So I am about as beginner as it gets when it comes to the banjo. I just got a banjo like two weeks ago, and though the only one I could afford is the cheapest old-time banjo out there, it still has decent sound and I love it to death and am really excited to learn.
One of the many reasons why I decided to get a banjo, and a clawhammer banjo at that, was the movie "Cool Hand Luke," more specifically the scene after Paul Newman's mother dies and he hops on his bunks and plays the song "Plastic Jesus." Such a moving scene and I want to play that song exactly as Paul Newman plays it in the movie. He had never picked up a banjo before this movie, but it is indeed him playing so I figure that if he could learn to play then so could I. I have found several sites and youtube videos that have the chords, but none of them sound right (my banjo is well tuned btw, in G tuning). Most sites say that the chords are C, F, G7, C... but this sounds only a little bit like the movie. I also have a friend who is a very gifted musician and has perfect pitch. I sent her the clip and asked if she should get me the chords. She said that it is a little bit weird because the key he is playing in is between B major and C major which doesn't really exist, so she gave me the chords in both C major (again, that would be C, F, G7, C...) and B major (which she said was closer to the sound in the video). She does not play the banjo, so I do not know if it really translates well because she does not know what banjo chords look like.
However, when I tried B major, it did not sound like the video either, and my hand positions/chord positions on the fretboard look way different than what Paul Newman appears to be playing.
If somebody out there who knows banjo and banjo chords could please take a look at his hands in this clip from the movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHf7TD4qwjk
in conjunction with the sound and tell me what chords he's playing that would be sooo much appreciated. I am so frustrated, as I have been trying for two weeks to figure this out, to no avail.