Banjitar Series - Five Foot Two Eyes Of Blue - BanjoBelle's Blog

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Banjitar Series - Five Foot Two Eyes Of Blue

Posted by BanjoBelle on Thursday, November 14, 2013

3 people like this

Hello, and hoping you’re enjoying the autumn season! A BIG thank you to those who wrote letting me know they enjoyed the previous articles… I wasn’t sure how this idea was going to go over as I have no idea as to how many six stringers are actually on the Hangout.

For this month I thought it would be a cool thing to take our banjitars back to where it all started… the 1920’s. I chose a tune that everyone should be familiar with: Five Foot Two Eyes Of Blue. For those who really get into this tune, it would be a fun idea to get together with some friends who play ukulele and jam on this together.

"Five Foot Two Eyes Of Blue?" Tab Page 1, Page 2, and Page 3

You can play this open, or if that gives too muddy a tone, try your capo at the 3rd or 5th fret. For a little extra pizzazz for the picking hand, I use a mandolin picking technique called a tremelo. Instead of hitting the note with the pick just once, try rapidly playing a single note by relaxing the wrist and letting your right hand jiggle up and down. Don’t strain to play it fast--by stiffening up you’ll only slow yourself down... hands never work well when they’re tense. So relax your arm all the way down to your fingertips and just work with it--there are no rules on how fast a tremelo should be, so use your ear to tell you what speed sounds right for this song. Also be sure to use it where it will really stand out and make an impression, like at the beginning and end of the chorus. Don’t overuse it or it’ll lose it’s zing. If you sing, by all means sing along with your playing.

If you can read music for guitar and you like 1920’s music, you can start collecting vintage 1920’s ukulele sheet music and song books. As gypsy jazz seems to be on the upswing (no pun intended) there are also some fine songbooks for guitar out there you can use. If you would like suggested titles, drop me a line for that in addition to any questions, comments, or requests you may have for additional articles. I’d really like to help you to become an even better 6 string banjoist.

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