Not Easily Broken

Waterslide with "Sleigh Ride"

It has been a very, very busy last few months for me, and unfortunately my posting in this blog has suffered.  I know you all missed me….

I thought I would share some of the things I have learned about how to arrange strange songs for the banjo in the last month.  During the Christmas break, we had the wonderful opportunity to play three performances at a hotel and indoor waterpark, called The Great Wolf Lodge.  It was a fantastically fun gig. 

We spent hours going on waterslides, and figuring out how to corrupt the water cannons on the big water fort thing so that they would shoot MUCH farther than they were designed to.  What fun it was to watch people cluelessly walking along, thinking that they were out of range of the water cannons.  And then, BLAST!  Their shocked and indignant expressions sent us into hysterics.  Something about annoying random people is very attractive to us boys.  Actually, annoying any people, in general, is our favorite pastime.

Anyway, the way this all relates to music and banjo, in particular, is that for this gig, we had to learn Christmas songs bluegrass-style.  It sounds very simple doesn’t it?  Most Christmas songs have really simple melodies, right?

No.

We had a rather difficult time bluegrasserizing several songs.  Most were somewhat easy, but some were downright difficult.  One of these was “Sleigh Ride.”  I had learned the first part of it from a Bela Fleck recording, but the second part was a bit more elusive.  It moves into a C#M7 chord, and just gets a bit weird.  This is the reason the rest of the band decided that I should do it as a solo.  My initial thought was that I wouldn’t be able to do it.  Solo banjo is very easy: you are just playing by yourself.  Good solo banjo is very hard.  For some reason, the banjo just doesn’t sound quite as cool by itself (in other people’s opinion, not mine).  You have to make it interesting.  I had already learned the first part, and I had about three weeks to learn the rest, so I decided to give it a try.

The first thing I realized was that I had to stick very close to the melody.  In the first part that was easy--Bela Fleck had done all of my work for me and did it much better than I would have.  The second part, I just couldn’t  get to sound very good.  I tried and tried to figure it out by ear, but it just wasn’t happening.  So, I pulled out the Christmas Carol book we had and transcribed “Sleigh Ride” note for note into banjo tab.  I then went through and made the fingerings work.  After that, I learned it, and tried to make it as banjoistic, as possible.  Then I worked on trying to make it sound good all by itself.  From watching other great players do solo pieces, I had decided to accent the melody so that people would first hear that, and then all of the other stuff.

I don’t really know how it turned out, but nobody booed.  So, it must not have been horrible!  Arranging something like that taught me more about my banjo neck, and being familiar with ways to overcome technical difficulties in fingering and picking.  If you are bored with your playing, arranging unusual songs like that can give you some new ideas for your music.  I know it gave me some.    
    

Clayton's Visit to Banjo Heaven

Sunday night I returned from the weekend I spent at American Banjo Camp. It was an amazing experience! I learned much more than I thought I would, and I came away with a new appreciation for music theory.

The highlight of my trip was probably having the opportunity to take a one-on-one lesson from Pat Cloud on jazz soloing. It was very interesting and informative. Normally, the lessons there are taught in groups, but nobody else attended this particular class, so I was able to have a one-on-one lesson. It was awesome! I got to know him over the weekend, and found that he was a great person, in addition to being a fantastic banjo player. I also was able to take group lessons from other instructors such as Alan Munde, Bill Keith, and Danny Barnes. I learned so much….

Let me start with our trip there. We brought our band trailer so that we would have some room in the car during the drive there. It also enabled us to bring my Mom’s bass so that she could participate in the evening jams. She was very nervous about having to drive the trailer, because she likes to stop and accelerate quickly, and also has a habit of driving over the curb while turning corners in the Suburban. It is kind of like the way I drive, except on a slightly lesser scale. But with some practice, she did fine.

We got a bit lost on our way, but eventually arrived at our destination just in time to attend orientation. Mom and the rest of my siblings (Dad and Caleb were on their own fishing trip) went to go do other activities at that point, leaving me on my own.

