 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Not logged in - | |
| Moderated by: Richard Hefner |
|
||||||||||||||
| Banjutso - General Banjo Topics - Banjo - ezFolk Forums | |||||||||||||||
| Author | Post | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||
|
Philj200 Approved 
|
I've been sitting in with a bunch of musicians lately who play music from a different point of view than mine. They play mostly folk-rock and most of them are quite good. Not much into bluegrass and not into traditional at all. Some good singers, there is a grand piano in the place we hang out, and a few drummers (mostly djembe-like instruments) and too-many damn guitars. Read that as loud-cubed. That's why I never show up with a guitar. Just a bag of harmonicas and my loudest 5-string banjo, one of my random-part cludges. Even that was bearly enough audible when the room gets going. With a lot of the tunes they play, with lots of minor chords, key changes... the 5-string was not always the answer. My tenor (tuned Chicago-style) seems to do the trick. I can join in and stand out, so to speak, at the same time. I use a light pick-hand when I'm not confident or lean into the strings when it seem right. The other guys seem to like the extra sound level the banjo(s) provide. And I can hold my own. Anyone have similar experiences?
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
Will Approved 
|
Phil: I have had similar experiences. The local jam in the northern Chicago suburb of Grayslake is heavily guitar dominated, with a few banjos (many of them play Earl Scruggs bluegrass in a separate room), mandolins, and an occasional fiddle thrown in. But it's usually about 90% guitars. I usually bring a 12-string guitar and the tenor banjo (which I also tune to DGBE) just to be heard above the din if it's a big jam circle. The tenor banjo is effectively loud in these situations, and because of the guitar tuning, I can usually pick up new songs by ear, play most or all of the chords, and if I know the tune, I can pick out the melody and still be heard. Not having to worry about how to tune a 5th string means I can match my tenor banjo to whatever key a song is played in (to match the singer's voice, they are often in keys not friendly to a 5-string banjo). For the old timey jam circle that I occasionally attend, they are tolerant enough to accept instruments such as the tenor banjo, and although I mostly play 6-string guitar at those jams, I've even brought the 12-string on occasion. Last edited on Fri Dec 7th, 2007 02:39 am by Will ____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
Philj200 Approved
|
Will, I believe we think alike. I have a very old book someplace in my basement called The Singing Gathering. I think it was the result of a WPA project during the Depression, not all that dissimilar to the great Walker Evans/James Agee collaboration that produced Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Mostly, it covered rural people and the music in their lives. Shaped Noted singing, mountain music...written generations before the folkbloom. One of the photos of one of the gatherings show a typical banjo,mandolin,fiddle conglomeration. But seated among the folk is a some crusty old farmer sawing away on a cello. Bless his heart.
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
Philj200 Approved
|
Since this thread isn't generating much discussion, I'll just talk to Will and myself for a while. 'So Phil, did you blast out the guitars with your tenor?' --Glad you asked Phil, and I love that shirt, no. Even a tenor, can't cope with six guitars, a djembe and a baby grand. But I held my own...and maybe a little more. 'That the mix of people last Wednesday, Phil?' --Yup, by the way, Phil, who'se your tailor. Now that you mentioned it, there is only one instru,ent that would have been even more effective than the Chicago-tuned tenor...and I wish I had one... a six-string banjo. 'That would do it, for sure.' --Rare birds these amplified days. I wish I knew where an affordable one could be found. This is usually the time Will rides in and saves the day. 'Good ole Will.
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
Will Approved
|
Phil: An affordable, good-sounding 6-string banjitar/guitjo, you say? Last month, I bought one from Banjo Hut, a mail order dealer in Tennessee, exclusive distributor of a line of imported Mastercraft banjos, mostly 5-string models, but they also offer 2 models of 6-string banjitars and a 4-string tenor. The banjitar comes in a basic $219 short-scale model (which I ordered)  http://www.banjohut.com/banjitar_mastercraft_banjo_guita.htm and a new "classic" $419 model with a brass tone ring and a slightly longer 6-string neck. The classic model was not yet offered for sale when I ordered, or I might have spent the extra money to buy it.  http://www.banjohut.com/banjitar_classic_mastercraft_ban.htm You can see their on-line video of the basic banjitar model being played (one of the tunes is Elizabeth Cotten's "Freight Train") http://www.banjohut.com/banjitar_mastercraft_banjo_guita.htm Even though the 6-string banjo has been around for around 100 years, it has never been a popular instrument, for the simple reason that it is, as pro guitarist Harvey Reid states in his essay, "the duck-billed platypus" of stringed instruments. To an audience of non-musicians, they see a banjo, because it looks and sounds more like a banjo, and no matter how it is played, it can't sound like a guitar. Of course, many (most?) 5-string banjo players may insist that the banjitar is NOT a banjo. True, it doesn't sound very good if just strummed or played like a guitar. I play it in a similar fashion to how I play the 4-string tenor (tuned DGBE); I either pick the melody notes or play arpeggiated chords, and I rarely hit the bass strings often - I just regard it as an extended range instrument that provides a guitar player an alternate, banjo-like tone to break up the mud at a guitar-heavy jam session. Harvey Reid, a past national guitar champion, also plays both the autoharp and the 6-string banjo at his concerts, and wrote these essays: The Puzzle of the 6-String Banjo http://www.woodpecker.com/writing/articles/6stringpuzzle.html 6-String Banjo: The Necessary but Evil Capo http://www.woodpecker.com/writing/essays/banjocapo.html Last edited on Mon Dec 10th, 2007 02:05 pm by Will ____________________ Will http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/297/ Loose Change & Friends http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/245/ http://loosechangeandfriends.com The Earth Tones http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/337/ |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
Philj200 Approved
|
Will, you no longer amaze. Now I sort of anticipate you having a good fix on information like this. $500 bucks, more or less, for a full-sized instrument is a bit much for a whim. but not for a once in a lifetime purchase, especially if it will be played. Obviously I'm thinking of the bigger instrument. The short scale version isn't all that much different from the tenor set-up I have now. I wonder if my just about never-played beach guitar (or just the neck) and a factory reject banjo head I've been thinking about have a future together. Hmmmm......
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
|
vrteach Approved 
|
The banjo makers yahoo group has a downloadable pdf copy of a book called " how to make a banjo and banjo-guitar" by G. W. Stamm. http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/banjomakers/ You have to join the group to see the files, I think. You could try just going to: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/banjomakers/files/ and it's called banjo.pdf.
____________________ Erich -- http://www.ezfolk.com/audio/bands/956/ http://vrteach.freepgs.com/banjo/ |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
|
Philj200 Approved
|
Thanks. I submitted an application for membership.
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Current time is 10:40 pm | |
| ezFolk Forums > Banjo > General Banjo Topics > Banjutso | |
