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 Playing Advice: Bluegrass (Scruggs) Styles
 ARCHIVED TOPIC: Looking or not


Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.banjohangout.org/archive/72736

Bodine40 - Posted - 01/22/2007:  19:41:22


im just starting the 5 string banjo and was wondering when i practice rolls should I look at the strings or not.thank

Pickin for Fun - Posted - 01/22/2007:  20:17:16


Look at the strings. Get the feel for the instrument.

After a while you will quit looking as much, then not much at all.

Kirk

eagleisland - Posted - 01/22/2007:  20:48:43


quote:
Originally posted by Pickin for Fun

Look at the strings. Get the feel for the instrument.

After a while you will quit looking as much, then not much at all.

Kirk



Lemme take that a step further. After a while, you will have to force yourself to quit looking as much - or you'll never attain speed. Stuff happens on this dastardly little instrument so fast that you can't think about it - and when you're lookin', you're thinkin'. Some time in the future, you'll be looking to make sure that you're hitting four+ fret jumps accurately, but not much more than that.

eagleisland

Learning the banjo: It's a process, not an event!

Pickin for Fun - Posted - 01/22/2007:  20:50:36


quote:
Originally posted by eagleisland

quote:
Originally posted by Pickin for Fun

Look at the strings. Get the feel for the instrument.

After a while you will quit looking as much, then not much at all.

Kirk



Lemme take that a step further. After a while, you will have to force yourself to quit looking as much - or you'll never attain speed. Stuff happens on this dastardly little instrument so fast that you can't think about it - and when you're lookin', you're thinkin'. Some time in the future, you'll be looking to make sure that you're hitting four+ fret jumps accurately, but not much more than that.

eagleisland

Learning the banjo: It's a process, not an event!



Well said!

Kirk

BanjoJohnny - Posted - 01/22/2007:  21:04:52


My teacher told me to stop looking at my right hand and look at my left hand if I needed to. I do this now when going up and down the neck. But, dang it, still will come back and look at my right hand waiting for which finger that messed up to fess up.

Johnny
If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

walshb - Posted - 01/22/2007:  21:59:06


"waiting for which finger that messed up to fess up."

Mine never want to give up that info. I have to force them to go back and play it over again, then I watch very closely and I can *sometimes* spot the culprit.

Never stop learning, it doesn't matter 'how'

Joanchek - Posted - 01/22/2007:  23:34:30


I never look at my right hand. I do look at the left when I need to.

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duke13 - Posted - 01/23/2007:  08:39:10


I look at my left a lot but i am trying to wean myself off it. I do a lot of lead and harmony singing and looking at the banjo turns my vocal direction away from the mic and other singers and has a volume effect on the vocals.

85 Gold Star GF100
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budforte - Posted - 01/23/2007:  09:04:11


It is OK to look at the right hand in the beginning. It is better after a while to look only at the left hand. It is eventually better to look at your audience. Start practicing sitting down then adjust your strap properly and stand up. You will be able to do your rolls a lot better than you ever thought without looking.

wrentree - Posted - 01/23/2007:  09:06:21


I watch my finger position on the left hand when I am learning the song by tab. But when I practice I have found out that I can't look at my fingers and gain any speed or accuracy very well. You have to wean your mind off your fingers. Harold

555Glenn - Posted - 01/23/2007:  12:47:57


just till you get them going then stop looking at them and try to watch the TV or somthing while practiceing.


Pick that banjar any way you can.

banjerhermit - Posted - 01/23/2007:  12:59:39


Y'know what I like to do?
Turn on the T.V set the kids up there with the ol' playstation and turn it up ...real loud,... then get the family dog & cat in the room with some catnip,.... get the wife to read all about the vacation she wants to take in March,..out loud,..real loud,... the put on the ol' blindfold n' try playin at the same time,.. give 'er for an hour locked in there. Then try withought all that and look at the strings if ya like. Repeat dayly and soon you wont need to look at the strings!
LOL just kiddin,..everybody has to look at first for a while,... then it just kinda happens on its own.


serialOC - Posted - 01/23/2007:  13:02:15


I just started a few months ago myself, while leaning a new roll or lick you may need to watch the right hand until you get it down, Soon though you will be concentrating all your efforts on your left hand & the right will just start doing its own thing. I never look at righty anymore & only at lefty if I am venturing beyond the 5th fret. I burn rolls into me head by drilling them, play 2 measures of G in a new roll, then Em, then C, Then D7 & back to G.

___________________________________
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pasturepicker - Posted - 01/23/2007:  13:06:46


I found that when singing into a microphone, every time you look down at your hands, your mouth goes out of the mic and your vocals suffer. I had to make a concious effort not to look at my hands when singing.

Pickin' In The Pasture
Aug 23,24, 25, and 26, 2007
Lodi, NY
www.pickininthepasture.com

AD3AD3AD3 - Posted - 02/06/2007:  13:34:09


The less we have to look, the better - no audience wants to watch you looking at your fingers. However, a quick glance now and then for positioning of the left hand (particularly when up the neck) is a necessity for me. I can see no reason to look at the right hand.

Ad3

mountainwoman - Posted - 02/06/2007:  21:24:51


I just started standing in front of a mirror. That gives you a great idea of what you look like when practicing. It also makes looking at the strings and finger positions easy.

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