 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||
| Moderated by: Tony Provencher, Richard Hefner | Page: 1 2   |
|
|||||||||||||
| Blues banjo | Rate Topic |
| Author | Post |
|---|
| Posted: Wed Nov 16th, 2005 02:07 pm |
|
1st Post |
|
Philj200 Approved 
|
Last night was not a good evening at a local open mike. Mostly teenagers wailing about their angst (and sounding like lounge-singer cadets). The emcee was a pretty good bass player. I had a guitar but I also had my long neck banjo. When it was my turn, I said to myself, what the heck. I brought the banjo up on stage and ask the emcess to stay and comp in back of me. I played 12-bar blues in E (it was a long neck). Using finger picks and playing a bit of bluegrass patterns, single string work, some double thumbing and chord comping when the bass palyer took solos ... we cooked. A flute player joined us after maybe ten minutes. Really nice sound. Halfway between the Stoneman Family and Lightning Hopkins.
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Posted: Wed Nov 16th, 2005 07:55 pm |
|
2nd Post |
|
banjo brad Super Moderator 
|
Philj- Sounds like a real jam! Try some slide stuff on that long-neck, I bet it would really wail! Lots of talk lately on banjo-l re: blues banjo stuff.  Keep on pickin'Brad
____________________ ezFolk Help Brad Prickly Pear Music Banjo Brad's ezFolk page TOTMC |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Posted: Wed Nov 16th, 2005 08:03 pm |
|
3rd Post |
|
Philj200 Approved
|
Slide on banjo...has to work. I will try it tonight. I've heard slide mandolin... maybe if a better picker did it I would have been more impressed. Last edited on Thu Nov 17th, 2005 07:42 pm by Philj200 ____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Posted: Thu Nov 17th, 2005 11:41 am |
|
4th Post |
|
1four5 Approved 
|
Wish I coulda been there! Blues is my first love, and do it on my banjo whenever I can. Guitar style leads, especially bends, are incredably nasty and mornfull. Is there any chance your open mic was recorded? Slide on a banjo is awesome, but takes a much lighter touch than guitar.
____________________ These are the good times! |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Posted: Thu Nov 17th, 2005 01:44 pm |
|
5th Post |
|
Philj200 Approved
|
The open mike I go to has the provision to record sets. They charge $5 for a CD of your set. Reasonable enough and the equipment is quite good. The problem is that only the owner of the place is empowered to handle the equipment. He's not always there or in the mood. And the mike set-up, in spite of the quality, is bad. The PA system and the recording setup are different. The recording set up is via two mikes hung near the celing. They are too far away from the musicians. I guess he thought they would pick-up the output of the main speakers. But they overload and it just doesn't work. Should Santa be good me, I may end up with one of those little Tascam 8-track casstte recorders. I have a couple of decent AKG mikes. I'll enlist people in the audience to help record a set. (And give me more control on mike palcement.) I tried slide on the banjo last night before a gig. Not sure yet. It's easy to make noise. A light hand is really important.And a real-solid knowledge of the fret board. Because when you swoop up to an A chord (barred fifth-fret on Frankenbanjo) it won't be all that satisfying to miss by half a fret. Close is good enough only when you play horse shoes or hand grenades. One of the irregulars brings a camcorder with him. It's a neat idea. He sets it up on atable near the stage on a small tripod. He has a small accessory shotgunmike he says is a holdover to father's old Super 8 movie camera, but the connections are the same. He makes a video of his performances saying it's the easiest way to get a reference recording of his sound. (I think it's a little egotisical.)
