Classic-Banjo

A Site Dedicated to all enthusiasts of Classic Style Banjo

STARTING AGAIN.

Hello to everyone,

This post is to reintroduce myself to the group. I began learning to play in 2017 and progressed well, but stopped after about eight months in order to concentrate on something else.

I have now decided to start again and this time, instead of working through 'Ellis's Thorough School' with my ordinary banjo, I'm using 'Ellis's Advanced School' and my Wilmshurst zither-banjo.

After a very frustrating week of chasing the intonation round in circles learning to tune it by ear, I have now pinned it down and can begin getting used to the remarkable responsiveness of the instrument and the peculiarities of the wire, gut and wound silk string combination. I have used a nineteenth century 'Eardley's Patent' tuning pipe to set the high 'Philharmonic' pitch of approximately C 540 vibrations, which equates to A 454 Hz.

I will post some photos of my banjos and hopefully, some recordings in the near future.

Kind regards, Ian.

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Permalink Reply by carrie horgan on December 22, 2019 at 22:00

Welcome back, Ian. I will be interested to hear your progress (and what your Wilmshurst zither banjo sounds like!).

I have also started playing the 5string again after a break. I have a list of tunes I would like to learn but also am going to make an effort to work through the Grimshaw tutor. Best of luck!