hi friends. A year ago I recorded a few videos for a small playlist I was gonna put up on YouTube on how to play the Seeger songs as close as possible to his sound. It never left my desktop, but yesterday I was reading through this page as saw a post where one person complained a "Seeger" instruction video series wasn't that much Seeger, but new arrangements made by professional players. The idea came back, why not do it ourselves? There's a lot of banjo instruction in YouTube, but very little quality Seeger, other than Colin bazsali who, in my opinion is among the very best reproducing seegers sound. Anyhow. I'm new with the banjo and much inexperienced recording videos, but for what is worth, here's one. Penny's farm. I'd like to encourage others who know his playing better than me to share. So I can learn from you as well. Take care and keep on picking.https://youtu.be/9hQ9jibmFq8
9 Comments |
 | Jim Yates says:
2/29/2016 6:43:29 PM
Nice job. Super helpful video.
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 | giweb says:
2/29/2016 7:04:57 PM
Well done Ricardo. Good idea and very good breakdown / teaching method. Pete would be proud. Professional players (whatever that means) have a difficult time going back to square one and building up to a sound as you have done. You have a teacher's touch! Pete is smiling. Thank you.
giweb
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 | herrcespedes says:
3/1/2016 6:30:01 AM
Thank you both for your kind words. Pete was nothing short of a force of nature. I can only hope he'd be proud we're keeping it alive
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 | phdm says:
3/7/2016 12:52:39 AM
I have never posted a video of my banjo playing but the idea that a group of folks could post their efforts to replicate Seeger's banjo playing on various songs appeals to me, as there is, as yet, no detailed secondary resource for teaching his playing styles beyond his original book. So... here is a link to the video I have just posted to YouTube of "Well May the World Go" and a lesser know song that Pete played a bunch in the 1950's and 1960's - "Hymn for Nations" (he did not write it - only adapted it). Here is the link:
youtu.be/E3DGAVuURHU
(I hope I am posting this correctly).
Peter McKee - Seattle
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| Jim Yates says:
3/7/2016 9:49:08 AM
Nice job Peter. You've caught Pete's spirit well.
Do you strum down with the picks on?
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| phdm says:
3/7/2016 4:55:03 PM
Jim – thanks for your note. I do use three fingerpicks and thumb pick. The index and middle finger pics are facing inward for the up-pick ( normally only up-picking with the index finger, but on "Hymn for Nations", Pete used both index and middle finger). The down stroke with the ring finger uses a pick facing outward. Apparently Seeger rarely if ever used a thumb pick with his banjo playing, and would either use or not use fingerpicks depending upon the song. When I began to learn 40 years ago directly from his book, it seemed to advise using fingerpicks, so that's what I got into the habit of using. I can't play without them, though I am now trying to learn a bit of clawhammer and it's a whole new way of doing things! Left hand is fine, it's the right hand that needs all the retraining.
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| phdm says:
3/7/2016 5:00:35 PM
Jim – thanks for your note. I do use three fingerpicks and thumb pick. The index and middle finger pics are facing inward for the up-pick ( normally only up-picking with the index finger, but on "Hymn for Nations", Pete used both index and middle finger). The down stroke with the ring finger uses a pick facing outward. Apparently Seeger rarely if ever used a thumb pick with his banjo playing, and would either use or not use fingerpicks depending upon the song. When I began to learn 40 years ago directly from his book, it seemed to advise using fingerpicks, so that's what I got into the habit of using. I can't play without them, though I am now trying to learn a bit of clawhammer and it's a whole new way of doing things! Left hand is fine, it's the right hand that needs all the retraining.
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| herrcespedes says:
3/20/2016 2:48:13 PM
Outstanding! just outstanding Peter! your banjo sounds amazing and you do have that Seeger sound I envy. this is exactly what I was hoping for. I knew "well may the world go", but I play it in the basic strum, it sounds good enough, but until today i had not seen anyone do it like you do, which in my opinion sounds much better and closer the album than my version. I will learn it from you, and combine it with mine, where I start leading with the thumb for solos and do a basic strum for verses... hymn to nations is a great adaptation by pete, and ill work on that too. this is the sort of collaboration i am hoping for, where we can learn from each other.
I have been extremely busy this past two weeks and have not had time to even check this forum, but things are clearing up and ill manage a video soon. Until then.
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| phdm says:
3/29/2016 2:06:12 PM
Mr Cespedes,
Thanks for your note. Glad you like "Well May the World Go". While a lesser known Pete song, it is one of my favorites. Here is a link to my performance of it, with a fellow Pete Seger enthusiast Tom Rawson doing claw hammer back up on his long neck banjo, at the 2015 Seattle Folklife Festival Pete Seeger sing-along I lead.
youtu.be/oZQ_NgqPAdc
Take care,
Peter
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