So, I've been playing banjo for about three years and I'm having the time of my life. I'm so glad that I decided to finally give it a go, after spending years convinced that I could never play an instrument so why even try.
The problem, if indeed it is a problem, is that I keep hopping around from style to style, technique to technique. For a solid year I learned bluegrass from an instructor. I learned chord shapes and different rolls and could play at a decent beginner level. Then I discovered the old time sound and switched to clawhammer. I signed up and took a class at a local old time music school here in town and worked on down picking, while maintaining some three finger chops. Then I heard someone play two finger thumb lead and I adored it. So off I went two-fingering, both index and thumb. Then, I discovered Doc Boggs. Then, I bought Brad Leftwich's Round Peak book. And, on and on. You get the idea.
To make a long story short, I now find myself constantly mixing and matching, working on different tunes in different styles all week. For example, last night I wasn't much in the mood to continue working on a round peak version of Little Maggie, so I returned to Art Rosenbaum's thumb lead version of Willie Moore and played that all night. Here's my question...
Should I settle down, pick a style and stick with it? Is jumping around going to forever prevent me from taking that huge leap forward from adequate player to very good? Does anyone else have this issue?
I listen to so many of you play so beautifully and I wonder if I'll ever get "there." I wonder if I'll become a good banjoist if I don't work on mastering one approach. On the other hand, I really do enjoy playing many different "styles." I like having the options. Indeed, I probably wouldn't have played last night if I only knew clawhammer. Calmly picking on the banjo while sitting on the porch with a beer was precisely the way I wanted to spend the evening.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts.