Armstrong's Crown Banjo Method 1889

[Joel Hooks]

Hi Folks, 

I bought this on Ebay the other day and scanned it.  Put it up on the Internet Archive.  As it is in the Public Domain everyone owns it and may do with it as they want.

Rather unremarkable overall but there is a Banjo/Banjeaurine piece and "Menuetto from Don Juan" for Banjeaurine, Piccolo Banjo and 2 Large Banjos.

In the back are "Letters to the Young Banjoist" that I enjoyed.  "No. 4 Fretted Banjos and Unfretted Banjos" is fun.  

Favorite quote… "In playing on an unfretted banjo, nothing is gained, but much is lost.  The only object gained is to show the apparent difficulties of an otherwise easy instrument."

Get it here...

https://archive.org/details/ArmstrongCrownBanjoMethod

[Jody Stecher]

Thank you for this, Joel. Most interesting. What do you make of Armstrong's description of tremolo technique? This is in the section in the back on Expression. He says to brace the *middle* finger, not the third or fourth finger. I can't do that without pain and the sound is pitiful. And he says to place the middle finger on the vellum *at least* 6 inches from the bridge. On a banjo with a pot of 12 inches or more that works out well but when I tried it on a banjo with an 11 inch pot that put my index finger very near the juncture of pot and neck and more significantly within close proximity of the first tightening hook on the lower side. The expected collision of finger and metal did occur though it can be avoided. But the sound was better less than 6 inches from the bridge on the smaller pot banjo. Six inches was ideal on my 12.5 pot Banjo of Mystery.