Four words.

[rllink]

Four words that may eventually go down in history as being what finally brought me down, "I want a Banjo."

[Earl49]

I'll be there too. I bought a Deering Goodtime banjo from someone local recently and just got a Gator foam hard bag for it. Today I signed up for a four-day bluegrass and banjo camp in Weiser, Idaho. I went last year but focused on guitar. https://www.idahobluegrasscamp.org/

The big fiddle festival is at the same site the following week, with endless jam circles in all styles. Old time, Gypsy jazz, bluegrass, and more. In the fifteen times we've been we only made it inside to the fiddle contest once.
https://www.fiddlecontest.org/

I happen to know a lot of banjo chords from my long work with Hawaiian slack key in Open G tuning, but the distinct banjo rolls and picking patterns are totally new to me -- so different from guitar fingerpicking.

[mjh42]

I was a stay at home dad for 7.5 years.

During that time I was thinking about picking up an instrument to play. Violin playing spouse says I should play the cello. Well I'm a bit more musically challenged than my musically gifted spouse.

I was thinking guitar, ukulele, banjo or the like.

Banjo is a four letter word in our house and we don't swear a lot but if the word Banjo comes out of my mouth all hell brakes loose...

I spent considerable time on the internet exploring options. Elderly instruments was regularly looked at. They even had beginner packages.

So one day my spouse comes home from work comes through the door of the kitchen near where the kitchen desk and computer are and asks, "What did you do today??

I as happily and honestly as I could with much happiness answered. "I bought a Banjo!"

Well the look on my spouse face was........as they say priceless.

She didn't know what to say........

She was relived when I told her that no I did not really buy an banjo that day, but I had been looking at them on the Elderly website.....

I suppose we dodged a bullet that day or perhaps the attorneys or psychiatrists office, maybe all three......

Life is journey-----if you want to be happy and being happy means playing the banjo---do so......

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by rllink

Four words that may eventually go down in history as being what finally brought me down, "I want a Banjo."

Resonator or open back? Bluegrass or frailing?

My wife hates bluegrass banjo but loves the old time vibe of failing (clawhammer) - the film Cold Mountain sort of stuff. So it wasn't too difficult to get an open back banjo through the door and start learning fiddle tunes. Plus, all the old time banjo players I know stuff a rag into the back of the instrument and, depending on how you use the rag, that rounds out and softens the timbre.

It is not too difficult to learn the technique but it is very different to anything you will have done with your right hand on guitar. It took me a couple of weeks of frustration to get my head and hand around the strike down and pull up action but then I was away. Playing tunes is pretty straight forward, because you tune the instrument to make them easy to play! And you can basically get away with murder. I had some good players around me when I started playing, like Nick Reece who is playing with me on dulcimer on the tracks from the top SoundCloud sample in my signature below.

I haven't picked up banjo for years but we needed the timbre for 3 or 4 songs for a gig I played last week - mainly easy vamping in G and A, although we did put "Shady Grove" into the set (mountain minor tuning). Tuning the darn things on stage is the perennial issue (no photos from the gig of me playing, just of me tuning ).

You don't need to spend much money at all to get an open back banjo. You can buy second hand with relative confidence. They come apart easily enough for you to maintain them, change parts and adjust neck angles, skin tension etc.

If you want to play old time fiddle tunes, then banjos are far easier to master, and sound more authentic, than they are on guitar.

I don't play bluegrass banjo (which is a bit weird as I play the roll patterns on dobro) as you sort of need a band for it to work. But old time banjo is a lovely porch instrument just to play tunes or to sing traditional songs with.

So I would say go for it! Expect a week or so of complete frustration trying to get your right hand to strike down on the strings with the back of your nail (index or middle finger) and then pull up on the 5th string with your thumb as you lift off. There are loads of YouTube videos on how to start out. But once you have that motion you will be flying!

[PineMarten]

I have a short scale tenor in Irish GDAE tuning that I pull out sometimes (an old Slingerland-made Concertone), but the way that's played I view it as a cousin of the mandolin family. I'll noodle around on my brother's five string when I visit, I enjoy the sound of the old timey open backs, but having my thumb on a high string confuses the hell out of me!

[Silly Moustache]

I got the "need" about five years ago, possibly after meeting up with Dana and Sue Robinson again.

Would you believe that my wife (!!!_ bought me this banjo, from a banjo guy I used to play with.



