thoroughly to the ignorant audience. The song starts at 1:12, the instrumental part at 3:29.

I don't think it's that complicated a song; I can play the melody, and I have the chords (it's in D, so mostly D, G and A, with the occasional Em7 or Bm7).

So, my question: How would I get started to play such a random song? Am I wanting too much too early? Should I first practice my basic rolls and licks, and then try to integrate them into the song, hoping for the best? Or do what phd wrote up there, listen to it at a really slow speed and transcribe it into tabs? Or learn to improvise?

Also, a concrete question: How would I tune the banjo for a song in D? Do people tune the fifth string down to F#, so it fits better? Or just go whatever, and keep it at GDGBD?

steve davis - Posted - 11/02/2019:  05:59:00

Practice up a few licks utilizing those chords.You can find them in books such as Tony Trischka's Hot Licks for the Bluegrass Banjo or Bill Knopf's book.
Test different ones to see what fits best,then adjust it to fit exactly (if it doesn't already).
Basically,build a vocabulary of choices.

Doug Knecht - Posted - 11/05/2019:  15:44:21

I’m just learning Dueling Banjos. How am I learning? Following the guitar player.

Lajjas - Posted - 11/11/2019:  05:27:30

Right now i'm alternating between "Bury me beneath the willow" by way of Jim Pankeys youtubevideo and "Roll in my sweet baby's arms" by the Muprhy Method DVD "Jam session standards". Stepping away from tabs is probably one of the best things i did for my banjopicking.

Chris270 - Posted - 11/13/2019:  15:05:28

Trying to learn Old Dangerfield off YouTube as played by Kristin Scott Benson. 2016 Live at the Red Clay Music Foundry. Recording quality makes it difficult to pick out individual notes.

steve davis - Posted - 11/15/2019:  14:00:46

My new one is the upper neck melodic break for Alan Bibey's Lee's Reel.
It's in D and has a great old tune feel.
My middle name is Lee and it's a middle name that's been passed down to my relatives for many generations.
Nice melody.

Appalachian - Posted - 11/17/2019:  15:40:56

Right now I’m working on “what a friend we have in Jesus” from the Murphy method Amazing Grace Lesson pack & “the Tennessee waltz” played in the key of D from Casey Henry.

But don’t tell Casey, I was supposed to file that one away for later!

Edited by - Appalachian on 11/17/2019 15:42:45

love2pick - Posted - 11/18/2019:  08:47:45

Down the Road.... Banjo hangout tab

mdh1966 - Posted - 11/18/2019:  08:59:08

"Are You Washed in the Blood" and "I'll Fly Away" mash-up and "Rocky Top".
I download various chord changes and find the one I like best. Then I transpose to a good key. Then I pick out the melody line and just fill in around it with rolls that put my fingers in the right positions to pick most of the melody.

Richard Hauser - Posted - 11/18/2019:  14:34:38

When you are the only person taking a "break" you need more variations than newly learned tunes. Today I worked on improving a melodic version of "Bill Cheathum". With the exception of popular traditional classics, I find myself combining melodic and "Scruggs" material in tunes. With 3 or 4 versions of a tune, with at least one version up-the-neck, my playing of tune will have more variety and last longer than just playing one version several times.I think mixing the two styles makes both styles sound even better. Melodic by itself can sometime sound mutinous.



Is that problem why some folks end up with a 6 string banjo ? I do know if I were younger and just starting out on fiddle, I would get a 5 string fiddle. Having that low "A" string on a 4 string fiddle provides "A G D A E" tuning, and that provides lots of new opportunities.

Edited by - Richard Hauser on 11/18/2019 14:35:51

steve davis - Posted - 11/18/2019:  18:29:58

I seldom play the same way every time.
What someone else just played has an affect on my choice of a break.

