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FraterBanjo |
I turned 40 not too long ago, and my wife gifted me a banjo.
I've spent most of my life playing music, but never a banjo and the instrument has always intrigued me.
I remember starting out on guitar as a little boy - so little that I had to tape a towel to my Ibanez just so it would fit on my lap. I worked my way through years of lessons, cursing Mel Bay and militant teachers who forced me to learn the proper scales. In elementary school, I played the violin in the orchestra (my teacher always said i held it like a fiddle). I also attempted to play the baritone horn in the church band (the same one my uncle played decades earlier).
As I grew older, my structured studies transformed into playing house parties and late night drunken jam sessions with my colleagues. Sometimes, we would sneak into the College band room to 'experiment' with the instruments until security kicked us out.
In my twenties, I fondly remember jam session with one of my close friends. He'd come over and we'd create our own songs and sounds - recording them on my four-track tape recorder. We were gonna be big! :D. He died just before my thirtieth birthday and our demo never made it out of the apartment.
I pretty much hung up the guitar for good.
Now, I have a banjo.
I picked it up for the first time last week and something 'magical' happened - all those forgotten joys of playing music came right back to me. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing, but it didn't matter. For the rest of the evening, all my worries and concerns drifted away. I was having fun again.
So, here I am - starting all over. All those scales and book learnin' as a child resurfacing. I've joined this forum. I'm searching the interweb for advice and education.
I am excited to be on this journey all over again.
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