I was watching the transcribing lesson by Ron Block on youtube (title: Ron Block - Banjo Mini-Lesson: Transcribing) and wanted to know what the song is he play very shortly at the 50 second mark.
Does anybody know what the name of the song or is he just improvising?
"Home Sweet Home." I believe anytime someone is in drop-C tuning for the banjo, it's a requirement to at least noodle on bits and pieces of that song, lol.
quote:
Originally posted by HuberTone"Home Sweet Home." I believe anytime someone is in drop-C tuning for the banjo, it's a requirement to at least noodle on bits and pieces of that song, lol.
Thanks a lot! 
I warm up with "Home Sweet Home" in "C". This helps me keep my reverse rolls sounding good.
I play Home Sweet Home in D tuning and twist the keys on it. Does that mean I don't play it properly?
I know, I know, Earl didn't play it that way. Allen Shelton did. He taught it to me.
Learning something by picking apart what other people have done, & writing (transcribing) it down (so you don't forget the beginning by the time you get to the end), like Ron Block said, is an excellent vehicle for figuring out how & where you can modify a tune by substituting licks you've picked up here & there. Five or ten years down the road, your rendition of HSH may retain little of Earl, or anyone else's version, but it's yours.
Edited by - monstertone on 01/15/2021 12:39:18
1. It's a good old popular song, Home Sweet Home, that the general public recognizes
2. Earl was inspired by the OLD recording "The Man Who Wrote Home Sweet Home Never Was a Married Man" where N. Carolinian Mack Woolbright played the drop C arrangement Earl adopted, including the lovely G7 chord.
3. It's on the Foggy Mountain Banjo LP, the greatest banjo record ever made.
4. It's devilishly hard to figure out exactly what Earl is doing on it. Good ear and hand training. I played bluegrass banjo for 40 years before Casey Henry helped me figure out the backwards roll. Ahh!!!!!!
5. It is indeed a good song for improvising! Earl did so in his second break!
6. Ron Block is as good as they come. It is arguable he is the currently "most heard" banjo player in the world by virtue of his recorded career with AKUS.
You just can't beat Home Sweet Home for an all-purpose 5 string banjo song.
quote:
Originally posted by The Old Timer
6. Ron Block is as good as they come. It is arguable he is the currently "most heard" banjo player in the world by virtue of his recorded career with AKUS.
You just can't beat Home Sweet Home for an all-purpose 5 string banjo song.
I agree with you on both statements, Ron is a master musician and a BANJO STYLIST ! You don't have to listen to most any song or instrumental very long to recognize Ron's playing. It's a D*#N shame Ron's never been IBMA Banjo Player of the Year. He should be banjo player of the decade !
Brian
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