Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 07/11/2020:  12:54:45

Title says it. I'm not good at tab, but am getting better. What does "galax" above the lines mean, and where does it come from?
Andy

ButchRobins - Posted - 07/11/2020:  12:59:32

quote:

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Originally posted by Andyrhydycreuau

Title says it. I'm not good at tab, but am getting better. What does "galax" above the lines mean, and where does it come from?

Andy

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Galax is a town in southwestern Virginia in the USA where the Old Time Fiddlers' Convention has been held every summer for years and attracts thousands of folks from all over the world.  oldfiddlersconvention.com/

Hay-on-Wye - Posted - 07/11/2020:  13:03:13

It’s a lick, the galax lick

youtu.be/aCZVwSf1nSU

Hay-on-Wye - Posted - 07/11/2020:  13:06:30

This is a good video of it

youtu.be/BwBzDW-olRU

Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 07/11/2020:  13:13:23

Ah, ok, I'll have a look. I'm trying "wandering boy", and just couldn't work it out. Thanks @butchrobbins and @hay-on-wye.
Butch, I'd love to do a banjo journey through the banjo heartlands of SE USA. Guess Galax should be on the list?
Thanks again,
Andy

Hay-on-Wye - Posted - 07/11/2020:  13:22:07

Galax lick is like a slow brush starting on the 2nd string with the nail brushing Strings 2, 1 and then two thumb pops on the 5th string. You can hear it on 1st tune here

youtu.be/BPhe0_ixZ2g

AndyW - Posted - 07/11/2020:  22:47:41

A galax lick is just an arpeggio brush to allow the thumb to hit the next frailing note instead of the frailing finger. Using the thumb often makes things a bit easier on the fretting hand.

The arpeggio can be a full on slow brush, or just a 2 note arpeggio with the brush speed adjusted appropriately appropriate to get the thumb sounding at the correct point.

There's no need for 2 thumb strokes, just one. But there can be 2. In fact in Backstep Cindy a galax lick is often played with 4 thumb strokes following the arpeggio. Another trick sometimes employed is that a note is slid during the arpeggio, usually the first string to the 5th fret to sound it in unison with the thumb strike.

The most important thing is to have the thumb sounding on time on the downbeat. The galax lick is really a tool to get that to happen in a nice sounding way without a pause gap.

It's pretty easy to do once you get the hang of it but as with anything will need a bit of practice and perserverance at first.

Of course all this might be superflous as you possibly can do all this already and it's just the name 'galax' confusing you.

Hay-on-Wye - Posted - 07/12/2020:  03:37:46

Here’s an excellent tutorial for wandering boy and if you click on link in video he has the tab for it

youtu.be/sZCvkYTlosc

Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 07/12/2020:  05:18:45

Thanks @hay-on-wye and @andyw.

I think I do "galax licks" without even knowing it. But I'm not sure!

Andy

Edited by - Andyrhydycreuau on 07/12/2020 05:23:14

Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 07/12/2020:  07:12:40

quote:

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Originally posted by Hay-on-Wye

Galax lick is like a slow brush starting on the 2nd string with the nail brushing Strings 2, 1 and then two thumb pops on the 5th string. You can hear it on 1st tune here



youtu.be/BPhe0_ixZ2g

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Yep, am doing these.  It's the tab reading that baffled me. 

On to "wandering boy" properly now.....

AndyW - Posted - 07/12/2020:  08:35:04

Who's tablature is it, most tab now is ok and should be relatively easy to follow, but older stuff sometimes has some quirks where the timing isn't shown too well.

Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 07/12/2020:  09:04:08

quote:

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Originally posted by AndyW

Who's tablature is it, most tab now is ok and should be relatively easy to follow, but older stuff sometimes has some quirks where the timing isn't shown too well.

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It's the only one on BHO. Handwritten, not sure who did it. I've got the Brainjo one now too. And I'll cross reference by ear. Have you found the Brad  Kolodner gourd banjo version? That's my inspiration...... Down in double G tuning. Ie. Double C, but much lower. 

Thanks for all the help, everyone.

Andy

Hay-on-Wye - Posted - 07/12/2020:  11:10:06

quote:

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Originally posted by Andyrhydycreuau

quote:

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Originally posted by Hay-on-Wye

Galax lick is like a slow brush starting on the 2nd string with the nail brushing Strings 2, 1 and then two thumb pops on the 5th string. You can hear it on 1st tune here



youtu.be/BPhe0_ixZ2g

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Yep, am doing these.  It's the tab reading that baffled me. 

On to "wandering boy" properly now.....

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The worst tab to read is in the John Burke book,  but once you figure it, he has some brilliant interpretations of tunes. 

pperkins - Posted - 07/13/2020:  21:54:18

I play clawhammer, Scruggs, Melodic, single string.....

The Galax appears to be a triplet. I have seen it before but did not know it what its name was....ingorance on my part. It was played G tuning, 2nd..1st..5th strings as e, f#, g notes.

