Classic-Banjo

A Site Dedicated to all enthusiasts of Classic Style Banjo

All Blog Posts (246)

Continuing issues with PC...comments on OCR for music, etc.

Well, still having problems. The new Laptop is very nice, very fast. I was able to get my old data off of the previous computer's hard drives (a big relief) so nothing was lost...

Except email. It is still there but I've been unable to migrate it over onto the new computer. So, for the time being, I have only the addresses of people who've sent me mail since the new laptop went online...and no access to archived mail.

Also missing is TablEdit, my TAB creating program. The… Continue

Added by Trapdoor2 on June 13, 2009 at 16:00 — 2 Comments

many events in the world

of course , we are not on this blog to talk about political stuff . ; but i notice that there are many problems these times in the world and i guess it is just the beggining .

here ' s is a link about marcel Dadi ; marcel was the number one of the picking guitar in France ; unfortunatly ( and here is the commun point with the events ) , he was in the TWA_ 800 / 1996 flight in NY long island .

This is a lesson in videos , guys and marcel speaks in English… Continue

Added by marc dalmasso on June 4, 2009 at 13:14 — 1 Comment

Plinkety Plunk 1949

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=26529

and

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=56458

Added by Jody Stecher on June 2, 2009 at 5:00 — 1 Comment

Tarrant Bailey Jr 5 string banjo videos on the web

A search for banjo, banjoist, Tarrant Bailey, etc, on the website :

http://beta.britishpathe.com/

will produce about a dozen film clips of British banjo playing including solos by Tarrant Bailey Jr.

Added by Jody Stecher on May 30, 2009 at 7:27 — 19 Comments

How to Excel...Grimshaw.

Well, here I am...starting at #1 and working my way thru. So far, so good! I was able to play numbers 1-5 last night without breaking anything (except minor ego losses).

Sure, lots of stumbling around, mistakes, rhythm errors, etc. I'm trying desperately not to do much "pencil marking" on the pages. There are a few finger-twisters such as the Dmaj in m14 (Exercise #4) where one holds a D on the 4th (second fret) whilst making an A on the third (second fret), a D on the second (third… Continue

Added by Trapdoor2 on May 28, 2009 at 16:24 — 7 Comments

New 'hotrod' PC ordered...reading the dots...

OK, preliminary diagnosis on my old PC is that both hard drives are spinning up and appear to be in good health. I should be able to access them and transfer all files to the new computer. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that this all works out!

The new PC has been ordered and is a Dell 17" "studio" laptop with most of the 'bells and whistles'. 4g memory, a 320g hard drive, CD/DVD read/write, HD screen, upgraded video, etc, etc. It should be delivered before mid-June. Until… Continue

Added by Trapdoor2 on May 26, 2009 at 14:28 — 6 Comments

1st Blog post...Good News/Bad News...

Well...

Bad News: my computer would not boot up last night. Not a 'bluescreen' error but a 'blackscreen' error that would not even let me get into 'safe mode' to try to resusitate it. This means I shall be taking the box down to our local "Computer ER" (that is actually the name of the place) to see if it can be raised from the dead. This particular error often indicates a hardware crash (at least that's what a 'net search said)...which may mean that about 10 yrs of music files could… Continue

Added by Trapdoor2 on May 21, 2009 at 18:16 — 13 Comments

new blog ( French )

i created a new blog in French ; i choosed Ning to keep the same familiar stuff .

It is there : http://classicbanjofrance.ning.com/

(i dont know why it is impossible to add an hyperlink_ so copy & paste )

Of course ; you , friends are all welcome on it , post vidéos etc

The french language isn 't a problem , you can post in English because almost French guys interested in that kind of music speak English ( they all came from the bluegrass stuff or similar and they… Continue

Added by marc dalmasso on May 6, 2009 at 7:26 — No Comments

Ragtime Oriole

OK, I've posted Ragtime Oriole, transcribed by DL Miller in 1951. It's in the original piano key of A flat and is pretty close to the Van Eps 1920s recording. Look in Photos.

Added by Jody Stecher on May 5, 2009 at 15:46 — No Comments

Clifford Essex Music Co. Ltd - BMG Magazine.

B.M.G.

Banjo, Mandolin, Guitar.

First published in 1903, BMG has recently been revived from a thirty year sleep, and is now a quarterly magazine for ALL players of fretted instruments from the Archlute to the Zither. Concentrating mainly on every type of banjo, mandolin and guitar, it contains authoritative articles of interest which will widen the knowledge and increase the pleasure gained from playing a fretted instrument. It is now published Quarterly, in March, June, September and… Continue

Added by Clem Vickery on April 30, 2009 at 14:55 — No Comments

Another rendition of Twisted Rope Jig mp3

I've posted an audio file of Baur's Twisted Rope. I played it from memory and got lost in the music and accidently repeated some lines and also dropped some mini-beats etc, but this has the feel I'm going for more than a more perfect rendition I also played.

