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Jamie B. - Posted - 03/14/2007: 18:19:13
I have been learning banjo for about 2 months , learned boil them cabbage down from my book ,Decided to get a teacher the first thing he teaches me is twinkle twinkle little star,Took three weeks to learn I guess because I only go for 30 minutes at a time and he only shows me a few notes at a time,Just seems like a long time,anyway my question is ,Is it to soon to try to learn FMB or should I try and learn easier stuff first?
twhite54 - Posted - 03/14/2007: 18:26:08
well, there's a fair jump from bile dem and twinkle twinkle to FMB but it's certainly not the hardest song you'll tackle someday...just not that easy to get to sound right mainly because of the FMB lick which you'll get in several songs such as train 45 for example...i think a few notes at a time is a bit on the slow side but then again everyone learns at a different pace...don't overlook initiative and moving forward on your own IF you find yourself capable or getting second sources for material such as the many courses mentioned in this site...best of luck and welcome aboard...
"she'd her apron wrapped about her and i took her for a swan..."
that's my story and i'm stickin' to it...
"ya got time to breathe, ya got time fer music"...Briscoe Darling
ethel the wonder basset
Edited by - twhite54 on 03/14/2007 18:29:05
joeyd - Posted - 03/14/2007: 18:27:48
Let me put it this way - if you had never been wet and were planning to become a swimmer, would you start in the shallow end of the local pool or would you run right over and attempt to cross the English Channel? 
joeyd
Ace - Posted - 03/14/2007: 18:29:31
IF you have mastered TTLS, and can do it clear and clean, your teacher will add as you progress, SLOW AND STEADY wins the race. Take your time and pretty soon you will be able to start practicing FMB. Takes PATIENTS, it'll come. It really will help to look forward to learning all the little things first.
beegee - Posted - 03/14/2007: 18:40:56
The 30 minutes you spend with the teacher should be only the tip of the iceberg. You need to put LOTS more hours in learning at home. Listen to banjo music, fill your head with the sounds and try to identify patterns, Then try to figure it out. When you go toyour lesson, you should show the teacher what you're doing and get his feedback. If you wait on the teacher to show you a few more notes, you're fooling yourself. It's up to you to figure it out.
_________________________________________
I'm getting too old to play ice hockey...
Grifton NC
banjo bode - Posted - 03/14/2007: 18:55:11
I to started from a book for about 4 months, had criple creek down purdy good.when i got a teacher , she told me to stop with the book. I had already developed bad habits that i'm still working to stop.My book did not show me detal about witch finger to pluck witch string at just the right time witch will keep me from playing faster later. Be carefull of some books out there but always listen to your teacher
banjo bode
zeemo - Posted - 03/14/2007: 18:58:39
No offense, but if I had a teacher start me out on Twinkle, Twinkle, I think I'd either find a new teacher or a new hobby . . . unless I was 8 years old or younger. There's plenty of good adult bluegrass beginner songs to get you started, hold your interest, and build technique. Bile dem Cabbage is a good one as well as Banjo in the Hollow, Cripple Creek, and many more. Suffering through Twinkle, Twinkle just sounds painful to me . . . . don't think I'd have that kind of patience . . .
I'd talk to your teacher about what your goals are and have a discussion with him on how to best attain what you'd like to accomplish. Short term and longer term.
Jamie B. - Posted - 03/14/2007: 19:13:10
I understand that it takes time and lots and lots of practice,and beleive me when im not at work im practicing,I just really love FMB and thought if it wasnt to hard to learn I might give it a try.My teacher says we will learn ballad of jed clampett next,I thought that would probbably be difficult I Mean twinkle twinkle little star to balled of jed clammpet Am I wrong about the difficulty? I guess im confused is jed clamppet easier than FMB
BANJ58 - Posted - 03/14/2007: 19:39:01
I have to agree with zeemo. Why do we have to learn twinkle twinkle in the first place. I would think you would start with a pinch to learn timing, then move to rolls with correct timing. From there Cripple creek is just a matter of putting rolls together. I cant tell you how exciting it was to hear myself play cripple creek. From there I added some tag licks andhammers and pukk offs and cripple creek really sounded good. Bile them cabbage was easy aftr learning the rolls.