 The students went through a quick orientation then went off to the first class. I elected to attend Chord Melody Soloing by Pat Cloud. It was rather interesting and I learned about how to embellish chords, and use them to play melodies. The second class I took was taught by Alan Munde. It was called Fiddle Tune Arrangements, and it talked about how to arrange fiddle tunes for the banjo. It was very interesting. I haven’t learned my melodic and single string scales completely yet, and this class impressed on me the need to learn them in order to be a better banjo player, and be able to find melodies note for note. It was a good class! 

I then went and ate supper. After supper, Mom, Camden, Clark, and I were hosting a jam with Alan Munde and Danny Barnes in a cabin. I think all of us were nervous about jamming with two legendary banjo players. I know I was somewhat petrified. I think Alan noticed this, because when I introduced myself, “Hi, I’m Clayton, by the way,” he responded with, “Hi, ’Clayton by the way.’” Throughout the whole weekend, he was cracking jokes like that. He was very funny to listen to. I think he liked messing with people.  

Anyway, the jam session went off without much of a hitch, I even remembered all of the words when I sang “Mama Tried!” I also got to witness the fantastic banjo playing of Alan Munde and Danny Barnes. Danny Barnes played guitar for most of the evening, and brought out his banjo for the last two songs. He is an amazing guitar player in addition to being a fantastic banjo player. 

I am running out of time for this post, so I will continue my story in the next one. Until then, we have a gig at a local chef’s show on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds. For more information, visit http://www.buylocalfoodinkitsap.org/peninsula-local-food-chef-showoff. We would love to see you there!  

Also, we are playing at Trinity's Heidelfest on Saturday, September 19.  For more information, visit http://www.heidelfest.com/2009/08/foooooood.html.       

American Banjo Camp

We are almost done with painting! We only have one and quarter sides left to put one last coat of paint on and then two coats of trim, and we are DONE! It has been a huge amount of work-along the way we also installed nine new windows, but we are drawing close to being finished! While painting has been hard and rather messy, I feel that we have all learned some character lessons from this experience. Mainly, I think our perseverance and diligence have been the qualities that have increased the greatest during this time of suffering/fulfilling work. In fact, I believe that others could benefit from this wonderful opportunity, so that is why I am going to make our readership an incredible offer.

For the next few days, you too can experience the deep character growth that accompanies painting our house for the ridiculously low price of $19.99! But that is not all, call in the next twenty-four hours and get the quick-response special for $9.99! That’s right, you can experience an incredible increase in your diligence and perseverance for ONLY $9.99! But the offer ends in twenty-four hours, so call today!

Now the question is how do I tie bluegrass into that? Well, the answer is that only a skilled writer could do it, so instead I will tell you about my upcoming trip to American Banjo Camp. American Banjo Camp is located at Fort Flagler State Park, near Nordland, WA. I didn’t know where that was either, until I looked it up on Google maps. I found that it was near Port Townsend, which is a ferry ride away from Whidbey Island, which is a ferry ride away from Mukilteo, which is near Everett. It looks like a really fun camp. I have never been before, but several of my friends and acquaintances had, and they said that it was a blast. So I am pretty excited.

The Camp usually brings in several famous (well, about as famous as banjo players get) banjo players. The banjoists conduct workshops and group lessons while the students take it all in. From what I have heard, there is a lot of jamming as well, and not very much sleep. Unfortunately, they have a rule that if you are under eighteen, you must have a parent or guardian along so that you don’t get into trouble. I fall into that particular category (the 18 and under group, not the troublemaking group), so Mom will have to accompany me along with Clark and Cam (for jamming).

 We actually had a very hard time finding our fam a camping spot because, apparently, American Banjo Camp is during the same weekend as the Wooden Boat Festival in nearby Port Townsend. A hotel lady that told us she was booked up, said that there would be 20,000 people coming there, and that we wouldn’t be able to get anything within an hour of there.  But we were able to get a camping spot that was actually in Fort Flagler State Park. We were all very relieved that we wouldn’t have to find a Wal-Mart parking lot and sleep in the car. There already isn’t enough room in the Suburban……

I am very excited to go, and I will write a full description of it when I get back. Until then, hurry and call-the offer for deep character development will not last forever!   