Thinking of the Galax lick from a 3-finger style pov, one could also slow the Galax lick down. This would allow one to play 2 adjacent strings. Maybe some subsequent hammer-ons.

Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 07/14/2020:  00:10:55

quote:

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Originally posted by pperkins

I play clawhammer, Scruggs, Melodic, single string.....



The Galax appears to be a triplet. I have seen it before but did not know it what its name was....ingorance on my part. It was played G tuning, 2nd..1st..5th strings as e, f#, g notes.



Thinking of the Galax lick from a 3-finger style pov, one could also slow the Galax lick down. This would allow one to play 2 adjacent strings. Maybe some subsequent hammer-ons.

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Glad it's not just me. Though it rarely is. That's one of life's lessons, right?

I am self / internet taught, so often assume I'm not doing things right, or that I don't know how to do things. It was just the name I didn't know here.

Cheers!

Andy

hweinberg - Posted - 07/14/2020:  16:01:07

Warning: Historical Content    I believe that this move was first called the Galax Lick by Miles Krassen in his very fine 1970 book, "Clawhammer Banjo".  (It's still worth checking out if you like good tab.)  But this lick was not as representative of the Galax players as it was of the Round Peak players (eg, Tommy and Fred et al.) who lived about 25 miles to the Southeast. But Galax was the big town in the area so I guess it's understandable to call it the Galax Lick.  Miles also wrote a similar book, "Appalachian Fiddle" and edited a book of O'Neill's Fiddle Tunes of Ireland. He went on to get a Ph.D. in religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania, is a scholar of mysticism, became a rabbi and now lives in Alberquerqe, NM.  I have heard that he still plays out from time to time although I don't think he is teaching banjo anymore, but he does have a few lessons on youtube.  Just another example of the wide range of folks we meet in the old time music conspiracy.

Andyrhydycreuau - Posted - 07/15/2020:  00:13:22

quote:

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Originally posted by hweinberg

Warning: Historical Content    I believe that this move was first called the Galax Lick by Miles Krassen in his very fine 1970 book, "Clawhammer Banjo".  (It's still worth checking out if you like good tab.)  But this lick was not as representative of the Galax players as it was of the Round Peak players (eg, Tommy and Fred et al.) who lived about 25 miles to the Southeast. But Galax was the big town in the area so I guess it's understandable to call it the Galax Lick.  Miles also wrote a similar book, "Appalachian Fiddle" and edited a book of O'Neill's Fiddle Tunes of Ireland. He went on to get a Ph.D. in religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania, is a scholar of mysticism, became a rabbi and now lives in Alberquerqe, NM.  I have heard that he still plays out from time to time although I don't think he is teaching banjo anymore, but he does have a few lessons on youtube.  Just another example of the wide range of folks we meet in the old time music conspiracy.

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Hi Howard, 

Thanks for the history, I'll have a look for Miles Krassen on YouTube. His history is even more interesting than the Galax lick he named I think. And yes, banjos and their magic bring people together all around the world from all backgrounds. I like that. 

Andy

AndyW - Posted - 07/15/2020:  00:20:40

I don't think there's any Miles Krassen banjo playing on you tube. Certainly not a couple of years back when I bought his book. There is a few fiddle renditions though.

The book is still in print and is pretty cheap. I think mine cost £8. The tablature in itself is very good considering it was early 70's.

Lew H - Posted - 07/15/2020:  14:49:15

I'm a bit mystified by the term. Some people tell me the Galax is hitting the 5th string twice with the thumb. Others say it is raking the frailing finer across the strings slowly so as to get individual note in time, or as triplets. Is it both? I've not argued about it because it hasn't been important to me, bur I would like to use the word as others use it.

Jack Baker - Posted - 07/15/2020:  17:31:40

Lew,

Here is the Galax lick. I don't bother even calling it that, it's part of clawhammer to me...Jack



Galax Lick

Lew H - Posted - 07/15/2020:  20:15:16

Jack Baker So it's both of those things put together in that video.

Jack Baker - Posted - 07/15/2020:  20:49:09

Yes Lew,

Stay safe and healthy...Jack

Edited by - Jack Baker on 07/15/2020 20:49:27

AndyW - Posted - 07/15/2020:  23:19:06

Different people use the term to cover slightly different things I think. The arpeggio can be different amounts of strings. The thumb can strike once or multiple times. The Arpeggio can be accompanied by a slide or not. All tune and arrangement dependent.

In my view it's just a way of keeping playing without pause whilst getting the thumb onto that 5th string. (Because obviously an eighth note pause could accomplish the same thing).

I'm not a fretless player but, I'm gonna hazard a guess that it's called the 'Galax' lick because of the prevalence of fretless playing in the area, and the common useage of the 5th for melody on fretless to prevent hand position moving.