Good luck to you, but i am not impressed with your teachers method.
steve
ITS ALL GOOD IF YOU MAKE IT THAT WAY
STEVE@WVRVPARK.COM
http://WWW.WVRVPARK.COM
ALL PICKERS WELCOME, LETS JAM !!
Don Borchelt - Posted - 03/14/2007: 19:43:31
FMB is not all that hard, and certainly no harder than the Ballad of Jed Clampett. It sounds to me like you are taking lessons from one of those "no tab no matter what" teachers. That may be why it is taking three weeks to learn Twinkle. He/she is trying from the start to train your ear. I'm not sure I would be so rigid, but I'm not sure I want to second guess, either. Good luck to you.
"Well, I know there's a lotta big preachers that know a lot more than I do
But it could be that the good Lord likes a little pickin' too."
- Tom T. Hall, from The Year That Clayton Delaney Died
Jamie B. - Posted - 03/14/2007: 19:47:22
Yes no tab He teaches by ear seems to not like tab ,but man he sure can play.
flake - Posted - 03/14/2007: 20:00:52
Twinkle, Twinkle is not all that uncommon. It's teaching someone to hear the melody of a song, and Twinkle is a strong melody, one which almost everyone is familiar with. After you've figured the melody, then you begin to work out which rolls work around it the best, and later, where you can add the flourishes like hammers and pulloffs and slides.
As far as FMB goes, it's not the arrangement of notes that usually gets people, it's the dynamic of the song----the proper feel so to speak. And then, of course, getting it up to a reasonable speed. The Ballad of Jed Clampett, played Earl's way, is probably harder to get "note perfect" for a beginner.
mike
"Two banjos, a guitar, a fiddle....there's a really nice leather couch under there somewhere that I'd like to sit on someday."......The Mrs.
Woodturner - Posted - 03/14/2007: 20:04:28
Don't be afraid to speak up to your teacher and express your preferences and desires. If the teacher is thinking Twinkle and you're thinking Foggy...then there will be some middle ground to be found. Don't be afraid to speak up and help direct the direction of your lessons. The only true limitation to your playing is the time dedicated to practice.
It seemed to me that when I finally worked up the courage to start making suggestions to my instructor...it encouraged him to move me along and tackle interesting challenges. Like right now I'm working on a clawhammer version of Norwegian Wood. Good fun.
During my learning process I have found the same scenario to be true that so many other players have mentioned. It's far better to have many 10 to 15 minute sessions of practice during the day instead of 45+ minutes at a stretch.
Happy Frails to You,
Denton
Don Borchelt - Posted - 03/14/2007: 20:16:59
Jamie B wrote: " Yes no tab He teaches by ear seems to not like tab ,but man he sure can play."
Well, the question is, can he teach? Remember, it's your money, and as they used to say, he who pays the piper calls the tune.
"Well, I know there's a lotta big preachers that know a lot more than I do
But it could be that the good Lord likes a little pickin' too."
- Tom T. Hall, from The Year That Clayton Delaney Died
Edited by - Don Borchelt on 03/14/2007 20:17:43
twhite54 - Posted - 03/14/2007: 20:40:33
quote:
Originally posted by BANJ58
in the last post I meant pull offs, not pukk offs. sorry
ITS ALL GOOD IF YOU MAKE IT THAT WAY
STEVE@WVRVPARK.COM
http://WWW.WVRVPARK.COM
ALL PICKERS WELCOME, LETS JAM !!
and for a minute i thought you were talking about my playing...
"she'd her apron wrapped about her and i took her for a swan..."
that's my story and i'm stickin' to it...