Pickin' the Right Banjo Strings

Banjo players have issues…issues they like to talk about, that is.  One issue is the type of strings they use.  Strings are a very important part of a banjo, without them, the sound just wouldn’t be the same.  Some people in my family, fiddle players in particular, might call this an improvement, but I beg to differ.

 The strings of a banjo are an integral part of the instrument.  So, of course, this invites the discussion of which brand of strings is best.  With about six instruments in our band needing strings pretty regularly, I have found that the longer the strings last, the easier it is to get the band fund to subsidize my string needs.

When I first started playing banjo, I was a newcomer to the strings debate and just bought the only banjo strings I could readily find--the Martin banjo strings at the local Mills Music .  I do not mean to bash Martin banjo strings, but let’s just say that Martin specializes in guitar strings for a reason.  I had a revelation when my banjo teacher gave me a set of GHS J.D. Crowe signature strings.  WHOA!! My banjo was much louder, and easier to play!  I really liked that.  So, I became an avid devotee of GHS strings for about a year. 

Then I discovered that there was more than two or three different types of strings out there, so I began buying different brands, and comparing them.  I eventually settled on Black Diamond light gauge strings for my aluminum rim banjo, because, #1 they sounded very good on that particular banjo, and #2 they were black coated, which made my banjo look very cool from approximately three feet away, which was how close you had to be to see that they were black.  Anyway, I still use those strings on that banjo. 

On my Goldstar, it was slightly different. I wanted to try something else.  So, I tried the J.D. Crowe set again.  It was still a nice set of strings, but they didn’t last very long.  I then tried D’Addarios, which are fine strings, but it didn’t quite match what I was looking for.  I had recently heard about American Made Banjo Company’s cryogenically treated strings from an ad in the Banjo Newsletter.  I decided to give it a try, because I like stuff that has weird science behind it. 

The strings are cryogenically treated, which is a process that involves exposing them to extremely cold temperatures below -300 degrees Fahrenheit.  This hardens the strings, and makes them last longer.  That was optimum for me, if it really worked, because I need my strings to last long so that I don’t have to pay for them.  I went to the website and was expecting to have to pay an arm and a leg for them, but was pleasantly surprised.  They only charge $3.50 for a standard set, and $4.50 for a custom set.  The company also has reduced pricing for bulk orders.  The customization option on the website enables the buyer to pick the string gauges they want, which I thought was a very, very nice option.  I bought one set, so that I could try it out, and waited for them to arrive.  When they did arrive, I was greeted by a pleasant surprise-a free thumbpick was included in the package!  I put on the strings, and tested them out.  They sounded very impressive, and I was a happy customer. 

The main test though, was in how long they would last.  Let me just say that my current set of strings are still on my banjo after over three months of heavy playing, and are not even close to wearing out!  I was very impressed by the quality, and the affordability of this product. 

They currently are for sale at AmericanMadeBanjo.com.

I hope that this review helps all of the people that are struggling with their string issues. Also, I would like to take this opportunity to impart some parting wisdom:  NEVER, EVER, POINT A MICROPHONE AT A SPEAKER THAT IS TURNED UP VERY LOUD! It will feed back on a scale of unimaginable proportions………And it will leave you unable to hear people asking you why would do something that stupid.

Banjo Assembly: Parts 1,2,3,4,5,6,7...uh-oh!

