alubin - Posted - 02/20/2023:  21:42:19

I’ve been playing old time music for over a decade and I gotta say that I am currently bored out of my mind by this music. Maybe it was living through the pandemic and the lack of jams that it entailed, but I have little to no draw to this music right now. I developed other interests and listened to other music over the past three years. Post-punk, neue deutsche Welle, Afro-Pop, and Tuareg Music are all way more interesting to me now. Is there something wrong with me or have I just moved on? Please help me reconnect with this music I loved for over a decade but can currently not give a fig about.

Edited by - Bill Rogers on 02/20/2023 23:47:43

Jack Baker - Posted - 02/20/2023:  21:59:11

Interesting post. 

Are you talking about the playing style or the banjo in general? Sounds like it's time for you to move on to other venues of music. No one can help you with what you ask...Jack Baker

---

Originally posted by alubin

I’ve been playing old time music for over a decade and I gotta say that I am currently bored out of my mind by this music. Maybe it was living through the pandemic and the lack of jams that it entailed, but I have little to no draw to this music right now. I developed other interests and listened to other music over the past three years. Post-punk, neue deutsche Welle, Afro-Pop, and Tuareg Music are all way more interesting to me now. Is there something wrong with me or have I just moved on? Please help me reconnect with this music I loved for over a decade but can currently not give a fig about.

---

Edited by - Jack Baker on 02/20/2023 22:01:04

alubin - Posted - 02/20/2023:  22:45:51

I‘m talking about the music in general. I’m trying to keep up my banjo chops but it feels like work. I think I am just over old time music.

alubin - Posted - 02/20/2023:  22:48:07

My friends seem to actually listen to this music unprompted. When I have free time to listen to music odds are it will be Kraftwerk or some other neue Deutsche Welle. So much more interesting to me right now

janolov - Posted - 02/20/2023:  22:51:39

Perhaps you may look at the Facebook group Progressive Clawhammer Banjo: facebook.com/groups/306854079327364 . It is not real Old Time Music, but more how clawhammer banjo can be used in a more progressive way.

Bill Rogers - Posted - 02/20/2023:  23:58:29

Old-time music is participatory.. I listen to it, not for enjoyment, but to learn songs and tunes to play. When I simply listen to music, it’s swing, dixieland, ragtime or bluegrass. So have you essayed playing any of the musics you now prefer? Your answer will probably tell you something about your relationship to old-time music..

Edited by - Bill Rogers on 02/21/2023 10:55:35

hobogal - Posted - 02/21/2023:  00:52:03

I think with any genre of music, it's new and immersive in the beginning and then you can gradually feel jaded with the repertoire if it starts to feel over-familiar. If you a feeling bored playing the banjo then it may be time to move-on - you may just need a break from the jamming repertoire of mostly fiddle tunes and explore your own thing for a while.

Edited by - hobogal on 02/21/2023 00:53:53

GrahamHawker - Posted - 02/21/2023:  01:31:24

Although some of the tunes I play are "old-time", which I call folk, I don't listen to it a lot - just the occasional Youtube video. You can hear those styles and other banjo styles in modern Americana music and other more recent artists and bands some which only use the banjo occasionally.

quartertoner - Posted - 02/21/2023:  02:31:31

My experience has been that what we call 'old-time' music is a means to enjoyment of social music - participation. As free, as we choose it to be, of the expectations and BS of the commercial music sector.



That wish to enjoy and participate implies a necessary element of connection and relevance. For me it is a context for the banjo sound I was initially drawn to and wanted to make. Engaging with the culture and history and being open to discovery and learning creates relevance and connection. Music travels to meet and play old-time in it's home context hugely assist learning and making real music friendships. As do fascination and respect (and love!) for individuals past and present within that culture. I can't listen to field recordings of the Myers brothers and not feel an instant love (and yearning) for the joy of uncomplicated intimate creativity their playing demonstrate and represent. Creativity that does not require an audience, and is mysteriously more powerful and affecting for that very reason. Personally I found that 'old-time' brought together two ends of a thread; my existing interest in local English vernacular social music and an active modern evolution of that form an ocean away.