"ya got time to breathe, ya got time fer music"...Briscoe Darling
ethel the wonder basset
Nick Dorosheff - Posted - 03/14/2007: 22:55:13
I think I would be a little more patient. If your just starting you have to get your basics down first. your teacher is probably trying to get you familair with where melody notes are and thier sound. TTLS for 3 weeks is probably more than I could stand too, so i would ask about some other easy songs like Will the circle be unbroken, Worried man blues and Cripple Creek. Ask about simple chord positions too. FMB was to much for me when I was starting out, but after a year of solid foundation building it came pretty easy.You've got to put your time in practicing. Good Luck!
nick dorosheff
roguebanjos - Posted - 03/14/2007: 23:03:29
A good "middle ground" tune is Alabama Jubilee, I love that one.
------------------------
Jon K.
To everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under the sun.
ecclesiastes 3:1
AD3AD3AD3 - Posted - 03/15/2007: 07:50:52
TTLS is boring but FMB seems a bit of a stretch (as do Ballad of Jed Clampett and Alabama Jubilee, for that matter.) Cripple Creek is a good early song to learn and can be a lot of fun to play. Even if your instructor doesn't use TAB, you can get some easy TABs and learn the basics of some extra songs - this will keep your interest up and make practicing more enjoyable.
AD3
jonny250 - Posted - 03/15/2007: 08:34:28
Ermm.. I thought Twinkle Twinkle is a bluegrass number ? ;-)
Jamie, I think that the main issue is whether your teacher is getting you to learn the various rolls, fingering and methods, rather than the tune itself, in the beginning the tune is just a means of learning to put together the elements of banjo playing. I imagine that any song with a strong melody would be a good start as it will get you to think about how you put the song together. FMB is probably not so strong on melody (but that's another forum topic...).
Good luck and keep on practicing.
JOnny
http://www.myspace.com/jonny250
ac5aa - Posted - 03/15/2007: 10:13:41
Regarding teachers, someone once told me, don't listen to how well a teacher plays - listen to how well his students play.
Duane
Duane C.
Gibson RB-250
Martin D-28 Marquis, D-18VS and OM-42
seanray - Posted - 03/15/2007: 10:54:18
I've never heard of anyone starting banjo lessons with TTLS. I'm not saying it's a bad thing but it might bore most people into not wanting to play. On the flip-side I don't see any harm in tackling FMB or Cripple Creek except then I guess you could make the argument that you may get frustrated and give up.
My recommendation is to go for it and if you get overwhelmed start back-pedaling. At the very least keep yourself amused by dabbling with some chord shapes and rolls even if it is over TTLS.
http://www.seanray.com
Rollingwolf - Posted - 03/15/2007: 12:47:22
The real question is how are your rolls? Have learned any licks yet?
FMB uses licks almost every measure. It'll kill you if you've never palayed any of those licks.
BanjoBobb - Posted - 03/15/2007: 20:58:20
I have been taking lessons from a local teacher for a couple of months. She is great! She has taught me to play Cumberland Gap for my first song, Cripple Creek for my second. I am currently working on the up the neck part of Foggy Mountain Breakdown, already have the first part down good. Next we are going into back up playing such as when there is another instrument leading and/or a person singing. I feel a good teacher can make or break your interest and how you progress.
Bob
BanjoBobb
sawyer 12 - Posted - 03/15/2007: 21:40:03
quote:
Decided to get a teacher the first thing he teaches me is twinkle twinkle little star,Took three weeks to learn
I don,t mean to sound rude but if you read your quote above this explains why he started you on twinkle twinkle. It depends on the level of playing that someone has to where the teacher would start.
If it took three weeks to learn part of TTLS, how much of FMB would you have learned?
I have used yankee doodle as a starting point for some people, mainly to get them started on something simple that would be easy to do and get them used to fretting the notes and hearing the notes, until someone can do that theres no point in going to a harder song .
