castironairplane - Posted - 03/10/2023:  22:08:52

Title sums it up, anything I should be making sure I'm not doing?

A Drum On A Stick - Posted - 03/10/2023:  22:33:17

There are a lot of answers to this, but a couple thoughts:

don't be tense. it's best to learn to play relaxed

don't practice mistakes. muscle memory can learn both good and bad technique

Bob Buckingham - Posted - 03/11/2023:  04:06:29

Let the rhythm carry you. Play it until you can talk and play it. Play it and play it some more. It is a Zen thing. Bury it deep into your consciousness. It is the well practiced art that escapes the consciousness.

Alvin Conder - Posted - 03/11/2023:  06:01:01

Listen to a huge amount of the music you want to play. Like all the time listen to it.

Find a few people who are playing the style of music you like and try to be around them when they are playing. Observe what they do and try and emulate the aspects you like best.

Play for hours on end, by your self and with others.

Playing music is a journey, a long journey, it’s not a race.

Be mindful of others. My poor parents, siblings and neighbors who had to be around my twelve year old self while I was learning banjo at all hours of the day...and night.

Most important...make sure what you do is enjoyable and that you are having fun.

Will Frady - Posted - 03/11/2023:  08:50:29

Keep asking questions..a lot of questions! Have think skin , take criticism with smile , take good advice . Not everyone wants to help . Some folks like making you feel small for asking questions. Keep asking questions. Listen, practice, practice and more practice. Good luck and keep putting the 3 to the 5

Dan Gellert - Posted - 03/11/2023:  09:44:59

quote:

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Originally posted by castironairplane

Title sums it up, anything I should be making sure I'm not doing?

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Don't think negatively! 

Ask, rather, what you should be most sure to do:

#1: LISTEN.  Listen some more. Nothing comes out of your instrument that hasn't first been through your ears and grasped by your brain.  Becoming a better player requires first becoming a better listener, and you don't yet have any idea how much more there is to be heard in what sounds to you now like the crudest and simplest music. 

#2:  Always aim first for steady time.  Everything else in music is built on that.  Use a metronome.

#3: Sing. Dance.  You don't have to be any good at either, or let anyone else see or hear you. It's how to engage your whole body in learning how to listen.

bill t - Posted - 03/11/2023:  13:18:54

I particularly agree with number 2 above. Learning good timing right from the start
is very important! If you want to play music with other people, you can't be speeding
up and slowing down as you play through a tune.

OldPappy - Posted - 03/18/2023:  13:19:31

If I had it to do over I would not have learned the "Bum-Dit-Ty" rhythm first. Once that was ingrained in me it was very, very difficult to learn a double thumb rhythm.

The double thumb (where the drone is sounded on each upstroke) is more even, than the other where the drone is only sounded once.. I think that the more even rhythm aids in developing better timing, and later on it is easier to rest on one quarter stroke if the Bum-Dit-Ty is desired for a tune.

Right hand needs to be loose as possible. Think about using a wet dishcloth tied to the end of a limber pole to swat ants. The looseness allows some snap.

Bart Veerman - Posted - 03/28/2023:  07:55:27

Go for tunes with strong melodies that you already know: Old MacDonald, You are my sunshine, Easy peaceful feeling, Baby shark or whatever. This way the only thing your brain needs to do is to help your fingers find the melody notes that are burnt into your brain already and smack them at the correct moment. This way melody and proper timing is taken care of.

Always remember job #1: render the melody. How you dress it up only determines whether you're having a good time or making big money playing on stage. Oh, of course for the latter banjos aren't all that suitable...

Job #2: have fun.

R.D. Lunceford - Posted - 03/28/2023:  20:34:04

quote:

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Originally posted by A Drum On A Stick

...don't practice mistakes. muscle memory can learn both good and bad technique

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As a corollary to the above, don't play any faster than you can play without making mistakes.  Speed up gradually, but never faster than you can without making mistakes.

Don Borchelt - Posted - 03/29/2023:  18:35:11

quote:

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Originally posted by R.D. Lunceford

quote:

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...don't play any faster than you can play without making mistakes.  Speed up gradually, but never faster than you can without making mistakes.

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Write that down on a piece of paper and read it every time you pick up your banjo.  It doesn't matter how good you are.

Paul R - Posted - 03/29/2023:  22:08:49

One bit of advice given when I was starting: Listen to the fiddle. (This, of course, is if you're planning to play fiddle tunes.) They're called "fiddle tunes", so you'd better liten to what they'e named for. It's called "context".

OldPappy - Posted - 03/31/2023:  16:02:28

Yep, the most enjoyment I get playing a banjo is when I can play along with a good fiddler.

I have mostly played with Matt Evans, Dwight Diller, and Ralph Roberts, all of which I think of as good fiddlers.

Once, a number of years ago, Dwight, me and Matt, went to visit Ralph. I sat around listening to the three of them playing a few tunes, and later Dwight had went out on the side porch of Ralph's cabin, Matt was busy helping Charlie fix supper, and Ralph asked me to come out on the front porch to play with him.

We played "Sourwood Mountain" and when we were done with that Dwight came around the end of the house and said "I am proud of you". That moment stands out as one of my best memories of playing this music.

Ralph has always told me he likes the way I play a banjo, which I take as a huge compliment, but that was the first time Dwight said he was proud of my playing. Up until then he would always stop me for correction, after that he just played his fiddle and pushed me to play with him.

I feel very fortunate to have had these experiences. Now Dwight is gone, and Ralph is past playing.

twelvefret - Posted - 04/08/2023:  08:06:17

Tone, timing, and taste were given to me as the three components of good music. Given that what we call Old Time was mostly dance music, timing is essential, and I agree with Dan to use a metronome.