easye1097 - Posted - 05/25/2007:  14:22:03

I'm trying to learn some Dubliners tunes on the 5-string banjo - on the recordings Barney Mckenna flatpicks a tenor banjo. The melodies tend to be picked out note for note - just wondering if the easiest way to play this with fingerpicks is to alternate thumb-index on every string, Reno-style? When would you want to use the middle finger? Much of the banjo parts are just riffs and variations on scales so seems to be all single-string stuff.

Thanks,
E

renoman22 - Posted - 05/25/2007:  16:58:46

Here's a couple of old threads that may help. Good luck!
http://www.banjohangout.org/forum/t...PIC_ID=77829
http://www.banjohangout.org/forum/t...PIC_ID=72453




No matter what level or how bad a picker is, they will have something you can learn from them.

Our myspace site site: www.myspace.com/theskinnerfamilyband
For the Reno Style Instruction DVDs: www.skinnerfamilyband.com
For The Online Reno Workshop go here: www.banjohollow.ic24.net
The Don Reno Fan Club: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/donrenofanclub
For rare Don Reno videos go here: www.youtube.com/user/renopicker

Edited by - renoman22 on 05/25/2007 16:59:41

imac50 - Posted - 05/25/2007:  18:06:55

I use the middle finger on every string except the 5th. Never quite maaged that yet. I play the tune more in the melodic style of Keith and co but there are times when the single string approach is the best for the job. In these cases I do use TITI but for a single string triplet I also use TIM all on the one string. Really there should be no rule. What works best for you and the tune is the way forward. Tom Hanway and I play some of the same tunes but we finger it differently. (Sometimes I wish I could play it the way Tom does!) I like using the melodic style because I like the ringing sound that it produces, which is why I play the 5 and not the 4. You can hear some of my playing on my home page to get the idea of what I'm doing. I never really saw the point in imitating a 4 because the 4 would always sound better (and vice versa). Hope I haven't trodden on anyone's toes. That's the way I approach it and it works for me but it may not be the sound that you want.

Iain
www.iainmaclachlan.com