Well, this is Clayton again, and I am in a little bit of pain from landing hard on my shoulder after tripping over first base yesterday. Yes, it was embarrassing. I was trying to beat out a ground ball, and I was running as fast as I could when the tip of my foot tripped over the edge of first and I did a face plant, actually, more of a shoulder plant into the ground. I think I bruised it pretty badly, and I was out on the play as well…….
I have been really enjoying the sound I am getting out of my banjo lately. It is not too bright, not too harsh, and is somewhat mellow, but also has a really nice sound for traditional Scruggs stuff.
For those of you that don’t know, I play a Mahogany Gold Star GF-100FE, that I have had for about a year. I got the banjo after my dad gave me a hundred bucks and a loan to buy it for my birthday last year. Needless to say, this banjo is much better than my old aluminum rim banjo. After I got the banjo, I started trying to modify it. My mom has said that my banjo is like my car. Most teenage guys love their cars, and will do lots of things to "supe" them up. Not me. I have a banjo.
The first thing I did immediately after getting the banjo was change out the bridge on it. I took off the really weird compensated bridge that came with it, and put on the Nechville Enterprise Bridge that was on my aluminum rim Asian banjo. The bridge sounded really good on the Asian banjo, but it didn’t do what was needed on the Gold Star. After the three or so months it took me to figure this out, I switched to a Huber bridge. Aha! I had almost found the sound I was looking for!
I then decided for some reason, still unknown to me, that in order to get the sound I wanted, I needed to take apart my banjo. I am not sure, but I think I thought it would sound better if I cleaned it.
I started one Saturday morning in June, I think, and the disassembly was going wonderfully. This was the first time I had ever tried to do something like this, and it was very exciting. I might have gotten carried away a little bit though, because I decided to take the tone ring off the rim for fun, which in hindsight probably wasn’t a good idea, as well as unscrewing the coordinator rods and removing the neck completely. Unscrewing the coordinator rods, which for the uninitiated are the two metal rods inside the body of the banjo that adjust the neck angle, was an especially bad idea. The reason why was because I did not know how to reset them properly.  I, of course, didn’t think of that when I unscrewed them. I thought of it immediately after I unscrewed them. That’s also when I realized that I wasn’t completely sure how to put it all back together. I kind of panicked, because there was no way my parents would pay a banjo repairman (yes, they are out there) to reassemble my axe. And I didn’t really want to pay a banjo repairman either. So I tried to put it back together, and after about two months of minor tweaking, it was sounding pretty good again. So I played it that way for a while, too scared to try anything extremely drastic (except for the speed necking incident, which I already have written about in a previous blog). It was sounding pretty decent, but it was still missing something.
In January of this year, I summoned the courage to try something new. I had heard a lot about the Sullivan Old Growth Factory Floor banjo bridge, and decided to try it. The Sullivan bridge is made from extremely old maple that grew during a mini-ice Age, then was made into flooring at a factory during the 1800s. The owner of this banjo company bought the flooring from the factory and made most of the wood into rims, and a bit of it into bridges. This wood, because it grew during a mini-ice age, is extremely dense, which is good. Anyway, I bought the bridge, and installed it without any problem on my banjo. After starting to play it, I noticed a big difference in the sound, it was what I was looking for! I have been happily playing since then, but I am still on the lookout to try and get it to sound better. I learned a couple of lessons from this experience:  make sure you can put something back together before taking it apart, and listen to quiet nagging doubts about the sanity of taking apart expensive objects.  

Ron Block's Banjo DVD

Well, this is Clayton again to tell some more about what I have been working on lately, and the answer is…..not much…. I have not had as much time as I would like to work on/obsess over my chronic addiction of playing banjo.  My mother has probably told you all about our busy schedule, so I will not delve into our complicated life here.  But, I will tell you that my baseball team is 10-6, which is pretty decent, and that I just got a new (actually used, but new for me) baseball bat.  Hooray!  It has been a lot of fun playing baseball this year. Anyway, back to the more relevant information…

I recently picked up a copy of Ron Block’s instructional DVD called "A Fresh Look at Bluegrass Banjo."  I have enjoyed the DVD very much, and would heartily recommend it to any student of the banjo who wants to take his or her playing to the next level.  I love Ron Block’s banjo playing, and had secretly been hoping that he would come out with something like this for about the last year. 

When I heard the news on the Banjo Hangout Forum that he would be making an instructional DVD and wanted suggestions for it, I was thrilled!  I made my input and waited several months for the DVD to be released.  A week after it was released, I ordered it.  The official story is that I waited a week before ordering, so that I would avoid waiting because of backordering. Unofficially, I didn’t have the fifty bucks to buy it, so I worked as hard as I could for a week to raise the money, and then it still got backordered.  Grrrrr! 