Now to the REAL thing! Here's Dana & Sue :

[Robin, Wales]

Ahh Silly Moustache,

I had forgotten the Frank Proffitt style finger and thumb picking style! I have a mountain banjo and the possum skin is signed by Frank Proffitt Jr in 1972. It is carved from walnut and rough as old boots. Apparently he would play his banjos at gigs and, if anyone showed an interest he would sign it and sell it there and then, then go home and make another! I have been meaning to sell it but forgot that I still had it in a spare room!

I've seen Dana and Susan Robinson a couple of times and have a CD of theirs. Susan is a beautiful clawhammer player, very subtle.

[ssstewart]

Originally Posted by rllink

Four words that may eventually go down in history as being what finally brought me down, "I want a Banjo."

lol, had the same thought about 6 months ago..so bought a 1921 british banjo in last month, then on christmas eve while in the pawn shop a gentleman came in to pawn a mandolin...they didnt offer him much, so i doubled their offer and brought her home and have been cleaning her up. new pickguard just arrived yesterday from the states violin next

[RJVB]

But banjos are for serious music (too)!





Had a lovely evening garden party this summer with a local piano + (bluegrass-style) banjo duo playing rags, cakewalks and two-steps.

[Rudy4]

Banjo CAN be a very pleasant and soothing instrument to play and/or listen to. Usually folks who have an aversion to it was from exposure to overly brash "Bluegrass" stylings.

I have made many banjos of many types, all of them being open back and many nylon strung.

Here's a bit of MacPherson's Lament for our over the pond friends!



For those of you that take the trouble to learn or already know the tune, here's a backing track for you to play along to:



And if you don't already know Highlander's Farewell,here's an example to demo that banjos are often tuned to other tunings for specific tunes:



Here's an early pre-cursor to the more modern open back banjos, the Boucher design. Note, I NO LONGER sell the construction guides! I;m posting this to demonstrate how different the fretless nylon styrung lower tuned banjo is:

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by rllink

Four words that may eventually go down in history as being what finally brought me down, "I want a Banjo."

Four words that might save your reputation, if not your life:

"Please get help - now!"

[stevo58]

Five years ago, a bassist friend called me and said “Get a banjo. All the Dixie players are dying off; you’re the replacement.”

So I bought a tenor.

This caused a change in my wife’s behavior. For thirty years, whenever I practiced guitar, she said

“Are you plink-plinking again? PLEASE close the door!”

Since I started playing banjo, she says

“Are you playing that **** banjo again? PLEASE play some guitar instead! And CLOSE THE DOOR!!”

She’s not a big fan.

But I’m gigging more than I ever have.

[rllink]

Originally Posted by Earl49

I happen to know a lot of banjo chords from my long work with Hawaiian slack key in Open G tuning, but the distinct banjo rolls and picking patterns are totally new to me -- so different from guitar fingerpicking.

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

Resonator or open back? Bluegrass or frailing?

So I would say go for it! Expect a week or so of complete frustration trying to get your right hand to strike down on the strings with the back of your nail (index or middle finger) and then pull up on the 5th string with your thumb as you lift off. There are loads of YouTube videos on how to start out. But once you have that motion you will be flying!

Wow, thanks for all the support. I expected a couple pages of banjo jokes. A 5 string resonator Robin. I'm big into country/bluegrass and I'm not inclined to venture into something else.

What started this was that my son's flight from LA got delayed three hours. Being in the big city I thought that I would go to my favorite funky music store to see what was going on. Not much, but the manager, who I've bought a couple guitars from and is a really nice guy was noodling a banjo he had just gotten in. He was doing a three finger roll, which up until then I didn't know it had a name. I told him I used to do that all the time on my ukulele. So he set me down with the banjo and said go for it. Evidently I can do the two finger roll as well.

Anyway, I'm hooked. I would have bought it right then and there, except I'm leaving this week for a month and I thought I would wait and see if I am still in the mood when I get back. I told my wife that I was thinking of becoming a banjo player and she said, "whatever." I kind of expected to get a bunch of banjo derision out of her, but I think she's waiting until I get one before she starts in on it.

[Earl49]

OK, I have to share this now. It was new to me recently.

A bluegrass band accidentally locked the keys in the van after the gig. It took them 40 minutes to get the banjo player out!

[martingitdave]

Don’t panic. Call the 1-800 number on the back of a copy of guitar player magazine. They have a team of professionals ready to talk you down. However, if you find yourself craving malt liquor or buying overalls, you’re in late stages, and they might not be able to help you.