Good Buddy - Posted - 01/07/2020:  10:24:42

I am stealing the melodic licks that Alan Munde plays in Dear Old Dixie on the Blue Ridge Express CD. Man that Alan Munde ain't too shabby.

compound - Posted - 01/07/2020:  15:53:07

Still learning to come up to speed on “ easy “ tunes . Blackberry Blossom, Clinch Mountain Back Step ,yes , Wagon Wheel is a must play . Also working on other licks , no banjo instructor around here ‘ cept Jim Planky and Mr Nesbit . Playing guitar and mandolin has helped as well as I can’t read music and just learning banjo tabs . But with the aforementioned Gents downloaded and on a 42” tv I have picked up a lot of info . I like to learn one measure at a time , get it down and move to the next ... time consuming but works . 

steve davis - Posted - 01/07/2020:  17:25:28

Next is Walker Street Reel.

I first heard Don Roy play this in the 70s,but hadn't thought of it,since.

These ladies do it right.

I love this style of piano and her fleeting minor in the B part...Ooh,the rhythm.



youtu.be/TxI8qEYfa2Y

Edited by - steve davis on 01/07/2020 17:32:10

chuckv97 - Posted - 01/07/2020:  17:58:38

Good pie-a-na accompaniment on that by, who else, a Nova Scotian. Always like that,,,glad Bill Keith also used it on Rickett’s Hornpipe.

steve davis - Posted - 01/07/2020:  18:04:55

We have lots of piano players that play this dance style.
Don Roy,his wife and sister all play this style as strong as you'll hear.
They carry and drive it all so well.

Richard Hauser - Posted - 01/08/2020:  06:52:00

The tune "Banjoland Blues". I downloaded the tab and sound files from the composer Mike Hedding's website. Unlike some "blues" tunes, it is a real blues tune. It is in the key of "E" and doesn't have many, if any, commonly played licks. I will have to learn this tune phrase by phrase and do a lot of listening. It is unlike most banjo tunes I have learned.

It will be difficult, but that means I am learning something.

mmuussiiccaall - Posted - 01/08/2020:  08:13:39

quote:

---

Originally posted by Richard Hauser

The tune "Banjoland Blues". I downloaded the tab and sound files from the composer Mike Hedding's website. Unlike some "blues" tunes, it is a real blues tune. It is in the key of "E" and doesn't have many, if any, commonly played licks. I will have to learn this tune phrase by phrase and do a lot of listening. It is unlike most banjo tunes I have learned.



It will be difficult, but that means I am learning something.

---

Here's an E blues lick I like

E blues Lick

 

Mooooo - Posted - 02/06/2020:  12:15:36

I'm trying to come up with the best way for me to pick Little Rock Getaway in C. I've tried to do it like others have and it isn't working. I'm gonna forget about the 5th string and will not rely totally on rolls...which means i'll be hitting strings twice in a row from time to time, which I have been trying to avoid so far.

Richard Hauser - Posted - 02/07/2020:  09:22:50

I have been playing more guitar lately. So I thought I would learn to play a tune that I could play on guitar, fiddle, and banjo. So here I go on the tune "Jerusalem Ridge". I have often listened to the tune so I won't have to familiarize myself with the melody.

Good Buddy - Posted - 03/15/2020:  00:09:42

Hickory Holler by the Dillards. And working on some single string.

Richard Hauser - Posted - 03/15/2020:  07:40:56

Mike Hedding's version of "Whisky Before Breakfast" inspired me to learn to play the tune on the banjo. I am just about ready to start working on upgrading the tempo a little. I like Mike's versions of tunes because some of the tunes include techniques I have never used before. Like most people, I start making changes after I learn to play a tune.

I am getting ready to start Mike's tune "Hard Times" in the key of "C". Like the tune I mentioned in the previous paragraph, it has techniques I haven't used before. This tune will be a welcome change in the musical inventory.

Recently a BHO member posted a nice version of the Johnny Cash tune "I Still Love Someone". It has inspired me to find a slow tune I especially like, and then creating a version on my flattop guitar, then creating a version on the banjo.