Is it the only banjo context? No.



Is what we know as 'old-time' today a 'true essence' or 'root' of an earlier musical age? No (it is a highly selective construct of an idea of an earlier musical age as are most revivalist movements).



Does it to some extent link people with an aspect of their past? Yes (potentially).



I (or anyone else here) can't affect your responses. They are what they are and arise from who you are. We can only share our own responses.



For me an initial connection and love of old-time music has not diminished, but it has been added to by new focus that my involvement with old-time has prompted. Over time my love of the banjo has made me curious to better understand it's history in England. The largely overlooked evidence of the banjo in my geographical stomping ground within Victorian culture and how complex influences here combined to shape their own distinct branch of the banjo story.



That's more than enough interest (and work) for multiple life-times! And tomorrow night come rain or shine I'll carry my banjo to share a cider and more 'old-time' fiddle tunes with my friends in a nearby pub. Music, creativity and knowledge and an expanding sense of 'who we are' is a journey. There's no one 'single' journey, we're all on on our own similar but personal journeys. 

Edited by - quartertoner on 02/21/2023 02:44:47

Bill H - Posted - 02/21/2023:  03:21:54

Perhaps you might consider three finger style banjo. This opens your playing to more styles of music. Or study guitar.

Americanraga - Posted - 02/21/2023:  04:16:16

You might be missing some context. Just what is "old time"? I've recently been fascinated by the music of Adam Hurt, Jake Blount, Paul Reyes Smith, and others playing gourd banjo. Both Hurt and Blount are accomplished old time players, and Smith is one of the most musically sophisticated voices I've encountered, the only one I know of who has played Gottschalk's BANJO on the banjo instead of the piano. The conversation about the origin of the music is one of the most fascinating conversations I've been privy to recently. Kristina Gaddy's WELL OF SOULS about the banjo's origins is a sophisticated commentary on race and music. I live in SW Virginia, the heart of old time country, and I'm aspiring to play with the remarkable musicians I've encountered here, particularly at the Floyd Country Store. Finding the variation in songs like FAIR AND TENDER LADIES, BONAPARTE'S RETREAT, and BROWN'S DREAM and JOHN BROWN'S DREAM amongst others has been intriguing for me. I like the fact that the music is simple and straight forward enough that even I can play it. I listen to a lot of other stuff, and go through phases. I play classical guitar and am currently obsessed with Piedmont Blues, and also play mandolin and ragtime use, but old time music is a favorite, of course not all the time.

JollyRogers - Posted - 02/21/2023:  04:28:37

Nope.

Learn a different style of playing? Up picking and/or 2F. Learn to switch between styles. Fretless? Learn different styles within CH, like a RP approach to a tune vs a WV approach.

Find discrete tunes to learn and call them at jams, because that seems to be what our local fiddlers like to do to me.

Learn to play contemporary stuff, or apply banjo to a genre that you like.

As far as OT music. I listen to a lot of it, especially stuff I want to learn, to be able to jam or play sing by myself. However for entertainment I typically listen to classic rock.

wrench13 - Posted - 02/21/2023:  04:43:52

Hey, the Old Tyme police are not gonna arrest you and take your banjo away from you. This is 'Merica, you are free to pump what ever you like into your ears. Free to PLAY whatever you like. Me- I went on a HUGE Scottish music jag for several years and it was all I listened to. Still do but I am back to a more bluegrassy, blues, old time, country mix. But I played a wide variety of music in all periods. TO re-ignite your love of Old Tyme, try listening to some new bands stuff, or old ones that you may not have heard before.

Also, I am not one to love every single track or song on an album. HUGE Beatles fan, but I do not like a lot of their songs. Not every tune is a winner, in my book. Same for Old Tyme music. Love the old Highwoods String Band. Was every track a stand out? Nope. SO perhaps you should skim off the tunes you are not crazy about, and find some new ones to learn and play. Again for me, playing a tune for 10 minutes (as some OT Jams do) is a bit tedious, but (if it's a liberal jam) it gives me time to try different variations on the melody, try some new techniques.