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Posted: Thu Nov 17th, 2005 06:39 pm |
|
6th Post |
|
banjo brad Super Moderator
|
A discussion on a fiddle forum recently about video recording yourself had some good thoughts; mainly that it gives you a visual reference of how you play - on fiddle, bow position, arm position, etc. It also shows how you look to others in a performance - are you really grimacing at every note you play? Do you look like you are enjoying yourself? It might be a good idea to try it once in awhile, just to see how your audience sees you. Then, again, maybe you really don't want to know  Keep on pickin'Brad
____________________ ezFolk Help Brad Prickly Pear Music Banjo Brad's ezFolk page TOTMC |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Posted: Thu Nov 17th, 2005 11:17 pm |
|
7th Post |
|
1four5 Approved
|
We video'd our first show ever. Just set the camera off to the side, aimed it and turned it on. It's the first time I ever got to see "us" play. I was also shocked at how well the little camera mic worked...it actually sounded better than some of our live jam recordings. There's also nothing like getting the crowd's reaction on tape. It's a trip watching it, and every time I see it, it reminds me of how much fun it was. It's also a great motivator when I'm having a musically frustrating time. Here's the link if you didn't see it when I posted it last time. Now if me and Tim (bass player) can just get the guys to do some blues http://www.ukeblue.com/firstgig.wmv
____________________ These are the good times! |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Posted: Fri Nov 18th, 2005 12:53 pm |
|
8th Post |
|
Philj200 Approved
|
Slide Banjo... tried it again last night. Not my thing. The sound with bluegrass picking is not all that appearnant. Factor in the loss of control...not being able to put your figners on the right frets with your left hand was a turn off. Even more so with frailing, the effect isn't worth the effort. And the amount of work to get it better doesn't seem worth it either. Slide guitar works when the the song is appropriate. Slide banjo on the same song sounds clutzy. Maybe a better banjo picker/slide musician can do something more. And I would sure appreciate hearing it. But ...
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Posted: Fri Nov 18th, 2005 04:22 pm |
|
9th Post |
|
1four5 Approved
|
Check this guy out http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=287928
____________________ These are the good times! |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Posted: Fri Nov 18th, 2005 04:54 pm |
|
10th Post |
|
Philj200 Approved
|
Impressive stuff. I appreciate the range of genres too. Slide Cripple Creek was fine! But all slide guitar, unless I missed someting.
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Posted: Fri Nov 18th, 2005 07:55 pm |
|
11th Post |
|
banjo brad Super Moderator
|
That "Slide Banjo Blues" sorta shows what can be done with a banjer, huh? Keep on pickin' Brad
____________________ ezFolk Help Brad Prickly Pear Music Banjo Brad's ezFolk page TOTMC |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Posted: Sat Nov 19th, 2005 04:14 am |
|
12th Post |
|
1four5 Approved
|
This guys blew everyone away at Big Road...most people though it was a reso guitar.
____________________ These are the good times! |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Posted: Mon Nov 21st, 2005 02:17 am |
|
13th Post |
|
Tim3finger Approved 
|
Hmmmm, Blues Banjo, an interesting concept indeed! As you may know. or not, most likely not, I am Tim3finger the bass player that 1four5 mentions every now and then. I say this only to lend credence to the following ramble. I get to jam with 1four5 everyday at work. We play, as a rule, whatever we are working up for our next " B-1's of Contention" gig, but, sometimes we just want to play and have fun. Well, we both started this whole guitar thing by doing basic 12 bar blues in various keys and writing our own lyrics. SO, that is where we go when we want to escape. Since Dean's main weapon is banjo now, that's what he has in his hand when I stray off into the world of blues. I tell him the key, lay down a nice bass line and he just wails on it. No kidding, you have to hear Dean play blues on the banjo. When I first heard him do it, I thought, woooow this is tooo coool. Someday soon, I promise ,I'll get him to redo one of his less well known songs( One more bottle of Whiskey, eh Dean) and you will hear what I mean. I understand banjo and blues is crossing a lot of lines and steeping on a lot of toes, but so did rock and roll, and new age when they first started. It's really all about having fun and enjoying what you do, whatever it is. Tim
____________________ Tim "Trying to give back a little of what I've been given" |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Posted: Mon Nov 21st, 2005 10:04 am |
|
14th Post |
|
1four5 Approved
|
Wow...thanks Tim! I'm game any time! It's always fun to go back to our roots. Have any of you'all played with some one so much, you just always know where eachother's headed...that's the way Tim and I are...we could play blues all day long, not have a clue what we are doing, yet still be going down the same path. Kinda Zen ay? 