After three weeks of nail-biting and hand-wringing, it finally came!  I instantly popped it into the DVD player, and sat on the couch with my banjo.  Being the impatient person I am, I didn’t want to watch it all the way through at first, so I skipped to the songs I had burning questions about.  The first one I watched was My Poor Old Heart.  I watched in amazement as my questions about how Ron makes his break sound so good on that song melted away.  This is what I needed!

The DVD includes the songs "Cluck Old Hen", "Tiny Broken Heart", "Man Of Constant Sorrow", "I’ll Remember You Love in My Prayers", "Every Time You Say Goodbye", "Bright Sunny South", "My Poor Old Heart", and "Smashville".  For each song, Ron first discusses some of the tricks and special things about the song, plays it with a band, then teaches the son--one phrase at a time.  After he is finished teaching, he plays the song without the band at medium speed, then at slow speed.

This method of teaching is very nice, as he actually goes over difficult parts more than once so that you have ample time to learn a complicated phrase without having to rewind over and over again.  The teaching sections are presented in a split screen mode, with Ron’s picking hand on a smaller screen in the corner, and his fretting hand in the center of the screen.  This feature is adjustable so that if you prefer to see the picking hand more than the fretting hand you can change it in the options.  The DVD also comes with a very accurate tab booklet for those who prefer to learn that way.

I really like the beginning section of the DVD where he talks about the ideas behind his banjo playing.  He puts a lot of thought into what he does, and it is interesting to hear some of his ideas.  He does some things differently than most banjo players, one of these things being his hammer-ons.  If you listen to his playing on, let’s say, Rain Please Go Away, you will notice that his hammer-ons sound a little different than a normal hammer-on.  They sound, for lack of a better term, slurpy.  This is because he hammers three notes at one time.

Example:
Regular hammer-on as done by the Average Joe:
          h 
----------------------------------
-------1-3-----------------------
----------------------------------
----------------------------------
----------------------------------
        T
Ron Block hammer-on:
        h h
---------------------------------
----1-2-3----------------------
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
--------------------------------
     T

You are still hitting the string one time, but are getting three notes instead of two.  This is a very cool technique which helps Ron sound unique from other banjo players.  He delves quite deeply into other areas of his techniques in the DVD, and the result is a very full view of how he approaches the banjo.

I really enjoyed the DVD, and after several months, have still not completely learned all the material on it.  I think it would be invaluable to any intermediate/advanced players, and beginners can learn a lot from it too.  Thank you, Ron Block, for coming out with a great product!

Importance of Practicing and My Practice Techniques

Well, the last time I wrote was during Wintergrass when I picked out which bands I thought would be the best to see. I have been incredibly busy since that time, playing baseball for Woodinville High School, keeping up my challenging schoolwork, and trying to find time to practice banjo. It has been pretty hectic! I was trying to think of something to write here for this blog, and decided to write about my practicing techniques. If you ask any of my brothers, they will tell you that I can practice one lick continuously for more than a half hour, if it is needed. So as you can tell, I love practicing.

I usually start off my practice with a Scruggs-style tune like “Down the Road” and just mainly work on my tone, note spacing, and accenting. I try to play around with the tune, and try to find different Scruggs sounding ways to play the song, while still staying close to the melody. I might do another song like that, and then start practicing my single-string techniques.

I have lately been working very hard at that particular skill. What I try to do is start by playing some of the classic Don Reno single string patterns like this:

--------------------------7--9--7--9--10--9--7---
-------------------7--8----------------------------8-
-----------7---9--------------------------------------
-7--8--9---------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------

That particular lick is a moveable lick, which means that you can play it out of any D-chord shape. It is a very useful lick, and really improves your finger dexterity. I usually start this lick at the first fret then move it up one fret at a time until I am as high as I can go on the fretboard. I then go the opposite direction back down the fretboard. I try to keep my picking as clean as possible.