And who knows? You could be a trend setter and be the first to add banjo to neue deutsche Welle !!

Earl-Picker - Posted - 02/21/2023:  05:15:32

I get tired of , my honey died, left me, cheated on me, took my money, broke my heart
etc.....so I take a break and play rock guitar. Then I hear a hit banjo lick and its back to
the 5 string again.

Bob Buckingham - Posted - 02/21/2023:  05:42:40

If you are bored by old time, don't play it. The breadth of what I know old time music to be is far too wide to get bored with. I get tired of just playing fiddle tunes especially when by myself, but I then go on to the other old time music, which in essence is folk music. I like American folk music so I play blues, rags, different old and often odd banjo pieces. Try tackling the DVD sets that Mike Seeger or Art Rosenbaum put out. Both handle a breadth of old time with many challenges to the ardent student of banjo. When I ask myself, is it boredom or laziness, that usually tells me all I need to know.

banjered - Posted - 02/21/2023:  05:48:59

I "resemble your remark" about boredom. I think Bill's comment about old time being "participatory" is spot on. For me, the Covid PLANdemic has killed most of the fun of OT music. Playing only outside, with masks and "distancing" and no 'contagious' singing has put a huge damper on the enjoyment of OT for me because it IS normally close and personal. Winter has mostly stopped OT playing here in S. Oregon. Even when the weather is good and we are playing outdoors the Covid protocols still hang a dark cloud over the participation. OT is extremely social – dances, family/friends get-togethers etc. Now we treat each other like deadly incubation factories, vaxed or not. Solitary OT playing, if I am not going to soon play same at a jam, just doesn't cut it for me. I've gone back to my folk music roots, transferring all my guitar songs to the banjo, learning thumb two finger for the slower old time ballads and doing a bit of busking in the street, mostly for my own amazement. I love the banjo as much as ever but unless and until the Covid protocols go away, I don't think I will be playing OT very much. Just sayin'! banjered

phb - Posted - 02/21/2023:  06:01:32

quote:

---

Originally posted by alubin

My friends seem to actually listen to this music unprompted. When I have free time to listen to music odds are it will be Kraftwerk or some other neue Deutsche Welle. So much more interesting to me right now

---

Kraftwerk is not Neue Deutsche Welle.

As for your boredom with Old-Time music: there have been quite a few interesting uses of banjos outside of the traditional genres. I have heard it used with hip-hop, rock music, electronic pop. Perhaps you could find something interesting there? Or even create something interesting?

KCJones - Posted - 02/21/2023:  06:02:00

Why not play those other types of music on the banjo using your clawhammer skills? That's the joy of music.

Genres are marketing terms, not musical terms. Stop thinking in marketing terms.

Chase your muse and ignore all else. 



Where I'm from, we have a local band that plays Finnish songs in Reggae style: youtube.com/watch?v=o5BAgCFFGAc

thisoldman - Posted - 02/21/2023:  06:02:18

When I first picked up the banjo, I played old time clawhammer style, then later 2ftl. Old time tunes, which I didn't find particularly intereresting until I started reading about the history of the music. Still, not something I would choose to listen to. Then I switched to Scruggs style picking and bluegrass. Listened to bluegrass to learn tunes, even went to some live performances. Again, not something I would choose to listen to, and the most I got out of the live performances was enjoying the musicianship of the band. Then I discovered Tony Ellis. Many of his tunes have an old time flavor, and many/most are designed to covey a feeling or mood. Sometimes bright, lively, somber, sad...and that what has kept me playing banjo consistently. Played 3 or 2 finger style. If you asked me what I would choose to listen to, it would be contemporary jazz, but I have no interest in playing jazz tunes on the banjo. Play whatever "floats your boat".

KCJones - Posted - 02/21/2023:  06:20:12

Something that hasn't been asked: Please clarify what you mean by "old-time".



If you're talking about "festival style" "round peak" type music, it makes perfect sense that you're bored. Because that music is boring. Takatakatakatakataka spend all day doing what the fiddler tells you to do. Better not try to sing or they'll kick you out of the circle. Just shut up and play what it says in the tablature. Heaven forbid you do something that isn't part of the half-dozen pre-approved and sanctioned techniques.

