Hope all's well with you all. Please bear in mind I'm new to banjo and from a pretty non-existent banjo playing place. I've become very enamoured with Roscoe Holcomb, especially his playing on Wayfaring Stranger (particularly the version on the Mountain Music of Kentucky cd). I have read the archived posts regarding Roscoe, but nothing, as far as I can see, regarding Wayfaring Stranger. I was wondering the following...
what tuning, what type of banjo is used, how is it being played?
is there a tab - even a simple one - to try and learn this song, two finger (if that's what it is)?
I'd welcome any thoughts at all on this, I just love it!
Regards
GS
quote:
Originally posted by mmuussiiccaalltune up a fret and practice this
Thanks for your reply. I will indeed give it a go! Would I be correct in thinking that the thumb is playing strings 5, 4 and the index is playing 1 (first notes of each of the two bars) and count 3 of the second bar? Is it thumb lead? I've not seen tab like this before, it looks weird! Like I said, I'm a beginner. Regards
yep it's strange, my conjecture would be to thumb anything on strings 3,4 or 5
You have probably seen this thread but just in case it passed you by-
banjohangout.org/topic/398588/#5050915
No Wayfarering Stranger but definitely worth a read
Edited by - DerekGoodman on 08/03/2024 23:49:12
quote:
Originally posted by DerekGoodmanYou have probably seen this thread but just in case it passed you by-
banjohangout.org/topic/398588/#5050915
No Wayfarering Stranger but definitely worth a read
Morning Derek!
Thanks for taking the time to respond. I had seen the thread and downloaded the pdf but haven't read it as yet. Have a fine Sunday
I think his playing is more like the following. Itr is typical thumb lead with pinches. I think you should focus on playing single strings. Roscoe seems to play hard and hit other strings with both thumb and index, but I think it sounds better to avoid picking double strings.
Roscoe definitely played thumb lead, he used to thumb the first string quite often as well, you can hear it in his playing, he used a TTI pattern like the beginning of "Single Girl." His style and playing is a favorite of mine.
quote:
Originally posted by mmuussiiccaalltune up a fret and practice this
this tab could easily be the way Ralph Stanley would have 3-fingered it as it's just the alternating thumb roll + a pinch 
Edited by - Bart Veerman on 08/05/2024 18:54:59
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