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johann |
sites.google.com/site/theodore
goetz
Playing Since: 2006
Experience Level: Purty Good
Interests:
[Jamming] [Socializing] [Helping]
Occupation: Physicist
Gender: Male
Age: 43
My Instruments:
Mastercraft Elite Mahogany (great banjo. see my review here on BHO)
Classified Rating: not rated
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Profile Info:
Visible to: Public
Created 12/11/2008
Last Visit 5/25/2023
<p>Musically, I started on piano when a wee lad but lost interest after only a couple years. I picked up my father's trombone during the 7th grade and have done 10 seasons of marching band including the Concord Blue Devils "B" Drum and Bugle Corpse on contra-bass. I was in jazz bands from 7th grade up to my junior year at Univ. California Los Angeles where at one point I was in three different full jazz bands, and the orchestra.</p> <p>I picked up my banjo early on in high-school and tried to learn, but I gave up after a month or two. I attribute this to attempting music that was beyond a beginning student of any string instrument. Since I was already proficient at the trombone it was hard to take that step backwards. Over the course of about eight years I tried on and off to "learn to play the banjo" only to find out that I didn't really know what that meant.</p> <p>One day in 2006 I decided to give bluegrass a try (all attempts before had been classical) and, following a lesson online which might have been here on BHO, I realized the key, at least for me, that would unlock the instrument: the roll. Since then I have taken banjo practice quite seriously and I think I have made great progress.</p> <p>I must acknowledge one book in particular that was most helpful for me, although I have many books on beginning and learning the banjo: Fred Sokolow's Complete Bluegrass Banjo Method. His emphasis is on piecing together the appropriate combination of rolls to make a melody come out from the chord changes as well as transitioning from one chord to the next. And, while I believe learning Scruggs' solos is truly great instruction, creating your own solos is better. Furthermore, the CD that comes with the book is slow enough to play along within the first few weeks but at a tempo that will keep you occupied for a long time. It took me about 2 years to get through this book and now I'm going through Scruggs' book which is relatively easy though I still remember a time when it was near impossible for me!
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