If you're talking about traditional banjo styles that some folks refer to as "old-time", then just branch out and learn some new songs. Start singing more. Dance while you play. Write your own songs about your own experiences and teach the lyrics to your friends.

jack_beuthin - Posted - 02/21/2023:  07:59:07

Over decades of playing banjo, boredom/stagnation and even despair all have been part of the process of growing and learning. Every single time I hit one of these "lows', it has always been followed by a breakthrough. I do enjoy playing fiddle tunes (some days more than others), but I love playing the banjo more--that is the perspective and priority that keeps me going. What always seems to work to get me past these sticking points is that I start playing the music that is in my head. Sometimes that involves totally new and different repertoire, and sometimes that involves new approaches/styles with the old repertoire. For example, about four years ago, I started playing fiddle tunes as part of a jam trio (fiddle, guitar and banjo). However, I started playing 3F in that ensemble rather than clawhammer. My jam mates like it as do I. That switcheroo has opened up many new horizons, and continues to do so, including delving into new repertoire within and beyond "old time" music. Boredom is just another word for something newon the horizon.

Edited by - jack_beuthin on 02/21/2023 08:00:40

Eric A - Posted - 02/21/2023:  09:13:58

I like bluegrass and classic country. And I like to sing. My playing is mostly melody heavy and then frills/breaks between verses on bluegrass/classic country tunes. Old Time? AABB, over and over until you are ready to throw up.  Gets to be a bore.

Edited by - Eric A on 02/21/2023 09:18:09

lapsteel - Posted - 02/21/2023:  09:15:44

Hey Adam, my answer to your question is “no”. I don’t have the privilege of attending “jam sessions” or going to banjo camps or banjo concerts but I’m still not bored. I have a large collection of old timey and bluegrass LP records and CDs. Those and the new abundance of old timey and bluegrass music on the internet have kept the music new and fresh for decades. I play banjo every day and am constantly figuring out new tunes and songs to play. When I’m not doing that, I’m in my little workshop building banjos and mandolins and mountain dulcimers. I never tire of playing the old warhorse tunes. I find lots of new tunes to enjoy and play on the banjo hangout from the likes of Pat Lyon (banjojukebox), Janet Burton, Carl Baron and many other players.I have been listening to old timey music since 1972 and I’m still not bored.

Peg Leg - Posted - 02/21/2023:  09:29:40

quote:

---

Originally posted by Americanraga

You might be missing some context. Just what is "old time"? I've recently been fascinated by the music of Adam Hurt, Jake Blount, Paul Reyes Smith, and others playing gourd banjo. Both Hurt and Blount are accomplished old time players, and Smith is one of the most musically sophisticated voices I've encountered, the only one I know of who has played Gottschalk's BANJO on the banjo instead of the piano. The conversation about the origin of the music is one of the most fascinating conversations I've been privy to recently. Kristina Gaddy's WELL OF SOULS about the banjo's origins is a sophisticated commentary on race and music. I live in SW Virginia, the heart of old time country, and I'm aspiring to play with the remarkable musicians I've encountered here, particularly at the Floyd Country Store. Finding the variation in songs like FAIR AND TENDER LADIES, BONAPARTE'S RETREAT, and BROWN'S DREAM and JOHN BROWN'S DREAM amongst others has been intriguing for me. I like the fact that the music is simple and straight forward enough that even I can play it. I listen to a lot of other stuff, and go through phases. I play classical guitar and am currently obsessed with Piedmont Blues, and also play mandolin and ragtime use, but old time music is a favorite, of course not all the time.

---

Jake Blount's new album made me want to quit all music, cold turkey.