____________________ These are the good times! |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Posted: Mon Nov 21st, 2005 02:29 pm |
|
15th Post |
|
Philj200 Approved
|
Maybe I'm having a an attack of the dumbs but I still can't find a slide banjo piece in the above reference. I really like the comfortable groove that lunch room jam had. Friends just having fun and the music was cool too. Did you try putting the camcorder on a table? Then it would let you zoom in closer and still not produce an epic study of someones ear hair. We had a weekly thing at my company, but it petered out when the temperature fell. Ours was just Wednesdays. We had an eclectic range of interests and skill levels but one of us had a great idea. Everyone had to bring a song every week, with lyrics and chords andif possible a lead line, in six copies. In noe time, we all had a body of work to jam with. Songs ranged from German folktunes, to mainstream Nashville, to Gospel, to Old Timey, to blues, to Beattle tunes, to Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia...," to Celtic, to reggae. No one was left out. Not that everything worked. "I want to hold your hand" in German with the lead playing accordion was, er, an acquired taste. We must have played together 12 times before it faded. Maybe next spring. Last edited on Mon Nov 21st, 2005 02:30 pm by Philj200 ____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Posted: Mon Nov 21st, 2005 09:49 pm |
|
16th Post |
|
1four5 Approved
|
Maybe I'm having a an attack of the dumbs but I still can't find a slide banjo piece in the above reference Check out "Walked Through Fire", that's my favorite slide banjo tune on that page.
____________________ These are the good times! |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Posted: Tue Nov 22nd, 2005 02:43 pm |
|
17th Post |
|
Philj200 Approved
|
Now that's a horse of a very dfferent color! Who's the musician? I want to buy him a beer. Totally different from what I was trying (and not succeeding) to do. He played the banjo much like a delta resonator guitar blues and it worked (and worked very well). I loved that closing bass run. Right out of Johnson or maybe Lemon. But no apperant fifth string work. Was this played on a plectrum banjo? Seemed like a lot of thumb work. Effective. Something to think about. Thanks for the tip. Last edited on Tue Nov 22nd, 2005 02:55 pm by Philj200 ____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Posted: Tue Nov 22nd, 2005 04:28 pm |
|
18th Post |
|
banjo brad Super Moderator
|
Its the 12th song down on the page, "Slide Banjo Blues" - sounds like he has some slide guitar in there, too. Keep on pickin' Brad Last edited on Tue Nov 22nd, 2005 05:44 pm by banjo brad ____________________ ezFolk Help Brad Prickly Pear Music Banjo Brad's ezFolk page TOTMC |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Posted: Tue Nov 22nd, 2005 06:18 pm |
|
19th Post |
|
Philj200 Approved
|
Thanks Brad. That's a fine piece too. But, there's something about it (and the other piece four inches north) that troubles me. They are essentially guitar pieces played on a banjo. And while there is nothing wrong, indeed they are finely skilled pieces, they don't have a distinctive banjo sound. (If anything, they sound like resonator guitars [and I wish I owned one]) Certainly not a 5 String Banjo. The absence of 5th string work just leaps out at me. I once heard Doc Watson early on iin his career playing at the legendary Gerdes Folkcity in NYC. It was the middle of the week and I should have been home studying. But I went to hear this 'new' guy pick the pockets off his old guitar. (I heard him a few months earlier at the epic PS.44 debut and have the original flyer.) After a while who but Pete Seeger shows up with his longneck. He asks if he can play with Doc. Watson, who seemed knew Pete Doc said, "I'm about to play some blues in G, why don't you come up and let's see what happens." It was classic Doc on white country blues just rambling between verses of a dozen songs and taking long lyric licks. And Pete was with him every step of of the way wailing the blues, taking solos and playing so much better than his kum-ba-ya big venue gigs. And what he was playing was banjo. Not guitar on a banjo. He double-thumbed, frailed and bent notes up and down the neck. The audience was almost entirely hard-core folkies and every one had just be given a story to tell for the rest of their music days. Which is what I just did. Maybe that's what was in the back of my head all along. --- BTW: The Indian piece on banjo smokes. I include a Raga (on guitar) in my bag of tricks and liked the one on the URL a lot. Raga on dulcimer is a natural as well. Last edited on Tue Nov 22nd, 2005 06:20 pm by Philj200 ____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Posted: Wed Nov 23rd, 2005 02:07 am |
|
20th Post |
|
banjo brad Super Moderator
|
Yeah, I guess they really are guitar pieces done on banjo, but at least they give an idea of what is possible with a slide. I need to look at my Arhoolie set, I seem to remember a banjo song done with slide there. If I can find the cut, I'll post more about it. I saw Seeger in concert at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in 1964. He can do things with that long neck that I sorta thought were impossible on any fretted instrument. I wish I had a chance to see Doc in person, but I think my best best is to keep putting his cd's on my wish list. Keep on pickin'Brad
____________________ ezFolk Help Brad Prickly Pear Music Banjo Brad's ezFolk page TOTMC |
|||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| Current time is 09:10 am | Page: 1 2 |
| ezFolk Forums > Banjo > General Banjo Topics > Blues banjo | Top |
