8 Comments |
 | lbartosh says:
6/25/2011 6:03:23 PM
I love classical music on the banjo but am probably not talented enough to play much of it. I've been working on one piece for a while now and have progressed but have a lot of trouble playing through it consistently. Seems to me you better not get lost because unlike bluegrass, you don't just come back in at a convenient spot. Also, if you're used to bluegrass many of the finger positions are so unusual. Looking forward to seeing and hearing more from you guys.
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 | gdoc says:
6/25/2011 6:40:29 PM
Your sure right about what you said about not getting lost in a piece of classical music. For one thing, it's like reading a book, you just can't change words as freely as you could with bluegrass.
As for the fingering, your double right, some of the fingerings both right and left hand are just not easy. It took me over a month to learn to get a 6 note run down one time.
The other hard part is finding a piece that works on the banjo period! That's one thing I hope we find here, are tunes other people discovered that sound good and will (with a lot of work) addapt to the banjo.
So many good classical pieces out there, but I just don't know they exist.
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| lbartosh says:
6/25/2011 7:28:00 PM
Many years ago I played bluegrass. Some melodic stuff and fiddle tunes. A couple of years ago my son who is very schooled in music decided to play banjo which got me started all over again after 30 years. Hopefully with his music theory I can learn some new types of music on the banjo. I'm ashamed to say that I've been working on Tab for Bach's prelude in g for solo cello for 5-6 weeks and probably have just over half of it in a playable form. Some times I play it and sound great but then it's like I think too hard and loose everything.
This week end I heard another Bach piece called Sleepers Awake that I really loved but it sounded like it would be pretty tough on the banjo. I'm amazed at how this fits together on the banjo like one long string of notes where pieces of it sound so odd but fit so perfectly when played together. No hot licks here or anything you'll casually pick up at the Saturday night jam session n
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| gdoc says:
6/25/2011 8:40:52 PM
5 -6 weeks? That's FAST! It took me about a month to just learn the rustic dance. Then on and off for several years, but never perfecting it. Then over 2 months just trying to smooth it out, and that's what I posted. It still needs more finess.
5-6 weeks...hmmm in banjo IQ that puts you at about 200.
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 | Bullard says:
7/31/2011 4:20:16 PM
now this seems like a good group :)
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| gdoc says:
7/31/2011 5:01:34 PM
John, you should have posted about your book with Mel Bay here.
Anyway, John Bullard has a Mel Bay book Bach for Banjo available.
Perhaps John will share a little more about it??????????
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| Bullard says:
9/4/2011 1:40:28 PM
Hey there...I just read this far on this far on the forum and found this post...sorry for the delay. I now get an e mail when posts are made.
About the Bach for the Banjo book...it contains all of the Bach pieces from my two CDs. There are a bunch of duets with guitar - both parts in tab- and then a some solos for banjo which are in tab and standard notation. The solos are the kinds of pieces that you have to live with a long time before you really feel comfortable with them. They are pretty tough to play - but worth the effort. I have to admit that I feel much more comfortable with most of them now then when I recorded them back then. I think that's the big difference between classical and other idioms - you really have to pay attention to phrasing and dynamics to make the pieces come alive. It's more like the artistic expression comes through the phrasing and dynamics - since the notes don't change (as in bluegrass or jazz). The Bach solos are really "life" pieces that after playing them for a lot of years you start to get a different perspective on them. I always have about 4 phases of work in a transcription once I have found a piece to transcribe for banjo. First I usually have to move the piece to a new key to fit better on the banjo (not always). I used to actually re-write the piece by hand in the new key...painstaking but it helped get the piece in my head...now I use finale software and I can move it around easily to try different keys. Secondly, I go through and finger the piece...figuring out the best right and left hand fingering that will best bring out the different lines. I have gotten better at this part and am constantly scrutinizing fingerings to find a better way for difficult passages (I probably play them a bit differently than what is in the books - in small ways).Then I go about memorizing the piece. By the time I have it memorized I usually can play through it ok slowly...then it's all about playing it slowly without mistakes and gradually adding the speed and the dynamics and phrasing to give it life. I listen a lot to other instruments playing the pieces to hear the phrasing and so forth. I have learned to pay a lot more attention to the subtle counterpoint that Bach has even in his solo pieces. I try to do my best to bring these lines out and maintain their continuity by keeping a line on the same string as much as possible instead of going for an easier open string or "melodic" style fingering that might be available. Hopefully my playing has matured - along with the rest of me : )
I think Rob MacKillop is one of the most gifted musicians to pick up the banjo...he has the musical knowledge and experience across varied instruments to really bring a high level of musicianship to the banjo. We are lucky to have him playing, teaching, and recording his stuff - we can all learn much from him!
Glad to have found this group...I'm not really a BHO power user but I'm slowly figuring it out.
JB
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| Bullard says:
9/4/2011 1:47:01 PM
p.s.
I also meant to say that I highly recommend banjo players learn to read standard notation - it really helps in the whole process and allows the banjoist to roam the musical world freely and unencumbered. The Classic Banjo world and literature is a great companion in this way to anyone desiring to get into "Classical" music on the banjo. The classic player's approach the banjo is basically a "classical" type of approach - even if the music styles differ a bit here and there.
JB
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