Americanraga - Posted - 02/21/2023:  10:08:03

Take heart. I met him and he's most humble and encourages people to play. I've decided genius is it's own thing and it doesn't hurt anybody to aspire to it. To the stars through the stars etc.

earlstanleycrowe - Posted - 02/21/2023:  10:17:13

I like playing fiddle tunes with others but instrumental music isn't my favorite to listen to. I was happy to find a rich tradition of old time songs, but sometimes it can be intimidating trying to sing at a modern old-time jam. I'm not sure the banjos and fiddles like the idea of accompanying vs. playing the melody all the time.

quartertoner - Posted - 02/21/2023:  10:36:07

There is also an insipid creativity-inhibiting effect that is so different to earlier musical eras and the true and living nature of the vernacular context.



Musicians don't just follow convention like railroad trucks on a track; musicians create what is new as they feel like it. They lay the track as they go.



Inhibition is a silent and intrusive precursor to boredom and disillusion. So we need to kick that inhibition into touch where it belongs. Compose our own tunes. Write our own lyrics. You don't need 'permission' - that is the worst sort of elitist bollocks. Vernacular music is absolutely by definition our domain, not the domain of 'experts', 'cultural police' and Immensikoffs or those who choose to monetise their involvement with what is a vernacular context. Monetised music is something else altogether. Professional or wannabe-professional musicians have their own different terrain. And those motivated by money and 'prestige' certainly haven't any say-so or relevance to the direction of truly vernacular music.



When we really conduct our own musical context it's hard to see how or where boredom has an entry point?

Edited by - quartertoner on 02/21/2023 10:45:22

Eric A - Posted - 02/21/2023:  10:45:14

Instrumental albums end up boring me pretty quick. Even the much revered Foggy Mountain Banjo, I can't remember the last time I sat and listened to it.

quartertoner - Posted - 02/21/2023:  11:04:56

quote:

---

Originally posted by quartertoner

Musicians don't just follow convention like railroad trucks on a track; musicians create what is new as they feel like it. They lay the track as they go.



 

---

..or more accurately they are moved to contribute their own section of track as they go. The basis of vernacular music are identifiable sources and direction that form part of social history.

A misplaced obsession with 'tradition' risks creating the future impression that our own vernacular music context was inhabited by a species of sleep-walking zombies.

Edited by - quartertoner on 02/21/2023 11:07:30

Banner Blue - Posted - 02/21/2023:  11:20:19

My vague understanding of old time music is that it is pre-radio music. In the mountains everyone knew all the common fiddle tunes and got together and played them in someone's living room. In the 1920s, the availability of radio opened up access to all sorts of music played by elite musicians.

Banner Blue - Posted - 02/21/2023:  11:30:06

On another note, I pulled a CD by Michelle Shocked (1992 Arkansas Traveler) from a lot in an estate sale. She had done a decent job of taking old time fiddle tunes and interpreting them and writing lyrics for them. I cant find the CD, but I specifically remember Black Berry Blossom and Soldier's Joy. Do something new with something old time!

wrench13 - Posted - 02/21/2023:  12:31:42

LOL, when I go to an OT jam ( rarely) I try and come up with as many variations on the tune at hand as I can. I get dirty looks, but usually several people will come up to me on the breaks and ask to show them such and such a variation. I played a Sq dance w/Jay Unger and company many years ago. Played Turkey in the Straw for like 40 minutes. You can bet Jay had lots of fun with it.

Lew H - Posted - 02/21/2023:  12:43:23

alubin Several people posting above have hinted at this: "Clawhammer is both a technique of picking and a canon of tunes and songs. As a canon, or genre, CH is defined narrowly as banjo tunes from the southern Appalachians or more broadly as old time--what the early recording industry took from vernacular music . While most people take this technique-cannon as a fixed combination, I separate them and use CH to play lots of stuff: Blues, old rock from my formative years, Tin Pan Alley, jazz bluegrass, and even OT dance tunes. (Check the mp3s and videos I have posted here to see what I mean).

Before anyone gets mad, let me say this: I also host a weekly OT jam where we mostly play banjo/fiddle tunes and sing a few from the Carter Family, Tommy Jerrell, and others.

