definitely very helpful on rh fingering... sometimes the tabs are slightly off and that can make a big difference..

Rob, I've been stuck on no.13 for a couple days. I think I finally got it tonight though. I just couldn't figure it out. Thank God for replay. It finally sunk in I think. Do other people get tied up in the same place?

Hello Bob
Excellent tuition & supurb playing. I assume you are playing a Deering 'Goodtime'. Is it open backed? If a 'Goodtime' which model is it?

Mike

quote:

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Originally posted by Mike Dexter

Hello Bob
Excellent tuition & supurb playing. I assume you are playing a Deering 'Goodtime'. Is it open backed? If a 'Goodtime' which model is it?

Mike

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hjaarmtes, I always had trouble with tab before I learned to play. It is a great way to communicate for someone who is a bit more experienced, but has problems for the beginner.

Hitchcock, yes, that is a sticky point. I tried to spend as much time on problem sections as possible, but some of the more advanced players complain that the vids are too slow. I tried to keep them as slow as I could. I'm glad you got through it.

Mike, Yes, it is a Goodtime, and no, it doesn't have a resonator, which is good with me. Not only do I like an open back sound, until I get into a banjo with a tone ring, I prefer it. Of course, once you have a good tone ring, you also find that the resonator not only makes the volume greater, it enhances the sound.

Milli, I am glad the lessons are working out for you. I wish I had the ability to do more. My Goodtime is my only 5 string. I took a fall some time ago, and the neck has finally cracked at the heel. I put that banjo through quite a lot, and it should have been a mass of splinters by now, but time has finally taken its toll.

I have not been able to afford a new banjo, and will wait till I have a bit of extra cash, because I have been hit hard by the economy. All I do is teach online, and my wife is a stay at home mom. Things are good, but there has been a downturn in the U.K. pound, and I have seen people cutting back. Most of my students are from England, and a few from Scotland and Wales. I teach fingerstyle guitar mostly.

If the pound picks up, I might buy another banjo, or I might break down and advertise for guitar lessons here in America. I have never done that, because my Youtube channel has been very popular in the U.K. for some reason, though not with banjo much.

So, I will try to get back to more lessons some day. I am glad that I at least got these out to help.

Rob,
Months ago I was working on "Old Joe Clark" and enjoying your breakdown of fret board and fingering. I amazed myself at how fast I was picking it up. Unfortunately I had put the Banjo down and have not picked it up in a long time. Your FMB lessons are recharging me and I'm back on learning again. Thanks for all your efforts!

You are welcome Tuner.

My banjo goes out of tune now with every move of it's broken neck. I can still teach with it, but I am not going to do any videos, because people are very unforgiving on Youtube, and I will have to spend hours telling people why it sounds funny. I also have a broken head, and won't replace that on a broken banjo. My students don't mind, but the Youtube audience is very picky.

I have a lot of expenses as of late, but when I get some extra cash, I will get another banjo and do some more vids. I want to finish the high part on Foggy Mountain Breakdown, and I also have some back up lessons, as well as a couple of other tunes that I want to post.

If you ever told me that I could learn FMB, I would have said; No way! Now, after just a short time, I can play the song. Not yet at speed, but that will come. Thank you so much for this!!! I have the videos downloaded to my iTouch and listen to them while commuting to work, on my breaks and before falling asleep. I have taken the tab that was down by fishnfule and cleaned it up. There were a few notes missing and a few extra. Redid the fingering to match what Rob calls out. My application is registered so there are no watermarks blocking parts of the measures. Hope you can use it. I tried to attach it to the post, but it keeps timing out. I have added it to the TAB section of the site. Here is a link to it:
hangoutstorage.com/banjohangou...62010.pdf

Thanks again Rob, this is exactly what makes the internet such a useful tool. No matter where you live, you can have access to a great teacher such as yourself!

Kerry
playing a BG-250F

Kenny,

Thanks for the work. That was hard to do I'm sure.

You might want to look at the timing of some of the notes in the music. The tab is right, and so are the notes but the value of the note's timing is wrong, because you have straight 8th notes all through, and there are several 1/4 notes instead, so the measures get backed up a bit.

Still, it will be a valuable tool, for those who want a diagram of the fingering.

Thank you,

Rob

Well, I just got asked to play the National Anthem by the Detroit Tigers organization at Comerica Park on July 2nd, as part of their celebration of Americana for the 4th of July.

I will be playing 5 string, and my friend Neil Woodward will be playing fiddle.

Now, I have to find a banjo. Ha ha.

Awesome, Rob! Congratulations on the HUGE gig. Be prepared for online searches of you to explode. You need an album to capitalize.

quote:

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Originally posted by Rob Bourassa

Well, I just got asked to play the National Anthem by the Detroit Tigers organization at Comerica Park on July 2nd, as part of their celebration of Americana for the 4th of July.

I will be playing 5 string, and my friend Neil Woodward will be playing fiddle.

Now, I have to find a banjo. Ha ha.

---

quote:

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Originally posted by Rob Bourassa

Well, I just got asked to play the National Anthem by the Detroit Tigers organization at Comerica Park on July 2nd, as part of their celebration of Americana for the 4th of July.

I will be playing 5 string, and my friend Neil Woodward will be playing fiddle.

Now, I have to find a banjo. Ha ha.

---

Thank you for the offer Milli.

My good buddy Russ has a great old Liberty Banjo, and has offered it to me for the job. I did a little set up on that thing a couple of years ago, and it knocked my socks off.

I should break down and get a banjo some day. I can still teach with the Goodtime, but videos are just not possible right now, because the heel is so badly cracked, it wavers in pitch with every move of the neck.