 Last fall, I attended a guitar workshop that Ron Block, banjo/guitar player for Alison Krauss & Union Station, was teaching. One of the topics he discussed was how to make your playing as clean as possible. One of the techniques he talked about was trying to sustain the notes by holding them down as long as possible before you have to move your fingers. It was quite interesting, and seems to work pretty well.

Next, I usually work on my melodic licks. This is probably the area I need to develop the most in, so I work for a long time on it. I practice playing fiddle tunes, and try to find new licks. I am trying to be as smooth as possible when I play melodic things.

After that, I work on learning new material. This could be writing a new song, working from tab, or using the Amazing Slow Downer to learn something by ear.

Then, with my remaining practice time, I usually just explore the fingerboard. Exploring the fingerboard means just messing around with notes, trying to find new, interesting, and original phrases on the banjo. I like that part of practice a lot, because it enables me to come up with my own style of picking.

Well, that about does it for this time. I hope I have shared some interesting things about my practice habits.  And I hope non-pickers haven’t become too bored with this blog that probably had absolutely nothing to do with them. But, maybe this blog can actually be applied to other lives besides just those of banjo players. Yes, just give me a minute to think up how………. Maybe two minutes…….. 

Singing Harmony

Hey, I just received an email announcing the availability of a new CD that teaches how to sing harmony.  Sue Thompson, Keith Little and Don Share have put this CD together and it is now available.  The title is "How to Sing Harmony the Natural Way" and it's actually a two-CD set.  Here's the website www.harmonybyear.com.  I would tell more about the CD set, but the website already describes it very well.  So check out the website!

We met Sue last summer when we asked her to help us learn to sing harmony. Before that we had tried using another "how to harmony" CD that basically had you memorize all the parts.  It was not very helpful.  And it didn't teach us to figure out the harmony for ourselves.  But Sue's method does and that is why we like it so much.

Sue did a great job working with us.  She is very patient  and encouraging, and she knows what she is doing.  Her method for learning to sing harmony is pretty simple, and she boils it down very well for the "harmony challenged" (like us!).  We are excited about this new CD and are looking forward to purchasing it!  Especially because now we won't have to drive all the way to Ballard for harmony lessons!  It is so hard for us to make it over there consistently!

  Check out this new CD and let me know what you think--my guess is that you will like it very much!

Post-Wintergrass 2009, Part 3

More on Wintergrass...

After our first workshop, we all headed to lunch with the Forresters to the Varsity Grill.  We like going to the Varsity Grill because kids 12 and under eat free.  Now, we didn't have our girls with us on Saturday because we left them with friends for the day.  But we still had our four boys with us and two of which are 12 and under.  The problem is that Cam looks about 16 years old.  AND he has the appetite of three 12 year olds.  So, the only free meal was Caleb this year.  And he thoroughly enjoyed his child portion of ribs and ice cream.  

The other reason the boys like to eat at the Varsity Grill is because there is a deal there where if you can eat a 72 oz. steak with all the trimmings in an hour, then you get it for free.  But if you don't finish in time, or you have some sort of digestive rebellion, then you pay $50.  My boys love to dream about whether they could perform this amazing feat, or if they would...choke...(sorry--I couldn't resist) and end up paying the $50.  So far, none of them has dared to risk it, but maybe someday...

After a satisfying lunch, Ben and I headed off to a bass workshop and the rest of the crew went to jam. 

The bass workshop was led by Blue Highway's bass player,Wayne Taylor.  I really enjoyed the workshop.  I remember the three points he talked about:  timing, tone and taste.  I also enjoyed learning more about his bass--an Azola.  I have an acoustic upright bass, and I couldn't help but notice all the different kinds of upright electric basses that the performers were using at Wintergrass.  I know they are nicer to travel with and probably easier to play, but...I just love the look of the acoustic upright. 

It was interesting to hear about how his bass was dropped down a stairway and survived the fall.  I think instrument injury stories are so interesting.  It's kind of like how my kids sit around with their friends and compare bodily injuries... "I got this scar on my forehead from when my brother was hurling a hammer at a tree to see if he could get it stuck and I was in the tree."   Friends' response, "Coooool!"