So back to the question, "Are others bored with oldtime music?" I am indeed if we are referring only to banjo tunes. Many tunes in the CH/OT cannon are tedious and boring with little to pique one's interest. I check the TOTW here, but only occasionally find anything I want to hear again, much less learn. Somewhere in history some good songs became oldtime, others were recorded for a market. Just being oldtime doesn't make anything a good song. There's a lot to be bored about. So you may not want to emulate me, but clawing music of other genres gets my juices flowing.

G Edward Porgie - Posted - 02/21/2023:  13:37:51

I have found that any genre and any instrument can get boring over time. I have found that if I play something else for a while I begin to realize some of the differences that attracted me to what attracted me to a particular genre in the first place, and the music once again becomes enjoyable.

However, I also think as does :"Genres are marketing terms, not musical terms. Stop thinking in marketing terms.

KCJones - Posted - 02/21/2023:  14:34:24

quote:

---

Originally posted by Peg Leg

---

Jake Blount's new album made me want to quit all music, cold turkey.

---

Are you talking about "The New Faith"? Not sure if this is supposed to be praise or not, but it could hardly be considered an old-time album. It's mostly spoken word and rap, along with drums/percussion/stomp type rhythm. There's more electric guitar than violin, what violin there is isn't really "fiddling", and as far as I can tell the album contains no banjo at all. It just sounds like modern "pop fauxk" to me, and doesn't seem to be related to old time music at all. It's a pretty run-of-the-mill album, exactly the type of thing you'd expect from a rich northern suburbanite. 

If that's old time music, I guess I'm old and out of touch. 

Edited by - KCJones on 02/21/2023 14:35:26

Americanraga - Posted - 02/22/2023:  03:31:28

I think Jake is aware of that response to his new album, which is probably why in concert he plays a number of fiddle tunes in the first half before moving on to his new stuff in the second half. He did this in Floyd, where the audience is primarily old time musicians, and he got a standing ovation. The new stuff is usually variations on old tunes, but re-imagined for the world we are living in. He writes AfroFuturism fiction, so the new album is a concept album relating to that. He, along with Rhiannon Giddens, and some others are mostly concerned with their audiences understanding the banjo as African and African American.  He studied old time in Floyd, and credits old time African American fiddler and band leader Earl White with teaching him.  Earl lives in Floyd and augments his music income with a bakery he and his wife one.  I don't what Jake's original economic status was, but I hope he's making a decent living doing it.  In New York he studied with Jeff Claus and Judy Hyman who were founding members of the Horseflies, and he credits them in his concerts and albums, of course along with Rhiannon Giddens.  My favorite story he told from the stage was when an audience member talked to him after the concert and asked why he had changed Leadbelly's lyrics to In the Pines to "My boy my boy where did you sleep last night?"  Jake him, "Well it's because it's 2022 and I'm a homosexual". He credits music as a refuge from bullying in school when he was growing up, and has decided to be open about his sexuality.

Edited by - Americanraga on 02/22/2023 03:46:21

Americanraga - Posted - 02/22/2023:  03:46:56

quote:

---

Originally posted by Americanraga

I think Jake is aware of that response to his new album, which is probably why in concert he plays a number of fiddle tunes in the first half before moving on to his new stuff in the second half. He did this in Floyd, where the audience is primarily old time musicians, and he got a standing ovation. The new stuff is usually variations on old tunes, but re-imagined for the world we are living in. He writes AfroFuturism fiction, so the new album is a concept album relating to that. He, along with Rhiannon Giddens, and some others are mostly concerned with their audiences understanding the banjo as African and African American.  He studied old time in Floyd, and credits old time African American fiddler and band leader Earl White with teaching him.  Earl lives in Floyd and augments his music income with a bakery he and his wife one.  I don't what Jake's original economic status was, but I hope he's making a decent living doing it.  In New York he studied with Jeff Claus and Judy Hyman who were founding members of the Horseflies, and he credits them in his concerts and albums, of course along with Rhiannon Giddens.  My favorite story he told from the stage was when an audience member talked to him after the concert and asked why he had changed Leadbelly's lyrics to In the Pines to "My boy my boy where did you sleep last night?"  Jake told him, "Well it's because it's 2022 and I'm a homosexual". He credits music as a refuge from bullying in school when he was growing up, and has decided to be open about his sexuality.