Several years ago when I was taking lessons there was another guy taking lesson right before me. He took thirty lessons on cripple creek. If your teacher is moving you up to balled of jed clampet then you must be doing pretty good. Just be patient and practise on what your teacher is showing you and you will be playing FMB before you know it.
david
Jamie B. - Posted - 03/15/2007: 21:57:36
I understand what you guys are saying and appreciate it,I have every intention on staying with my teacher,just thought i could try FMB on my own,But have now decided i better learn cripple creek first,He says Im really doing good ,says i have good timeing,and will have no problem learning the banjo, ,I just feel i cant get enough of this thing ,I want to be loaded up with all the the information I can during my 30 minutes of lessons,because 30 minutes of twinkle twinkle doesnt keep me busy for a week
sawyer 12 - Posted - 03/15/2007: 22:04:02
Yeah butJamie, things are getting ready to break loose. Pretty soon he will show you enough during that thirty minutes to last you all week.
david
Jamie B. - Posted - 03/15/2007: 22:04:37
sawyer 12 I took three weeks to learn twinkle twinkle because he only showed me a few notes at a time,I really beleive I could of got the whole thing the first lesson,and then could have practiced the whole thing during the week instead of just little peaces of it,I guess ill have to tell him i need more to learn.
sawyer 12 - Posted - 03/15/2007: 22:27:34
Yes, you are right about that. The first lesson should have been enough for that.
david
Trower67 - Posted - 03/16/2007: 12:50:26
Hi there fellow picker,I will tell ya if you want a good instructor that shows you all there is in beginning banjo,rolls tunig etc ,and then moves on to show you how to incorporate them in good beginning blugrass tunes,Check out the Murphy Method dvds. Tge website has all the videos there beginning banjo vol. 1 and on up.You can rewind etc as you need for each part of the tune . On beginning banjo vol 1 there is Banjo in the Holler, Cripple Creek,Cumberland gap,Foggy Mountain Breakdown< and John Hardy. These are taught in order to build certain skills to move up to the next tune,great learning tool I highly recomend it , I think you will love it as I did.
Kevin
Jamie B. - Posted - 03/16/2007: 17:53:18
I orderd earl scruggs and the five string banjo, waiting for it to arrive,You guys think its ok?
pierce - Posted - 03/17/2007: 09:07:51
Earl can do no wrong, but my personal preference is for Janet Davis' "You Can Teach Yourself Banjo" book. I think it's the easiest-to-understand book if you're just starting.
rollin36 - Posted - 03/17/2007: 11:58:36
Murphy method is a GREAT learning tool... FMB is the 4th song she teaches but i found that i wasn't ready for it even thou i had learned the 3 songs that lead up to it. I skipped the song and learn the next 3 which to me seemed easier...Although a cpl of them had the FMB lick in them as an ending lick i skipped it till i learned the songs and then went back to FMB a month later... It was then pretty easy to learn. After 2.5 months of learning from her vol 1 and vol 2 DVD's I have 8 of her songs down really well...I can't wait to get into her Jam season standards DVD ! Just a reminder of one's progress..I have been putting in anywhere from 4 to 8 hours a day practicing. Long hours of practice are key, which comes with the love for this instrument.
Ode-Style D
Ome Silver Moguel
G&L guitars
Kel Kroydon KK11 (coming soon)
James Irwin - Posted - 03/17/2007: 16:24:07
Aw... go for it...we may get hit by a bus tomorrow...at least you can tell the big guy ...."Yeah...FMB...I play it..."
....1st bar...in fact, break it down bar by bar and look both ways before you cross the street...you'll get there ...FMB was the 3rd tune I learned...take it slow...it's so worth it...good luck!
Dad always said " better to be thought a fool, than open your mouth and remove all doubt".......sorry Dad...I should have listened...
Edited by - James Irwin on 03/17/2007 19:18:42
