Hi Really Nice Man,  you must teach your wife how to play Banjo, I reckon she could be playing second parts quite quickley then you could play duets like Eric and Pat.   Also she could become a member of this site and perhaps mine would not be the only female voice heard  :-)  

Thanks Ian, that's very generous of you. I'll have to dig out my "to-play" list (which is getting longer by the minute...) and see what I can extort, err... I mean, nicely ask for :)

I'm very happy with the sound of my banjo, by the way, now that I've converted it somewhat. The Renaissnace head and Chris Sands heavies give it a booming tone which is almost worthy of the old killing machines, and I'm getting some nice, thunderous bass notes with the appropriate picking technique. Gotta love how Bill Ball played those thunderous bass notes!

Thank you for your welcome.  Initially what I really want to know is what banjo I have - see my photos.  After that, if you can turn me into a competant banjo player, I will be very impressed and very gratefull!

Hello Ian!

I've posted some more photos of myn banjo.

Hopefully you or one of your members can give me some idea of its worth.

Hi Ian

Many thanks for the welcome. It looks like a really useful resource. I am still finding my way around at the moment so please please let me know if I post in the wrong place or mess anything up.

Trevor

Thanks, Ian. You can call me anything you like. I get called all sorts of things when I play. I'm third generation bad banjoist -- my father and grandfather annoyed people with music as well.

I just received my first zither banjo today (two weeks ago, I didn't know there was such a thing). It needs a little tender loving care (and identification -- I haven't find one like it online so far).

I'm finding the layout of Ning a little confusing. Are there sections for various topics, or do we all just prattle in our own blog section and hope for responses?

Thank you Ian, I look forward to your beginners section and will continue to check in as I have in the last few weeks. I do have loads of questions which maybe best kept and asked in the beginners section but I must say how much I have enjoyed the video contrabutions and am amazed that somehow I have only learned of this wonderful style of banjo playing in the last few weeks on this forum. My only newbie question would be at this point is what is the minimum kit requirements to start to play classic banjo?

Regards Pam

hi  very nice man i cant  seem to down  load  any of  your great lessons i pressed the link below vidios  sent computer  into orbit  what am i doing wrong can any body help  thanks Alan

Hi Alan,

We have not had any problems reported with downloads! Which Lesson are  you having trouble with?

What should happen is:

First scroll across to the  Lesson you want to watch and click on the Picture. This opens a new page to view the video Lesson. At the RHS of the video, and at the bottom is the References and downloads link. Clicking that LINK will download a .PDF file to your computer's downloads folder. It make take some time on a slow connection as the "Fingering Exercises" videos have several megabytes of Tutor Books attached.  I have tested here and it works as expected!

Good Luck and let me know please.

Ian, thereallyniceman

hi Ian i have been trying to practice Dolly Gray lots of bit practice on this one the mp3 is great i know your a very very busy man but could this be the way forward for us learners kind regards Alan

hi reallyniceman im to wondering if to change the head on my clifford essex  i think it has the original skin on it i am not sure what they mean by flat head what do you recommend that i order regards Alan

Hi Ian ,where is the chip and pin .Iwould like to donate to your site,I a bit dim when it comes to computers .what do i do .regards Alan

hi Ian thanks for your advice .  I will use thumb & two didgits

congratulations to Ian & the very nice lady for all your hard work ,and every one who play on the great videos . happy easter .ning

thanks Ian,i will try again .regards

Thanks for the welcome message. I have played finger-style guitar for a long time, with occasional forays into banjo. In the past couple of years I have played mostly banjo, in clawhammer style. I'm interested in expanding my finger-style banjo playing, but not necessarily into bluegrass. Your teaching videos look like they could be very helpful. Are there classic banjoists who continue to compose new material? Are there any players doing arrangements of recent popular music?

Hi Ian

Thanks for the help with Chris Sands E-mail  now ive found the site I will be asking lots of questions. My dad used to fix my banjo for me and restring it So I have to learn it all myself now

and I want to get playing again as im real rusty

hi Ian ,  thank you for dolly grey  its much appreciated because your very busy ive noticed those two bars .thats better. now im not jjumping about the fret board like a lunatic ,regards Alan

Hi again Ian,

I discontinued my older membership, so now's there only one me! The new one...it's great to be a member. All the best and thanks for all of your work on this site, Bill Evans