---

Americanraga - Posted - 02/22/2023:  03:49:01

OldPappy - Posted - 02/23/2023:  05:25:43

I think playing alone would become boring after only a little while because it lacks the challenge, and excitement as when you play along with a good fiddler who will push the beat, and sometimes let the banjo push the beat.

Playing in "Jams", especially when there is a large group with several banjo players, would become boring because it becomes "homogenized" music where everyone plays like everyone else.

I seldom play alone, and have never really liked participating in jams. I like playing with a small group with only one of each instrument, and I especially like playing with a real good fiddler.

Dwight Diller would push me as far, and fast as I could go, Ralph Roberts fiddling took some unexpected turns, both of these men played music with that raw old time edge to it, often with turns in the road that would take you by surprise.

Now that Dwight is gone, and Ralph in bad shape, the only other good fiddler I get a chance to play with is Matt Evans and he too is a really good fiddler.

I don't find old time music boring at all, it stirs me, makes me tap my toes, sing and shout.

OldNavyGuy - Posted - 02/23/2023:  14:30:26

quote:

---

Originally posted by alubin

 

Please help me reconnect with this music I loved for over a decade but can currently not give a fig about.

---

People change...

Maybe it's not for you anymore.

Nothing wrong with that.

NotABanjoYoda - Posted - 02/23/2023:  15:05:03

I prefer to call music that doesnt excite me anymore, too familiar.

I practiced the crap out of stairway to heaven. Got real good at playing it. Went to a music store to upgrade my Hondo only to find three other guys strumming various stairway licks. Stairway instantly became too familiar 25 years ago.

I play professionally a set of 25 songs, many genres. 15 of them are too familiar but they pay the bills so I professionally enjoy them and frequently fancy them up to make them less familiar. Try playing the familiar in an unfamiliar way, and with others.

Wobba - Posted - 02/23/2023:  20:33:44

Variety is the spice of life. If you're playing an Old Time tune the exact same way every time, that's going to get boring. Every time you play, spend some time exploring different fingerings, different licks, different picking patterns, different tempos, different rhythms. I usually play with StrumMachine backing tracks. What I like about it is I can change the key, change the tempo, add or remove instruments, change the guitar strumming patters from Old Time/Bluegrass to Swing/Jitterbug/Boogie-woogie, Celtic, Rock, Folk. Doing that gives me the ability to try a lot of different things with an old, familiar tune. For me I see that how I play a tune gradually changes as time goes by so that by two years I'm playing totally different. But it's still the same tune. And if I want and can play it how I originally played it, or some new hybrid mix. If you want to be bored. Play any tune the exact same way every time. Doesn't matter what genre. All music becomes boring if you play it the exact same way every time. Change the key, the tempo, the rhythm, etc.

R.D. Lunceford - Posted - 02/24/2023:  13:37:06

quote:

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Originally posted by alubin

I’ve been playing old time music for over a decade and I gotta say that I am currently bored out of my mind by this music. Maybe it was living through the pandemic and the lack of jams that it entailed, but I have little to no draw to this music right now. I developed other interests and listened to other music over the past three years. Post-punk, neue deutsche Welle, Afro-Pop, and Tuareg Music are all way more interesting to me now. Is there something wrong with me or have I just moved on? Please help me reconnect with this music I loved for over a decade but can currently not give a fig about.

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 It also has to do with your personal relationship with the music.  I learned from my Dad (b.1914), and among the local players he learned from was a friend's grandfather who was born in 1867, so for me this music is a personal inheritance that reaches back at least 150+ years and stretches over several generations.  That's why I can sit in my bedroom and play my Dad's simple version of Cripple Creek to the four walls for the buzzillionth time.  It is a gift and a legacy to be preserved and passed on, but I too do get bored at times.  While it's a gift, it is also a responsibility I accept.  I look at this music as a lifelong pursuit.  I've been at it for 50+ years and over that time span there are bound to be ups and downs.

While music is to be enjoyed, if it has a purpose, it has an added dimension.  If you can find a purpose in your OT playing, that will give you the motivation to continue.

