Posted by Josh Turknett on Tuesday, June 4, 2019
by Josh Turknett, fingerstylebanjo.com
I'll be conducting a live tab-walk through workshop on JUNE 9 at 2 PM where I'll go step-by-step through the vocal backup and lead break for this song (click here to view a prior Tab "Walk-Through" video)
To view the workshop live, or the replay video,
click here to subscribe to the Fingerstyle Banjo Channel on YouTube.
In the days of yore, also known as the early 20th century, a singing banjo player was a common sight. Er...sound.
These days, not so much. Especially when you limit the discussion to those who pluck their banjos in a Scruggsian manner.
This I view as a supremely unfortunate situation. I've blathered on elsewhere about the many benefits of singing and playing with the banjo, including the fact that science has shown audiences prefer songs by a ratio of 8,204 to 1.
There are likely several factors responsible for the collective muting of the banjoists voice, but central among them is surely the fact that Scruggs style picking is not particularly well suited to backing up one's voice all by itself.
Whereas clawhammer is melody and backing section all wrapped up in a single style, which is great for vocal accompaniment and solo playing, the same isn't true for Scruggs banjo.
However....there's a whole world of fingerpicked banjo that works great as vocal backup (and, not coincidentally, also sounds great played solo)!
As mentioned, in the days of yore, singing banjo players were the norm. And those banjo players picked their banjos in BOTH directions (i.e. up and down). Old-time fingerpickers commonly played and sang.
Personally, I think there's plenty of room for all of it. And, regardless of whether you are an avid Scruggsophile or on old time fingerpicking enthusiast, you're more than capable of playing great banjo vocal backup.
As it turns out, when it comes to backing up one's voice in fingerstyle, it doesn't get much better than 2 finger thumb lead.
Like clawhammer, it's a self contained style of playing, with melody and rhythm baked into one, providing the ideal backdrop for the voice - as well as the ideal starting place for learning to play and sing.
And so, in this new series in the Core Repertoire series focusing on playing and singing in fingerstyle, we'll first get our feet wet with some 2 finger thumb lead playing.
In doing so, we'll kill two birds with one stone - you'll learn some foundational techniques for playing and singing, and you'll receive an introduction to the incredible world beyond Earl, aka the big beautiful universe of old time fingerstyle.
I'll be conducting a live tab-walk through workshop on JUNE 9 at 2 PM where I'll go step-by-step through the vocal backup and lead break for this song (click here to view a prior Tab "Walk-Through" video)
To view the workshop live, or the replay video,
click here to subscribe to the Fingerstyle Banjo Channel on YouTube.
About the Author
Dr. Josh Turknett is the creator of the Brainjo Method, the first system for learning banjo that incorporates the science of learning and neuroplasticity and specifically targets the adult learner.
Check out the Brainjo course for CLAWHAMMER banjo
Check out the Brainjo course for FINGERSTYLE banjo
Check out the Brainjo course for OLD TIME FIDDLE
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