is there any books, web pages, tabs, instructional video's out there for learning thumb lead guitar. I've ben doing pretty good picking up by ear.
I get the basic tuning i think at least(GGDBgd) more info would be great if it out there somewere.
↧
two finger guitar
↧
Bounce
Every now again I'll be playing through a song and all of a sudden I start playing with bounce, and it stays with me through other songs I play until I put the jo down. When I start playing the next day or so I try to get the same bounce going but no matter how hard I try it just doesn't come. What in the world is going on? Does any one else struggle with the illusive bounce?
Paul
↧
↧
Drop thumbing advice
Hi all, long-time bluegrass picker, short-time clawhammerer with a question about learning to drop thumb- which may have been answered several times here before, but I'm new. So my apologies if this is a repeat :)
I picked up the basic bum-ditty fairly quickly, playing just the 5th string with my thumb, but after watching a lot of other players live and via YouTube and stuff I want to learn how to drop thumb, as I really love that sound/style. However, for as many different video lessons as I watch and for as many exercises as I try, I can't seem to smooth it out. I miss strings, I mute them unintentionally, I play the completely wrong one sometimes...
So, is it a matter of practice, practice, practice slow and steady- just like I did by repeating Scruggs rolls back in the day ad nauseum? The reason I ask is that I picked up the basic bum-ditty pretty quick and without too much trouble. Maybe a day or two of "bum-dit-ty-bum-dit-ty-bum-dit-ty...repeat...repeat..." before it clicked and I thought, "Oh, so this is how it works."
Many thanks in advance!
↧
Clawhammer style for tenor banjo and 5-string
I've recently acquired my grampa's old Conqueror tenor banjo and a handmade little 5-string. I've never played banjo before, or any instrument really (unless you count recorder in the fourth grade) so I don't know anything about playing music yet. The style I'm most interested in learning is clawhammer/frailing. I do eventually plan to take lessons to really get to know what I'm doing, but for now I just don't have the money for lessons. What I'm asking is does anyone know of a book or lesson series that I could use in the mean time to teach myself? Also, I'd really like to focus on the tenor banjo, so books focusing on that specifically would be the most help.
Thanks,
Acacia Blue
↧
Looking for (sort of specific) string band CD recommendations!
I am looking for recommendations 'cuz I'd like to purchase some string band CDs. Can anyone recommend any CDs that include clawhammer and vocals? I am really into the sort of tunes Old Crow Medicine Show is doing... so something along those lines, but with clawhammer would be right up my alley. Any suggestions?
Thanks!,
Ryan
↧
↧
question on cluck old hen version
Here's a great YouTube video of Paul Brown and John Schwab doing Cluck Old Hen, a version I've never heard before.
Any clue where this version might come from?
Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7OmptANEeUA
Thanks,
Lew
↧
Songs in C and D?
I know quite a few songs to sing in A and G, not so many in C and D.
What are your favorite songs to sing in C and D?
↧
Poll: Dispensible Techniques?
There's been a good bit of discussion lately about whether or not drop-thumbing is necessary or even advisable. Just out of curiosity, are there other techniques that folks tend not to use in their playing on an individual basis? As for myself, double-thumbing (that is the steady alternation of the 5th string with another string) and thumb lead are very rare in my playing as it has evolved.
It might also be interesting to include why one opts for not using a particular technique.
In my case, I just don't care for the double-thumb effect (of course maybe I just can't make it sound good!!!). As for thumb lead, it's not necessary in any of the tunes I play.
↧
Drone is too plinky
My thumb is too plinky. When I listen to ch, I hear a nice drone, and when I play, I hear an incongruous plink. Know what I mean?
↧
↧
Trying to play fast
Lately, I've been trying to play faster. One thing I've noticed is that the CH players I've watched who play fast play with what seems to be a very relaxed right hand. That, in turn, causes their index finger to flick a little bit. My problem is that this makes sense to me.
As a use-to-be pretty good athlete, I know that keeping as relaxed as you can facilitates quick movement. As an engineer, I also think the movement of the entire forearm, wrist, and hand as a solid unit involves the movement of a lot of mass, and that's detrimental to quick acceleration and deceleration. The finger can flick relatively quickly, and a relaxed hand and wrist would seem to make perfect sense for fast playing.
Does anyone agree, or if not, where the heck's the error in my thinking? I'm too old to waste much time going down the wrong track, but I've been practicing these things and I'm surprised how, in just a couple of weeks, my playing's become noticeably faster -- and the accuracy hasn't suffered, either. I'm very optimistic, but a good logical argument could persuade me to change my viewpoint.
↧
Playing with a guitar plectrum for the upstroke
I'm trying to play the second guitar part for 'The Girl' by City and Colour, and it really needs an upstroke, something I just can't do with my thumb pick.
I grabbed a guitar plectrum to see if that would work better, but I've never played the guitar, and it produces a fairly awful sound on the banjo.
Is there another way to upstroke, or I am just using the pick wrong? :)
Thanks!
↧
TOTW 5/18/12 - Hawks and Eagles
I picked this tune up from my friend Gus Darnell, who is learning fiddle from the renowned Beverly Smith, and it has fast become one of my favorite tunes.