Allen Feldman and Eamonn O'Doherty wrote to my mind what is one of the most brilliant treatises eve written on traditional music regarding their collecting journey in the the late-'70's in Ireland:  The Northern Fiddler: Music and Musicians of Donegal and Tyrone (Blackstaff Press, 1979) sadly out of print, but a pdf is available on line.

In one particularly poignant passage, they describe visiting some of the aging local fiddlers who had kept on with the music in spite of its having passed out of fashion and having been abandoned by their neighbors:

"Spending the endless summer twilight in darkening kitchens, the corners of the room deepening into caverns, they played out their lives and their music with the gentle intensity of those who practice a complex art alone."

Ultimately you should play whatever you want- just don't stop playing some sort of music.  You may find renewed enthusiasm for OT again down the road.

RDP - Posted - 02/24/2023:  17:47:17

When I was a youngster I listen to my grandpa and his group play the music in the house and the front yard. As I got older I learned the old time banjo and then played in his band when the banjo picker left. I took up bluegrass fiddle and later played it with different groups at dances and other listening venues. Now in my middle sixties Iv grown tired of playing and chasing the music stuff to different counties and states. I’m into listening to early 40 to seventy country music now with late 50 to 70 rock and roll. Yea I can understand getting tired of something.

banjoboyd - Posted - 02/24/2023:  19:21:13

IMO the discussions about what does and doesn't qualify as "old-time" (while always interesting from a musicological/historical perspective) are really secondary here. If you're truly bored playing one kind of old-time, you'll be at best slightly less bored playing another kind of old-time.

Nearly all musicians experience periods when they feel uninspired and unmotivated to play. It has nothing to do with the banjo or old-time music in particular (although the point about old-time being a social/community-oriented music is salient). Sometimes our tastes just change. Sometimes we hit a plateau in our playing ability. Sometimes the gap between what we play and the music we actually enjoy listening to becomes too great. It can be for all kinds of reasons.

There's really only two things to do in this situation (unless you play music for a living, then you don't have the luxury): 1. Take an indefinite break or 2. Do something totally different.

As for me, I did both. I lost interest in old-time music and playing banjo for some years. Then I started playing again because I was interested in classic banjo. Now I just play classic banjo but also enjoy listening to old-time music more than I did previously.

DavidGrudniski - Posted - 02/24/2023:  20:50:07

quote:

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Originally posted by alubin

I’ve been playing old time music for over a decade and I gotta say that I am currently bored out of my mind by this music. Maybe it was living through the pandemic and the lack of jams that it entailed, but I have little to no draw to this music right now. I developed other interests and listened to other music over the past three years. Post-punk, neue deutsche Welle, Afro-Pop, and Tuareg Music are all way more interesting to me now. Is there something wrong with me or have I just moved on? Please help me reconnect with this music I loved for over a decade but can currently not give a fig about.

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DavidGrudniski - Posted - 02/24/2023:  21:06:31

Here's the thing, I love all music and I have always been interested in a challenge.
Maybe you could consider trying to write your own tunes and push outside the old-time genre. There is a lot of great music out there that can be easily adapted to the Banjo. Think creatively and you'll never be stuck.
I am presently learning "Pipeline" by The Ventures, 1963 because I always loved the song and I think it's perfect for the Banjo.

youtu.be/tqC3BjIyq_0

pfalzgrass - Posted - 02/25/2023:  00:32:08

I suggest to look in more contemporary banjo styles. UK player John Dowling for example. Or electrify the banjo and play to Kraftwerk tunes (which are NOT neue deutsche Welle)

chicagomark1 - Posted - 02/25/2023:  00:35:46

I can identify with getting bored playing old time music. In fact, I had a discussion about this recently with my mandolin-playing jam buddy. I've taken a break from it and purchased a Casio keyboard, working out some Ray Charles, rock, and country-plinking piano. It keeps me playing music, and my banjo is still there for when the desire to play it kicks back in. No sense forcing yourself to play it. Exploring different genres may be what your brain needs right now. It's all good. I'll likely be picking up my banjo again soon!