Hi
This post (ref banjohangout.org/topic/397710/) and so many eloquent, insightful replies revealed a significant roadblock in my long learning journey.
I’m looking for others with a similar problem so we can help each other.
I’ve been plucking at this thing for more than twenty years, took lessons and can’t even get the simplest tunes to sound right (Cripple Creek, Foggy Mtn, etc). They’re MECHANICALLY correct but sound poorly to say to say the least…just not musical.
I think the reason is that I can’t hum, remember, call out, or think through the actual songs. The sound is there but the melody, rhythm, are absent. Lyrics are less an issue.
Echoes of the great tunes live in my mind but not the music itself. That makes it impossible to turn these finger movements into music even for simple backup strumming.
Are there any suggestions? Yes, I’ll find an instructor who is willing to start there. A expensive and untested journey. Yes, I’ve already started looping some songs but I’m beginning to think I’ll need to drop the fast stuff and move toward melodic stuff.
This realization feels like a newly discovered handicap. Did anyone ever overcome this music blindness?
Lyrics are a totally different challenge. I’m not even going there. It seems that if we can learn the pledge, prayers, pop lyrics, so too can we learn “Dark Hollow”.
Edited by - scatterjoy on 08/10/2024 13:49:12
I would suggest that you learn some arrangements of some songs that have distinctive and recognizable melodies. Cripple Creek seems to be the ubiquitous first song for beginners and it does not have a very distinctive melody. Many beginners had never heard, or heard of the song until they picked up the banjo. Foggy Mountain Breakdown is a banjo instrumental that in my judgment doesn't really have a melody per se.
If you can find good arrangements for songs like She'll Be Comin' Around The Mountain, Red River Valley and others that are well known and recognizable to most people, it makes it easier to learn how to develop an intuitive feel for emphasizing the melody as you play.
There's also the issue of timing. If you play all the notes, but you can't play them at the time they're intended to be played, your playing the banjo, but you're not playing music. Get a metronome and learn how to use it. It will inform you very quickly if you're playing those notes at the time they're intended to be played.
If you're not already doing so, I would also suggest that you learn to use a computer-based tablature system, such as Tabledit. These programs will play the arrangements for you, so that you can hear how the arranger deals with melody.
Edited by - RB3 on 08/11/2024 06:54:41
Use a slowdowner and play along as if you were in the band.
Good ideas. Earl’s book and so many videos start with Cripple Creek but it might not have been my best path.
You’re on to something. I’m probably not alone in that foggy mountain isn’t easily stuck in the head of non-musicians, but Red River is there. I’m going to switch to backup mode and try a slow downer.I’ve done the same On YouTube but never on a common song. Time to retry.
Timing is ok. Speed is less ok but my fingers work. Emphasis, music, not so much.
Pick a tune that you can whistle , hum or otherwise vocalize the melody, even when blind drunk. THats the tune to flesh out with 3 finger banjo rolls etc. I used to complain to my kids orchestra teachers that if they would pick a tune that these kids know, even a pop song, the class would have a better chance of sounding good! Nope. Gotta try to teach them some fancy tune by a century dead old guy.
Pick tunes that mean something to you, that you have some emotional investment into, even if its only 'Hey I like that tune'. Personally I hate Cripple Creek ! Blah tune.
As above, practice familiar songs. Happy Birthday, Comin Round Mountain, especially songs you sang as a child.
Sing them, strum chords, do not attempt to play melody or pick rolls while singing them at this stage. Count and strum1234 or 123 depending on tune timing. More important to sing on time than on key at this point. Maybe strum a guitar, they have fuller harmony than a banjo.
Or, Find a guitar player or teacher who can strum and sing then strum along with him until you can play along.
Did you confirm your banjo is in tune and bridge in the right place?
Edited by - Fathand on 08/13/2024 12:58:51
More good advice. I’ve got Red River stuck today and that’s a start. Strumming first then backing into rolls might be my best bet…
(Yes banjo is fine, had some lessons). No guitars tho. They don’t sound like banjos. :)
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