The Fiddler's Companion entry is brief:
HAWKS AND EAGLES. Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA. D Major (Brody, Silberberg): G Major (Spandaro). Standard, ADad or ADae tunings. AABB. The source for the tune is fiddler Norman Edmonds and the Old Timers. Source for notated version: Jane Rothfield [Phillips]. Brody (Fiddler’s Fakebook), 1983; pg. 132‑133. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pg. 61. Silberberg (Tunes I Learned at Tractor Tavern), 2002; pg. 59. Spandaro (10 Cents a Dance), 1980; pg. 27. Front Hall FHR‑023, Michaels, McCreesh & Campbell ‑ "The Host of the Air" (1980). Rounder 0045, Highwoods String Band‑ "Dance All Night".
There is an interesting bio on Norman Edmonds here and his version of the tune is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkRG6oOJHK4.
I couldn't find any solo banjo versions but heres a video of some Danes playing it nicely http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaUVianbDGE&feature=related
and here a Fiddle Hangouter plays fiddle, banjo, and guitar on it with great results. http://www.hangoutstorage.com/jukebox.asp?site=Fiddle+Hangout&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fiddlehangout.com%2Fmyhangout%2Fmedia-player%2Faudio_player.asp%3Fisjukebox%3Dno%26musicID%3D699
In a Fiddle Hangout thread some folks suggest that it is related to the tune Chinquapin Hunting but i couldn't find much on that front. Theres no tab of this tune AFAIK but Josh does have it at http://www.oldtimejam.com/Jam.html and i found it to be fairly easy to catch by ear. His version has excellent banjo and fiddle playing and is worth checking out regardless of whether you play along.
I'm really hoping some of y'all can post your own mp3s or video of this tune, theres not much in the BHO archives. Here is a clip of Gus and I playing it. You will be amazed to learn that he has been playing fiddle for less than a year!
-justin
↧
Clawhammer limitations?
I’ve just bought a banjo, and while I’m waiting for it, I’m listening to different styles to see which direction to go in. I've listened to some of the clawhammer tunes on the Jukebox, and really like the feel and sound. However, when I came across a familiar song, the melody often wasn’t quite right – there might be dropped notes or ‘wrong’ chords. Are there limitations to what can be played with this style – in terms of note timing and chord voicing?
↧
↧
Inter-Tune Interference
Do you ever have tunes bump into each other in your brain in destructive ways?
I recently learned the very fun D tune Twin Sisters off of the Chance McCoy album Debut. After playing it a few times this morning I tried to play Soldiers Joy and every time I tried to start it I would end up playing the start of Twin Sisters. I tried taking a breath and slowing down and, for the life of me, I couldn't remember how to start it! (I could play the B part just fine.) Finally, I had to listen to Mike Iverson's version of the tune about three times through before it came back to me and then I was fine. Now, I've probably played Soldiers Joy at least 1000 times through. It was one of the first songs I learned and it's one of those tunes that just kind of plays itself automatically whenever I switch over to double D. It's amazing to me that I could ever "forget" how to play it like that. Maybe dementia is starting in.
↧
gut strings
you can beat me & call me edna, cause I know this has been covered , but Ive searched and not got the answers. I kinda like to try some gut strings . Using nylguts now. I see ther Labellas are inexpensive,,,,, Ive read comments here that they are the worst possible, and others say they were "not bad"
your thoughts?
↧
ID this tune
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtPNQ-bLjoI
Hi all. I don't usually post in this part of the hangout but I sure could use your help. I have come across the above Youtube clip ( don't know how to embed it so it shows) of a CH tune that I would like to learn. However the poster doesn't know the name of the tune. Does anyone recognise it and if so, is there a tab for it?
Thanks
Wayne
↧
Mic Placement For Recording Banjo?
Anyone have any experience with recording? Where do people usually place the mike?
↧
↧
Do you edit your videos?
If so, what do you edit them with? Do you just clean out the background noise(hum, hiss, etc. ) from the audio part? Seems like editing the video part would be very tricky.
↧
Fretless nylon banjo and the tone ring...
Folks-
I started futzing with a nylon fretless banjo today, and really liked it and now looking forward to buy one... but I'm trying to decide on what features I want on it.. I specifically would like to know how the tone ring impacts the sound from a nylon-strung banjo. Is it the same way as a steel-string banjo? Will a white-lightening or tubaphone tone-ring basically just make it louder? Or would it make a dramatic change? There are not a lot of nylon-string banjo's around where I live, so I can't go and play a bunch of different ones.. (The fretless Ohm one I played was wonderful, but I have no others to compare it with.)
↧
(Taxes on) The Farmer Feeds Them All
My apologies if this isn't the right forum for this question, but: I'm trying to learn the Freight Hoppers' version of this great old tune and picking out the melody (in G) ain't too hard, but I'm having trouble hearing exactly the chord progression that Isaac Deal is playing on the guitar. Right now, between me, the wife, and two guitar playing friends, we have four different opinions. A few more would be greatly welcome. Moderator: please move this thread if I'm in the wrong place.
↧