Thanks Ian! It's great to be a member - I promise to be more active than I've been since I originally joined a few years ago. The site is really fantastic - thanks so much for all of your work. Sincerely, Bill Evans

thanks for your help Ian .tab has served me well so far ,but learning scales in thirds and sixth from the great Joe Morley tutor ,i am gettting better at reading the dots

hi Ian , yes i have been looking for a camera . Ive seen couple of second hand sonys and hitachi  for about  70 quid . I understand the grace note now. cheers

Hi Ian - I have seen your videos and think they are great. I have been a bit busy of late, for me anyway. I had two Power Point presentations to do, one in November & one in January for another Club. On top of which my wife gave me an "Electronic Keyboard" for Christmas. I did learn to play the piano years ago when I was at school and on the insistance of father, so I have been a bit preoccupied of late. Forgot to leave a comment earlier. Hope the Festive season went well for you. will contact you via private message in due course. In the meantime, thanks for all you do on Classic Banjo the work you put in is unbelievable. NBest wishes and regards as always, Tarry

Thank you, Ian!  I am just getting my feet wet here. I have popped in from time to time. Then JS forwarded me some videos from the site after a recent lesson - they were amazing.  I'm looking forward to exploring your world.  :-)  -Leslie

Thanks so much for your kind welcome! I am currently in the process of having my Bart Reiter Regent model converted for nylon strings & classical playing, and I have a few questions:

I'm a classical guitarist, and I prefer higher tension strings. Do you have a preference for any particular type of strings? I've been considering both Chris Sands' strings and Nylgut strings.

I'm also looking--always!--for a good alternative instrument. Are there any dealers you might recommend for a decent selection of instruments?

Thank you so much for this wonderful resource. I particularly enjoy the jukebox, but I do hope you might add Fred Bacon's Massa's in the Cold, Cold Ground.

Cheers,

MH

Ian, thanks for the update on Sweet Corn. The Fine and the repeat ending were missing. I still have a problem though. When I count the measures in the 2nd banjo part with your corrections, I get  92 measures. The 1st banjo part has 97 measures in it. To add to the confusion, Marc's piano arrangement has 80 measures and he has left out the repeat of Part A at measure 40 and gone to Part C instead. I would really like to perform this piece with my band but I would like to perform the original version as the 1st and 2nd banjos indicate. Could you look at all of them again and let me know if my simple counting is wrong?

Hi Hal,

I think that the 1st banjo and guitar/2nd banjo scores ARE correct. 

Check this download with the bar numbers written in.   DOWNLOAD SWEET CORN

Following both 1st and 2nd banjo scores, they agree bar numbers (incl repeats) to the bottom of the 2nd banjo score at Bar 81. Then D.S al Fine takes you back to Bar 56... then another 16 bars take you to Fine at bar 72.

The total number of bars is 81 + 16 = 97   This is the same number of bars as in the 1st banjo score.  

I have read through Marc's piano score and an also a bit confused as it seems to differ from the original 1st banjo (I can't quite work out where Marc's 3rd time bar 38 goes to, as it seems to miss a section of the score where ever I go back to!).

Perhaps you could chat directly to Marc about this please?

Good luck. I am sure that using Marc's piano score you can easily edit it to your requirements with a bit of music entry in your software!

I hope that we can see a video of your group playing it.

Thanks for your help, Ian. Yes, I have the 1st and 2nd banjo parts synched up now. The left hand piano part is still a mess, though. I have contacted Marc to see if he can clear this up for me.

One thing my band has not purchased yet is a camcorder, thus we have no music to display. I am hoping to correct that soon.

Hal

Thank you! I hope to work with this site and its members to assit me in my pursuit for knowledge and technique as it pertains to Classic Banjo.

Many thank's, much appreciated. Does any member of this group have a recording of Banjo Antics by Eddie Tobin (my good friend and Banjo teacher of many years ago). Regards. Frank 

Trying to make contact...urgently ..I have had an accident... after spending a considerable amount of time in A&E ,and with a painful week to look forward to,have decided not to try and attend next weekend. Have advised hotel.There will now be a spare double available at  the Hilton Hotel. All the  very best to all banjo enthusiasts ....live in hopes for next year. sincerely,Tony.

Thank you for your kindness That's sure I will try to add some classical banjo arrangements for guitar to my repertory  in near futur. Have a good day !

The next tune i'm working on is Broadway Promenade from Herbert j.Ellis. I really enjoy learning it! I have some difficulties to keep the rythm and to play the last part but I keep practicing !

Ian....just want to say hi and to wish you a Merry Christmas regards Paul Painter