Vol 1 of the B-bury B-njo B-ok

[Jody Stecher]

Let's try to keep this post as one thread until I get to the end of book one. If the thread gets too long I'll start a new one sooner than planned.

I found some obstacles and puzzles on the next 2 pages: 40/41 in the 60s book; 41/42 in the newer edition. 

At the top of the first page under the heading "Continued Practice in E minor" we are presented with one inversion each of an E minor, A minor and B7 chord.  The fingering for the E minor 221 is less comfortable than 331 or 321 but it makes sense to use that fingering when the next chord is A minor fingered 422 because that way the 2 bar (barre/barré) is already in place. Minimal left hand movement is a good thing.

This section prepares us to read and to play a second banjo part to Banjo Jubilee.  As with other prescribed accompaniments earlier in the book the formula is Oom pa pa pa. It's like waltz time with an extra pa. It's a  bass note followed by three chords  This is historically consistent with an accompaniment style from the earlier 20th century and perhaps earlier still. For myself who has heard and played both 2/4 and 4/4 music accompanied by Oom pa Oom pa (bass followed by a single chord, and then both repeated) as the norm, the Oom pa pa pa formula sounds awkward and stiff.  

Then we come to  Banjo Jubilee itself.  Here I found some oddities as well.  In the first measure of line 2 the same chord formation (B, E, G) that at the top of the page we are taught to finger as 221 is now indicated as 331. It feels better and since the next chord is not A minor  422 there is no reason to not be as comfortable as possible. But it is odd to find because in previous pages we are taught that the one and only fingering for E minor in 4th position (at fret 4) is 221.   

Then in the first measure of the bottom line we find the same E minor chord formation. Which fingering is prescribed here? Both. We're given a choice. Well yes, we always have a choice but I found this sudden lenience odd, after being admonished (wisely, in my opinion) to finger everything exactly as taught in this book.

The next page deals with playing arpeggios on one beat. Here I did not understand why playing a three note arpeggio on strings 4, 3 and 2 should be done with the thumb ( pluck and drop) and index. I understand  why the thumb plays the two low strings in a four note chord arpeggio but why do this when the 1st string is not played?  The three note arpeggio of the three high long strings is done with thumb, index and middle in succession  (x  .  .. ) so why is it bad form to do this one string lower when playing a three note arpeggio on consecutive strings? 

I also found that the two-string thumb move came more easily when I pulled my thumb closer to the bridge so that the thumb was "behind" the index and middle.  I decided not to encourage this.

[Joel Hooks]

I agree, Bradbury's HOTR in D is good!  I played it at a rally in our round robin before.

Jody Stecher said:

The Final Pages of Book One : 60 through 64

Before I discuss these last pages I should mention yet another problem I had with the paragraph at the bottom of page 45. We are told that when we squeeze in the third finger it should be well squared up.  I have no idea what is meant.  

On page 60 we are introduced to the key of D major and its relative minor B. The left hand fingering for D is clever in its use of the second string on the higher frets. Most new students would not think of this on their own. I have a quibble with the prescribed fingering in B minor. Why play the lower notes in 1st position? I use my 2nd finger on fret 2 when the index is occupied on fret 1. But here the 1st fret is untouched.  By beginning in 2nd position the B minor scale(s) becomes easier to play. 

Then comes Home On The Range. This was my favorite song at age 5.  How would it sound on the banjo in D major? Bradbury's arrangement does not disappoint. It simultaneously sounds good to the listener while educating the player in new ways to play the banjo. Everything here makes sense musically and technically with new fingerings introduced at exactly the right time in the course of the student's banjo education.

The last page presents useful exercises, parts of which will not be easy to play at first. And that is the point. Their purpose is to make the student more able. 

[Jody Stecher]

My problem was with "gaucho",not with "gallopade".   There are plenty of skilled horsemen in Canada and Mongolia. But they are not gauchos.  Gauchos are associated with Argentina and Uruguay. After seeing such a title one  expects music with a South American flavor.  My universal problem with the Bradbury's titles is that they do not seem to connect with the music they represent and they create an expectation that is not met.

Joel Hooks said:

"The Gauchos Gallopade" was not a confusing title for me, it is a "galop".  Perhaps I understood because I had previous knowledge of what a "galop" was?  Or perhaps because I have a dictionary and like to look up words?

Also the dictionary says "Gallopade, gal-up-ād′, n. a quick kind of dance—then, the music appropriate to it: a sidewise gallop. —v.i. to move briskly: to perform a gallopade."

A Gaucho is a skilled horseman.  What is confusing?

Title= a skilled horseman's quick dance

At any rate, the original title is "The Old Timer Galop" published in his first tutor from 1926

Jody Stecher said:

Pages 56 through 59

In the section on broken thirds Bradbury uses an apostrophe to indicate a plural. Whoops. The apostrophe is useful in indicating plural when following a number. So " 3's "  is ok as an alternative to "threes".  But in this book we see "3rd's".  That means "belonging to 3rd." But what is meant is the plural of third. And using the apostrophe to mean that is just plain wrong.  Would it have been so hard to print "thirds"?  

The broken thirds exercise is good but we are not told the meaning of "broken thirds". It means two notes a third apart that are played in succession instead of together. I think the student would be better off if the author was explicit. He so often is. So why not here?

All good with the next page.

Then I came to The Gauchos Gallopade. This is the first piece I've come to in this book that confused me at first.  Once I comprehended how it should sound I was able to play both banjo parts and found that once again Bradbury does a good job in introducing  new techniques in such a way as to provide a challenge to the student that is just enough for stimulation but not so hard as to overwhelm or discourage. 

As for the title: once again it is a title with no discernible  connection with the musical content. And with no apostrophe in the middle word what can the title possibly mean? If the title was The Gaucho's Gallopade it would suggest that gallopade is a noun and this music is meant to indicate something that a  South American cowboy dances to when not herding cattle upon the pampas. But without the apostrophe in Gauchos the word Gallopade becomes a verb and there is now at least one more cowboy.

 The title seems to be a statement: The cowboys do dance.  OR.... since gallopade means "gallop" maybe we are meant to imagine gauchos moving fast on horseback. I have no way of knowing.  A good editor would have caught this.

But I found nothing in the music to conjure such images.

 

[Jody Stecher]

OH!  I see what's going on. We have a confusion about "confusing".  The actual written music is what confused me, not the title. The title bothered me a bit, but caused no confusion. Usually as I read banjo music I have a sense of what the melody and rhythm and phrasing should be even when playing the piece for the first time. In this case I did not. This was due to my shortcomings as a reader, not about problems with the notation. 

Joel Hooks said:

"The Gauchos Gallopade" was not a confusing title for me,

[Jody Stecher]

I'm playing through the F and D minor pages now and will report in due course. I'm also going through Grimshaw's "The Banjo and How To Play It" in the same page by page way I've been studying the Bradbury book.  For now I will say that the Bradbury books are easier to read because there is more empty space on the pages.  I love the *feel* of the Grimshaw book because of the typeface but some of the chord shapes are a bit hard to read because sometimes the ink of one note head overlaps into a neighboring note in the chord. 

Comparing the first 20 pages or so of each I'd say that Grimshaw gives the students a wealth of information but perhaps there is too much of it per page. The student is in danger of succumbing to indigestion.  Bradbury parcels out the necessary information a spoonful at a time. A large spoon sometimes, but not music by the gallon. By going step-by-step the average student is more assured of progress perhaps.