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| Moderated by: Tony Provencher, Richard Hefner | Page:   1 2 |
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| New to folk | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Thu Nov 2nd, 2006 02:24 pm |
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21st Post |
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Philj200 Approved 
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When you get ready to play banjo, visit a dentist have your front teeth removed, visit a lobotomist and have 35-50 points shaved off your IQ and move to a state where indoor plumbing is rare. You'll do fine. Worked for me. Last edited on Thu Nov 2nd, 2006 06:31 pm by Philj200 ____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
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| Posted: Thu Jan 4th, 2007 06:30 pm |
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22nd Post |
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GW in Ohio Approved 
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A word about tab (tablature)..... I don't use it. I hate it. It sucks. It's a pain in the butt. So how do you create those nice instrumental bridges in between the verses of the song you're singing? If I'm playing banjo, all I need to know is the chords in the song. When it comes time for the bridge, if you just go through the chords and pick out some notes in each chord that sound right for the melody of the song, you'll have a bridge. This works either with bluegrass fingerpicks or with the clawhammer style. On the guitar, I make an end run around the guitar instrumental bridge entirely. I use a harmonica in a harmonica brace for the bridge. Works for me, and it gives you that Bob Dylan sound. (Just make sure your harmonica is in the same key as the song.) You more experienced folkie guys can chime in now and tell how you create your bridges.
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| Posted: Thu Jan 4th, 2007 07:02 pm |
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23rd Post |
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Philj200 Approved
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Until the more experienced people show up, the way I learned was to learn a few cliche runs. Then I transposed them to as many keys as as I could. And I began to integrate the runs with melody. And the notes between the melody to give color and depth. I think these are technically called grace notes. Pretty soon (25-30 years) I was able to trade lick with any cow near the salt block... or not be too scared when the fiddle player said, "Take one." What helped me was a poor voice. I had to learn how to solo to get a place in the front row.
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
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| Posted: Thu Jan 4th, 2007 07:32 pm |
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24th Post |
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GW in Ohio Approved
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Phil: Yeah, that's good. With the banjo, it's amazing how far you can go by just fingering a chord, throwing in a hammer on, a pull off, a slide, and a grace note or two. Absolutely amazing.....
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| Posted: Thu Jan 4th, 2007 07:52 pm |
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25th Post |
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Philj200 Approved
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GW, I hear you. There was a magic night in the middle of the week one winter in the 60's when a blind guy from the south was playing in a folkmusic bar. And Pete Seeger came down to catch his set. The guy was Doc Watson. The place was the legendary Gerde's Folk City in NYC's Greenwhich Village. After a while Seeger sits in with him. And while he concentrates on his singing with his hands on auto-pilot he held his own with Doc doing pretty much what you described. Everyonce in a while Doc would say, "You take one Pete." (Can't you just hear his voice now?) And Seeger would lean foward and wail his banjo with a fluidity and virtuosity that I never heard on any of his recording. Closest was his classic Darlin' Cory from the 50's. (I have that on an old ten inch LP) (I love his Danville Girl on the same record.) Last edited on Thu Jan 4th, 2007 07:53 pm by Philj200 ____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
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| Posted: Thu Jan 4th, 2007 08:24 pm |
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26th Post |
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Richard Hefner Administrator 
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GW Said... A word about tab (tablature)..... Tablature's not for everybody but certainly doesn't make it a bad thing. Plenty of people have learned from tablature. That's how I learned to play and I'm sure thousands of other people have too. After you learn to play, then there's not much need for it but I don't agree at all that it's a pain in the butt. It can be a really helpful tool in learning. I think that in a lot of cases it becomes a crutch after a while and people don't think they can play without it. When that happens then it's probably time to put away the tab books and start actually playing but for the first year or two especially it gives people an idea of what's going on in the music. You have to learn somehow -- either tablature or standard notation (sheet music) or by somebody showing you directly. Not everybody has somebody around who can show them how to play everything and not everybody can read music, and that's one reason tablature has become so important in learning. 
____________________ Richard Hefner MP3 Page: http://www.ezfolk.com/audio/richardhefner Running Blog: http://old-runner.com |
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| Posted: Fri Jan 5th, 2007 02:07 pm |
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27th Post |
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GW in Ohio Approved
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Richard: I agree that tablature has its place in learning to play. I have used it myself. But I remember when I was learning bluegrass banjo and used tab to learn songs like Foggy Mt. Breakdown. It was grueling practicing every note in the tab and reproducing it faithfully. When I later came back to Foggy Mt. Breakdown, I realized, "Hey, I don't need to replicate this slavishly." For example, instead of playing it note-for-note on the D chord change, I just threw in a D chord, played around it some, and it sounded fine. I guess the problem with tab is when you think it's the be-all and end-all.
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| Posted: Fri Jan 5th, 2007 08:19 pm |
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28th Post |
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banjo brad Super Moderator 
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"When I later came back to Foggy Mt. Breakdown, I realized, "Hey, I don't need to replicate this slavishly." For example, instead of playing it note-for-note on the D chord change, I just threw in a D chord, played around it some, and it sounded fine." Blasphamy! If you don't play it like EARL, it ain't Bluegrass! Gotta be note-for-note, roll-for-roll, slide-for-slide or you get your b*** kicked at real BG jams.    (I don't do bluegrass!)  Brad
____________________ ezFolk Help Brad Prickly Pear Music Banjo Brad's ezFolk page TOTMC |
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| Posted: Sat Jan 6th, 2007 12:52 am |
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29th Post |
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GW in Ohio Approved
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Yeah, I've heard that from hardcore bluegrass people. That's why I don't do bluegrass banjo, 'cept to have a little fun.
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