If I'm gonna pick one, 5-string resonator banjo or a square-neck dobro?

[Cue Zephyr]

Originally Posted by wcap

I don't know whether anyone else uses the word hotrodding this way. I personally use it in sort of a derogatory way to refer to playing banjo super fast just because you can, whether it is good music or not (sometimes it is fun to do this though!). In this regard I don't feel that Earl Scruggs was ever really a banjo hotrodder!

It was just to be clear about the meaning and the context you use it in.

I wouldn't believe Earl was like that, either, and I can honestly imagine it being great fun to do.

Originally Posted by wcap

Indeed, 5-string banjo can be a lot more things than most people imagine.

Including me until you showed me how wrong I was!

Originally Posted by wcap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwzaxUF0k18

Ah-hah! So, it's a theme! That explains why one, when in possession of a 5-string banjo, has to learn it! Am I right in assuming that Dueling Banjos kind-of belongs in that short-list too? I do want to learn it though, seems like great fun to learn!

Originally Posted by wcap

The joke (the second one) plays off of the stereotype that banjo players are not very good musicians and annoying to play music with ...... that they can't keep time and tend to speed up, they can't figure out the key a piece is being played in (after all, many banjo players play most everything in G), and when playing together with others have trouble figuring out when to jump in to the music.

(I, and my wife, will attest to the fact that I have a problem with speeding up sometimes... a common problem for amateur banjo players I fear!).

I definitely wouldn't have understood that one without this explanation! Thanks!

[wcap]

Originally Posted by Cue Zephyr

.... Am I right in assuming that Dueling Banjos kind-of belongs in that short-list too? I do want to learn it though, seems like great fun to learn!.....

Perhaps. It is indeed another banjo piece well-known by the general public, and probably fun to play if you have guitar player to play it with. Personally, I have never been all that fond of it though. For some reason it has never seemed like a particularly interesting piece of music to me. However, I think what I am mostly reacting to is the almost characacher-like imitations of the piece by non-banjo players who seemed to think that a simple melody and harsh twangy sound epitomizes all that banjos have to offer. In the past, if told a random person that I played 5-string banjo, the first thing out of their mouth would often be a bad imitation of a really twangy banjo playing the first 5 notes of Dueling Banjos!

Personally, I think a few other must-learn pieces (now, these are in melodic style) would be Blackberry Blossom (lovely piece!), Devil's Dream, and Red Haired Boy.

OK, the list could go on.....


By the way....

I'm sure there are other good books available (and now websites of course too) that I am not aware of, but these are the books I learned from:

My first book was the classic book by Pete Seeger......
http://www.amazon.com/5-String-Banjo.../dp/1597731641 (my copy is red though!)
My recollection is that this had a more complete version of Foggy Mountain Breakdown - complete with variations up the neck - than Earl Scruggs' book. This book also includes introductions to some playing styles other than 3-finger picking - frailing, for example.

http://www.amazon.com/Earl-Scruggs-5...ggs+banjo+book

http://www.samash.com/p/Hal%20Leonar...FYw-Mgod8GYAjw

AND MY FAVORITE......I love this book.....it totally transformed my banjo playing........
http://www.amazon.com/Melodic-Banjo-.../dp/0825601711
This is my favorite sort of banjo playing style.

[Cue Zephyr]

This took longer than expected, but there's a banjo coming my way. Dobro will come later.

To the last post - I actually play those three fiddle tunes on the mandolin by now and trying to keep up with guitar as well. I suppose I'll have to learn them on banjo and record it.

[Dan Carey]

Here's another vote for the banjo and might I recommend a round neck resonator? either single or tri-cone might do you just fine and a $6 nut riser gives you an instant slide only instrument...

Might give you a call someday...I work in Almelo and Enschede on occasion!

[Cue Zephyr]

You may, but I like Jerry Douglas and he uses a square neck.

Almelo and Enschede is a long way away from where I live. For Dutch standards that is, I mean, with a 3-4 hour drive you're pretty much through the whole country. Would still be pretty cool though.