Anyway, I am new to bass playing.  I have only played for about a year and half.  And I have only had two formal lessons.  Clayton has taught me most of what I know.  So, getting to hear about bass playing from a pro like Wayne was a real treat.  There are some real idiosyncrasies about playing bass for a bluegrass band that I thought were unique to my experience.  But after attending this workshop, I have learned that I am not alone.  And I am comforted and encouraged. 

One last thing about the workshop is the discussion on what part of the finger to play the bass with.  I gathered from the workshop that if you play on the side of your index finger, then you will not struggle with blisters.  When I started playing bass, I used one finger and tried to stick to using only the side like Wayne suggested.  But later, I was encouraged by a friend to use two fingers so that I could play faster (a necessity when playing with teenage boys).  When I switched to two fingers, I began playing more on my fingertips.  And consequently, I have trouble with blisters.  I don't mind so much because it means more to me to keep up with my guys than to be comfortable.  Kind of like wearing high heels...if it makes me look better, I can put up with the pain--suffer to be beautiful.  And with bass blisters--suffer to play fast.

It might help if I had a higher quality bass, but there are others in our family ahead of me in line for a better instrument.  But I always wonder what is the best way to play bass and whether there even is a "best way".  Is it a matter of preference?  The few bass players I know all say something different.

Okay, that is all I have time for today.  Next time is Part 4! 

Right Hand

Well, it’s my turn to write a blog, so I think that I will talk about banjo. You will find that banjo is what I mainly discuss here.  Today, I will discuss the right hand, and how important it is to a banjo player. 

Unfortunately, this topic probably does not have much appeal to the normal person, but to a banjo player this subject has massive importance.  Without a solid right hand technique, you can expect all sorts of bad things to happen:  things, such as, carpal tunnel syndrome, sore fingers, pulled muscles, even pick noise!  Not to mention the frustration a player experiences when trying to learn a song that requires some serious right hand dexterity, and finding that he or she is not up to the task. Yes, a solid right hand technique is extremely important. There are several aspects of proper right hand technique, and I will tell you how I approach them.

The right hand is the hand with the picks.  I use a Golden Gate thumb pick, and Dunlop 0.0225 gauge fingerpicks.  I suggest that a player should find the picks that are most comfortable to him or her, and that they produce the tone that the player desires. There is a difference between the types of picks with different types of metal producing different sounds.  Also, if you have a nickel allergy, like me, you might want to avoid nickel plated picks.

Next, we will consider right hand positioning. Improper right hand positioning will result in bad tone.  The way I position my right hand makes it so that my picks will strike the strings completely on the flat surface. I would advise watching great banjo players to see how they position their right hands (hand, I mean, I know banjo players come from areas that are known for inbreeding, but I have yet to see that particular phenomenon).  

J.D. Crowe is a good example for right hand positioning.  He positions his right hand specifically so that he gets the best tone from his banjo.  

Some people also wonder about how many fingers they should plant on the head when playing. Earl Scruggs planted both, but a few people only plant one finger.  Chris Pandolfi is one of them. I would suggest choosing whatever is most comfortable, and allows you to get the best tone.

Another important issue in proper right hand technique is the picker’s proficiency in picking the banjo. In other words, how you do your rolls.  For the uninitiated, a roll is a picking pattern on a banjo.  Without a roll, a banjo player would be playing notes completely at random.

 I cannot stress how important it is to have your rolls down cold.  A good way to practice them is to sit with a metronome or drum machine and play them over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. 

Using this method to practice is also a wonderful way to cause extreme annoyance among family members. Hearing the same notes for fifteen minutes at a time played at the same monotonous beat without variation will drive anybody nuts. So make sure they can hear you!

That about does it for the major points of proper right hand technique.   I hope I presented some fresh encouragement for a strong right hand.  Remember that without proper right hand techniques, your banjo playing will never reach it’s full potential.