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| newbie wants to play the blues - Introduce Yourself - General - ezFolk Forums | |||||||||||||||
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Brewster Approved 
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Hi guys just a quick note to introduce myself . i have only been playing for about 10 months now and was unsure as to what style i wanted to play but now i have found the style i would like to learn and its the Blues stlye. So where do i go from here. i have looked on the internet but havent found the basics for blues on the banjo. perhaps you guys could steer me in the right direction. i have never played blues before so will have start from the begining. it would be great if someone could set me on my way. mant thanks in advance Brewster
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Will Approved 
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Welcome to ezFolk, Brewster. The great majority of blues music is primarily played on guitar, harmonica and piano. While there are banjo players who perform blues, it's really more of a small niche, in my opinion. That's not to say that you can't play blues on a banjo; it's just not that common, and finding resources to assist a beginning musician interested in that style may be difficult. But, there are many talented musicians who post here, who may have a better answer for you. The 5-string banjo is primarily known today as a bluegrass, country, old-time (mountain music) and/or folk music instrument. The now-rare 4-string banjo styles (tenor and plectrum) are associated with jazz music from a bygone (pre-World War II) era, or are more recently used by Irish musicians for traditional folk music. For learning to play banjo in the clawhammer or bluegrass styles, there are some excellent tutorials located here at ezFolk: http://www.ezfolk.com/tabs-tutorials/tabs-tutorials.html There was a previous ezFolk forum thread of blues banjo: http://www.ezfolk.com/forums/forum3/1180.html Here are some web sources that I was able to find regarding blues banjo: http://www.blues-banjo.com/ http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=blues+banjo Last edited on Tue Sep 23rd, 2008 05:15 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/ A Bunch Of Coconuts http://abunchofcoconuts.com |
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Philj200 Approved 
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Will is correct (as usual). But while the 5-string banjo is not usually played in a blues style, you can certainly learn to play blues on a banjo. In Pete Seeger's small but seminal boolklet, How to Play the 5-String Banjo, he has a section on how to play the blues and some examples to learn and base your own style on. Learning the 12-bar blues chord progression in both G-major and C-major is a firt step I would recommned. Then with a capo, you can join is with harmonicas, pianos, guitars and singers. Even if at first you just play chords. I sit in with a group of musicans who play a lot of rock. There are too many guitars to begin with so I just bring a 5-string reonator banjo, resonator guitar (set up for dobro) and a bag of harps. Because of the extra volume inherent in a banjo, I can be heard even when the piano player takes his foot off the soft pedal. The acoustic guitars cannot. Not a bad thing. We play a lot of blues because it's a pattern that everyone knows and is comfortable with. Suggest you start off learning tunes such as Midnight Special and most any of the Jimmy Rodgers classics (Blues Yodel #9, the one that begins with T for Texas). They have the bounce that a banjo playerr can dig into and still be true blue, so to speak. And once you have songs like these under your belt, you can branch out. If you play blues on guitar, the riffs you would play in G-major blues, can be trasferred to the banjo, with a little adaptation because of the tuning differences. Hope this helps.
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
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Brewster Approved
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hi guys Thanks for your replies and help. im not familiar with jimmy rodgers so i have looked him up on youtube and i must say that thats not really the sort of blues i was talking about. i would say more like BB King style but obviously starting with the basics. Or maybe im being too adventurous. brewster
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Philj200 Approved
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Please re-read my e-mail. I said something about starting off. Jimmie Rodgers and B.B. King both use the 12-bar format most of the time. The earlier, more primitve blues of the 1920s-40's is more accessible to the beginner. It's a walk before you run situation. Also remember that when you hear BB King, you are listening to a master of the form, with as much quality backup as he chooses for a piece. And by the time it is released, it has passed through the hands of top-level recording and post-production professionals. Of course it sounds great. One person, playing one instrument... no matter how good he is, is just not going to reproduce that level of sound. And by the way, BB King once sat in with Pete Seeger and did some blues together. It was when Pete was playing at Gerdes Folk City and Mr King dropped in. They jammed and the tradional banjo styles and blues got along perfectly. The Trill Is Gone, a BB King signature piece, has the chord progression Bm G7 Bm G7 F#7 Bm Have fun.
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
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Brewster Approved
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my appologies for mis reading your email and i will once again look at jimmy rodgers. you are correct in what you say. walk before you run. many thanks Brewster
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Smiffy Approved
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smiffy's penny-worth coming up. PhilJ and Brad have about covered it, but there's another type of blues which'll help you. Try "Down and Out" or "Ain't Misbehavin'" type soungs. They have intriguing chord arrangements which will put you on to other formats as you learn. Walk before you run is a good bit of advice. Walk with the slower blues and it'll open up a whole new scene for you. You'll find yourself getting more accomplished daily. The other bit of advice is to find others to play along with. A Folk Club or Blues club, somewhere you can bounce your ideas of other keen musos. It's a win-win situation. Good Luck and Hugs from the South Seas. PS Have a listen to some of the bluesy type renditions on my site. I can send you the chords and words if you like them. ( This is a bit crafty, as it gets another visitor to listen to 50 years of struggling alone.)
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Smiffy Approved
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PPS Brownsville is a bluesy type banjo tune. My version's on the site.
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Brewster Approved
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Hi smiffy that would be great if you could. by the way whats your site address. Brewster
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| ezFolk Forums > General > Introduce Yourself > newbie wants to play the blues | |