Added by Jody Stecher on April 29, 2009 at 22:28 — 2 Comments

109 Banjo Cylinders Free Free Free

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=%40attr+1%3D1016+&query=banjo

Fred Bacon, Fred Van Eps, Vess Ossman, Olly Oakley

This is a great resource. Good music and a free ride on a time machine

Added by Jody Stecher on April 12, 2009 at 20:00 — No Comments

Thoughts on Tremolo.

In this journey (obsession) of historic banjo playing, I have turned to reading all of the period literature on the subject that I could find. An observation I made is that it seems most banjoists had a version of "Home, Sweet Home with Tremolo." I had read the instructions for how to play it, listened to Ossman and Eps, but really did not give it much mind.

Then, from Trapdoor's recommendation, I bought Douglas Back's The Banjo Goes Highbrow (if you don't have this get it… Continue

Added by Joel Hooks on April 12, 2009 at 17:36 — 16 Comments

6 strings ' banjo

i just want to share there what i have discover by myself and which is logic , i guess .

Unfortunaly , there are not many banjo players surviving from the gold era of the classic bj , but with Carl 's blog , we can re_ discover things .

There were many 6 & 7 strings banjos , most of them were English , but US , too ( henry Dobson for instance ) . I suppose there were made for acompagniements , to have a bigger sound . If you play solo in a banjo band , you can use the regular one… Continue

Added by marc dalmasso on April 11, 2009 at 20:30 — 3 Comments

Two mp3 files of Return of The Regiment

I've posted two sound files of Ernest Jones playing Return of The Regiment on zither-banjo. The first is at the pitch and speed heard when I play the cassette which is about a half step high. It's easy to tell that banjo is being played in C fingering; if nothing else, the open fifth string makes that plain. The second file has been slowed down so that the pitch is close to C (assuming A 440). I've never heard it that way before this evening. The banjo tone sounds convincing lowered to concert… Continue

Added by Jody Stecher on April 11, 2009 at 6:22 — No Comments

Joe MacNaghten and Return of The Regiment

"Return of The Regiment" was recently suggested as a tune of the month or season or something, (good idea I think) and music was posted by Dave Wade who today also posted a photo of Joe MacNaghten. This provokes a question that some of the English players here might be able to answer. It might be a case of UK and USA being "divided by a common language" but I've looked at the dots, listened to the recording of Ernest Jones playing Return OTR and read what "Mac" had to say about it and hit a… Continue

Added by Jody Stecher on April 11, 2009 at 0:48 — 5 Comments

The Eagle Has Unraveled: Frayed Aquila basses in Nylgut set

I use Aquila Nylgut sets on several banjos and am happy with the feel and sound but there comes a time when the winding on the bass starts unravelling and this is always before the plain strings have died. Has anyone else had this problem? I also use Aquila's D type copper wound on nylgut for zither-banjo bass and the problem exists there as well. I wonder if those here with an Aquila connection can put in a word about this?

I also wonder why the fifth string is a heavier gauge than… Continue

Added by Jody Stecher on April 8, 2009 at 15:49 — 9 Comments

Temlett Zither-Banjo

I've uploaded two photos of an old Temlett zither-banjo. It's going to my student Ken who says it reminds him of his grandmother. Who am I to deprive him of his grandmother? It needs a bit of work. It seems that over the last 120 years or so the wood of the neck and fingerboard have dried out and shrunk so all the frets protrude on both sides. The fret ends are sharp and can draw blood. It's a small, light z-b with a string length of only 25.25 inches (just over 64 centimeters). The sound is… Continue

Added by Jody Stecher on April 8, 2009 at 6:46 — No Comments

Champion Waltz

I've just uploaded an mp3 of a catchy little tune called Champion Waltz. It's from Winner's New School for the Banjo (1872). I learned it from the ABF quarterly 5 Stringer where it was transposed to C notation by Eli Kaufman. I'm playing it on a fretless banjo made in the 1890s by J Clamp in Newcaste-on-Tyne. It has a big pot and a short neck so it looks a bit like a skillet. Today it sounds like it has a cold. Calfskin head, heavy nylon strings, low tuning.

Added by Jody Stecher on April 5, 2009 at 18:12 — 3 Comments

A Banjo Revel

A Banjo Revel is a Joe Morley tune I learned from some very large sheet music I won on ebay. I've never heard a recording of it. It seems to be the only one of Morley's compositions to be published by Larking. (Larking's Banjo Budget #1). It anticipates "melodic" bluegrass technique by several decades not to mention the theme of The Ballad of Davy Crocket ("born on a mountain top in Tennessee....." ). I'm playing it on an anonymous American banjo with a 12.5 inch metal clad pot and a playing… Continue

Added by Jody Stecher on April 5, 2009 at 5:00 — 5 Comments