I'm following and enjoying your lessons Rob. Theres on thing that I'm stuck fast on and wonder if you could help, and wonder if other people are having this problem.
The three/two slide on the fourth string. Each time I do this it sounds like a smudge and makes what progress I am making, sound terrible. My finger ends are hard so thats not the problem. I've tried doing it both slowly and quickly, but it still sounds like a smudge. A smudge is my best way of describing the sound, dub, I have no idea why this happens and am stuck.
Once again, many thanks for all your help Rob.

quote:

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Originally posted by Rob Bourassa

Thank you for the offer Milli.

My good buddy Russ has a great old Liberty Banjo, and has offered it to me for the job. I did a little set up on that thing a couple of years ago, and it knocked my socks off.

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The 3\2 slide is on the third string. If you are doing it on the fourth, that would explain why it never sounds right. I know the timing on the tab that I did is not quite right, but Rob said the fingering is correct. So you can tell us what measures you are having a difficult time with.

Hope this helps
I have updated the tab to try and get the timing more in-line with what Rob teaches. As soon as the site is fixed and I can upload to the tab section I will post back here.

edit* appears to be working, here is the updated tab

quote:

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Originally posted by kleblanc

The 3\2 slide is on the third string. If you are doing it on the fourth, that would explain why it never sounds right. I know the timing on the tab that I did is not quite right, but Rob said the fingering is correct. So you can tell us what measures you are having a difficult time with.

Hope this helps
I have updated the tab to try and get the timing more in-line with what Rob teaches. As soon as the site is fixed and I can upload to the tab section I will post back here.

edit* appears to be working, here is the updated tab

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Old Git,

THe thing to remember is that you need to keep near the 3rd fret, not in the middle of the space between frets, and you have to move it very fast. There should only be one beat that both the 3rd and 2nd fret share, so the forward roll is not interrupted or slowed down even slightly, but played as if there was no slide at all, just the 3rd fret.

Try is with just the 3rd fret, getting that clean and in time, and as an afterthought, slide, but don't slide too far below the 2nd fret. Getting too far away from the fret makes the "smudge" sound you're talking about.

Thanks Rob. I shall work on that and do nothing else till it takes shape. It seems pointless trying to move on leaving a sticking point. It sounds to me that most banjo music involves slides as much as all the other work, so not to get it right would be only doing half the job. Once again this goes to prove that unless a teacher puts us on the right track, small problems will keep us from any progress.
Books and CD's are ok but you can't ask them a question, and a lot of little things such as this are overlooked in tutorials, leaving us either missing bits out or not progressing, getting disheartened and giving up.

After working all day on my problem of the 3/2 slide, or smudge in my case, I suddenly had a thought. I then took another look at Rob's video's and there was the answer. I have been holding the banjo very much in the same way as holding a guitar, but when I change chords on the guitar I have to move my hand position. On the banjo I had been keeping my hand in one position then trying to slide my fingers along the the frets without moving my hand position in any way, impossible.
I've found, and, watched Rob move his hand slightly up the neck just before the slide, that way, the finger is pulled toward the hand, and not trying to rock it or smudge it sideways. I'm slowly getting used to doing it right and now it actualy feels right. One dipstick checked.

Good. That is an observation I will remember.

Great news, Old git! Glad you made it past that point. That was a really great observation, will probably help others that get stuck there. I was watching the video and it seems that Rob is almost pivoting on his thumb at that point. Hard to catch if you are not looking for it.



Arrggghhh! These people are relentless. There is no end to spam! Boil 'em in oil, I say!

quote:

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Originally posted by linna291

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quote:

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Originally posted by Rob Bourassa

Well, I just got asked to play the National Anthem by the Detroit Tigers organization at Comerica Park on July 2nd, as part of their celebration of Americana for the 4th of July.

I will be playing 5 string, and my friend Neil Woodward will be playing fiddle.

Now, I have to find a banjo. Ha ha.

---

I had a great time. The crowd really seemed to love the banjo and fiddle rendition Neil Woodward and I did. The Liberty Quadrille sounded great. I had set that banjo up for my buddy Russ a few years ago, and it still cracked. Thanks Russ. I owe you another breakfast or two for that.

I walked past Tiger great, Willie Horton as we went out onto the pitchers mound. Neil said something I will never forget as we stepped out onto the field.

"Rob, we've both been doing this kind of thing far too long to be nervous, but I sure am excited."

The crowd cheered a little before the end, so that was too much for me, and I cracked a smile. It was very well received, and we have already been told that they would like a repeat performance. It was the most satisfying performance I've had in years, because of the reverence, and the fact that everyone is listening, and judging if you have played a reverent and tasteful interpretation.

My son Andrew is a Marine, fighting in Afghanistan right now, so the Anthem seems to hit home, even a bit more with me now, and it was a great honor to be able to perform for my fellow Americans. My wife and I wished he could have been there.

It was a magic evening. The Tigers were very gracious, and gave Neil and our wives, as well as my 3 daughters beautiful seats, in the 14th row, not too far from 3rd base. It was a 7 to 1 Tigers win, and then we had the best fireworks display I have seen, right in the park.


The one thing that was weird was the fact that some misunderstood my introduction. The Tigers introduced me as "Youtube musician Rob Bourassa." I had people crawling down into the stands to meet me because they thought I played for U2.

The Tigers video taped the performance, and they will send me a copy.

On a side note, my buddy Russ told me to keep the Liberty long enough to do a video of Little Maggie, so we will have another tune coming out in a little while. I might take my time though, it is a great banjo to have around.