Posted by drefoss on Sunday, April 21, 2013
Well spring is here and a time for new growth and new beginnings, at least I hope so for my banjo playing's sake. Seem to have hit a stale mate, just going over and over the same stuff and haven't learned anything new??? Always intend to but seem's something always comes up and the banjo is put off until later. So starting today i pledge to spend at least 1 hour a day studying and practicing and not just moving on when I have something down half assed LOL.I spend a lot of time at my camper in the summer and always have my banjo with me, lots of printed material, no computer service at the campground, I have been very disappointed in myself lately and want a new banjo, but must justify it to myself before I spend the money :). Happy Pickin everyone.
Mike
punky Says:
Wednesday, November 13, 2013 @2:01:55 PM
Hi: My name is Punky. I'm new to Banjohangout and not sure how to get around the site yet. I linked to your site after you had checked my site. In response to your Spring is Here, don't ever give up something that you really want to do. I went through all kinds of problems when first picking up the banjo somewhere around the age of 50 (I've been a country piano player all my life.) I actually took a few years just to get used to the darn finger picks (not commonly used on my piano playing.) A friend of mine noticed that most of my banjo playing was smooth and "countrified." I'm self taught and applied all my piano playing licks to the banjo (chord structures, minor build-downs, etc. He drastically wanted me to teach him "country banjo" and in return he would teach me "bluegrass banjo." So, I spent hours showing him the styles that helped his backup of country songs. In return he spent 1 minute teaching me bluegrass banjo. He simply said, "you are a very good bluegrass banjo player, but you need to learn one thing: be more aggressive and don't play it with the smoothness you do when playing country." I worked hard to become obnoxious, as he labelled it. Today, I'm very satisfied with my banjo playing (which is nowhere as good as the pros) but I'm happy with what I do and I'm having a ball with it. I can now play both country and bluegrass in almost any jam and happy with what I do. This friend I spoke of has since died and I dearly miss him but, more than ever, I'm playing the way I hope he'd be proud of me....and I'm sure he is...wherever he is....because he was a great friend....and so is my banjo....keep plugging, never give up....there's no such thing as a bad banjo player...just bad listeners.....Good Luck....Punky
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