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mark
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| Instrument Interest: | Ukulele, Clawhammer Banjo, Bluegrass Banjo, Guitar, Harmonica, Other |
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Posted: Fri Mar 9th, 2007 11:07 am |
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Hi All,
I am looking for a bit of help and /or reassurance please ..
I have been playing the Dulcijo for a couple of months now and enjoying it very much. I noticed (because of a slight soreness) yesterday after a reasonably long session that I usually (although not always) have the heel of my thumb (the fleshy pad area on the hand before the thumb extends from the hand) resting slightly on the skin of my Dulcijo (particularly evident if I am playing more of the melody & double thumbing rather than using the bum-ditty). To my ears this doesn't make a massive difference to the sound but I have become quite concerned (or paranoid?  ) that I may be acquiring a bad habbit (the hand should hover over the strings without any part of the the right hand making any contact with the banjo head right?). I guess I started doing this by way of supporting the instrument whilst playing without a strap (I play both sitting and standing). Now this doesn't really hinder me at the moment as I can reach all 3 strings without issue but as I want to start learning the 5-string banjo later this year I thought that this particular habbit may be detrimental to techniques such as drop thumb etc (together with the fact that I will have more strings to negotiate). I am guessing that an arm rest would negate this if it is an issue? I don't intend on putting one on the Dulcijo - who could find one to fit an 8" pot? but it would be a consideration when I move to a 5-string?
Any thoughts / advice most welcome.
Thanks,
Mark
Last edited on Fri Mar 9th, 2007 11:08 am by mark
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Richard Hefner
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| Location: | Gastonia, North Carolina USA |
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Posted: Fri Mar 9th, 2007 01:26 pm |
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Hey Mark,
You've seen my video on the bum ditty, right? If not, here it is...
http://ezfolk.com/audio/play.php?band_id=2&video_id=262&mode=video
I think that shows very plainly what you should be doing. You'll see in the video that your thumb does spend a lot of time on the 5th string even when it's not playing it.
By the way, in the video I'm playing a banjo made by Michael Fox that's in the same style as the Ducijos. I'm playing that for clawhammer pretty much all the time now but still playing bluegrass on the Gold Tone BG-250. If you or anybody else might be interested there are a couple for sale at...
http://www.ezfolk.com/dulcijo/5-string-banjos/5-string-banjos.html
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mark
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Posted: Fri Mar 9th, 2007 03:35 pm |
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Thanks for your response Richard,
Yes, I have seen your video - it's very good. I watch all the vids here on ezfolk a lot and find them all very useful. I can do the bum-ditty (to a novice level) on the Dulcijo and my hand looks right doing it (I watched Michael Fox's, Brad's and Zepps vids when learning too), my hand isn't too rigid (just a little loose like yours) when I play but I have noticed when I play harder / faster or use a lot of double thumbing the contact my hand (base of thumb area) makes on the head is greater. I have actually tried to alter my stroke a little today though, resting my forearm (just behind the wrist area) on the side of the pot and playing slightly more vertical to the strings and this seems to have alleviated it a little as I am not tempted to try to support the instrument with my thumb (hand) while playing.
The banjo you are playing in the vid looks nice, I could be tempted by one of those in the future (as you know I am looking to take up the 5-string) but probably look to purchase one of those as a 2nd or travelling banjo once I have made my main purchase.
Thanks again for your help,
Mark
Last edited on Sat Mar 10th, 2007 07:46 am by mark
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banjo brad
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Posted: Fri Mar 9th, 2007 07:33 pm |
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Mark-
If I understand you, you say the heel of your thumb lands on the head with each stroke.
If this is true, I would advise trying to arch your wrist a little more to prevent this. The girl I was tutoring used to hit the head with her thumb, too, and (maybe unrelated) developed a very bad case of Bursitis. She is currently learning to play the banjo lefthanded, because the thumb is just too sore to use.
She now has a left-handed banjo with a brass overlay of the first 5 strings so she is not only learning to switch, she is learning fretless!
Something to think about.
Brad
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mark
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Posted: Fri Mar 9th, 2007 09:01 pm |
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Hi Brad,
Thanks for your response and the suggestion, I will try it out tomorrow. To clarify my understanding when you suggest arching my wrist you mean if I was riding a motorbike I would back off the throttle, not open her up dont you?
I have attached a VERY BAD mspaint picture of where the problem seems to be. The picture shows a right hand, palm facing. The area circled red is the area that comes into contact with the head. As I said, occasionally this part of my thumb (hand) just rubs against the head (not every time though) when playing the bum-ditty but I do catch myself quite frequently resting this part of my hand there whilst I am actually playing hard or fast (bear in mind I am new at this game so my fast is probably normal speed), particularly on double thumbing or picking out melodies and that's when I notice the rubbing.
Again, thanks for the help.
Mark
Attachment: bad drawing.JPG (Downloaded 22 times)
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banjo brad
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Posted: Fri Mar 9th, 2007 09:59 pm |
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"if I was riding a motorbike I would back off the throttle, not open her up dont you?"
Exactly - not too much, but it forces you to use the thumb more towards the top than along the side like you would strumming a guitar.
When I get the sound of the hand hitting the head on my recordings is it this part of my thumb that is making the contact, not down against the palm.
Brad
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mark
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Posted: Sat Mar 10th, 2007 07:47 am |
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Thanks again Brad.
Mark
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mark
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Posted: Tue Mar 13th, 2007 08:59 am |
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Yup, seems to help a lot Brad.
It was a little "different" at first (I had become comfortable with resting my hand somewhat on the "skin") and I am sure I will still catch myself with the occasional relapse but it is working for me. I have also started to play a little bit further up towards the neck (maybe just over it) and this has helped my hand position a little too.
Thanks,
Mark
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banjo brad
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Posted: Tue Mar 13th, 2007 06:02 pm |
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Yeah, unlike the Bluegrassers, I play right at the juction of the neck and head, and sometimes over the neck. I need to get around to scooping my Goodtime a bit in order to keep my thumb from catching on the edges of the frets.
Brad
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mark
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Posted: Tue Mar 13th, 2007 08:45 pm |
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Interesting Brad, do you plan to do the scoop yourself? If so do you plan on doing it "by hand" or by the use of Router / Dremmell?
Mark
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banjo brad
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Posted: Wed Mar 14th, 2007 12:12 am |
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I"ll probably do it myself - I've gotten some good information from Zepp on how to do it, just need some courage to try.
Not owning any power tools other than 2 drills (portable) and a saber-saw, I will probably be using a rasp and sandpaper. Probably down just enought to remove the slots that the (to be removed) frets are in.
Brad
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mark
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Posted: Wed Mar 14th, 2007 12:26 am |
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Nice.
If you have the time (or inclination) how about a few photos / instructions of the process when you do take the plunge? I know there would be interest in seeing them.
As you may have read in one of the above posts I am looking to take up the 5-string shortly (end of this month or next dependent on finances) and the one thing I know I will want to do is put a scoop on it. I too would be planning to try it myself with hand tools (I am "reasonably handy" but not skilled) but would rather follow someone else's lead rather than mess up a brand new instrument blindly! I am sure I could manage the filing / sanding etc but the one thing that would concern me I think is making sure I got the neck back on in the correct position and the banjo set back up again.
Thanks,
Mark
BTW - Played for about 3 hours (on / off) today, hand doing fine now thanks 
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