"Absolutely! And I know I pound it like a bible, but Bradbury does a great job with this in the 1967 book, adding chord symbols over the staff and encouraging the student to learn to play both parts.His section on chords is good too, in both of his…"

"This is particularly good advice. I have found that in most musical fields the best soloists are also excellent accompanists whereas  the worst soloists are not even competent accompanists. "

"Hi Austin, I agree with what Joel says about taking your time. As you have mentioned in an earlier thread, that you had previously spent many hours per week practicing the fundamentals, I suggest that you return to doing that, but focus on the 25…"

"In the Bradbury 1967 method he waits to introduce dotted notes on page 32, presuming that you have already mastered and understand everything leading up to that lesson.  In his 1926 method he describes them on page 4, but they are not…"

"The answer to your first question is: yes, many times.  Zither banjos are my thing and I can't bear the thought of them being cruelly treated by someone wanting to do the Earl Scruggs thing with heavy strings and 'G' tuning! I…"

"Short answer: "I yam what I yam." My preferences are built on 67yrs of listening to a very broad selection of music. I can't tell you why. Maybe it was my Mom playing Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" when I was a 3-yr…"

"Don't know why it posted like that but yeah"

"Why? I'm just curious."

"I play Cupid's Arrow 90% Eno and 10% Van Eps (not that I play as well as either). I'll use the FVE sounds sparingly and judiciously ( I hope).  Yes, the snaps and slurs are essential to achieve the flavor. I agree that dynamics are an…"

""but much of the charm of Classic Banjo stems from playing the original dots (just like they did back in the day). We have a history of hewing to those dots pretty strictly. " I'm all for changing things up-- but in an informed…"

"Some of it makes a good variation.  But I wouldn't make it so complex at the start of the piece.  Save the good parts of your version for later.  The idea of triplets is musically sound. But so many? Maybe not. Not at the start…"

"I sure hope not. Euro "art music" is on my "avoid at all costs" list..."

"True it's like I'm trying to turn it into a Lisztian showpiece. But we're positive upon positive this has no connection to the lineage of European art music?"

"RE: Skeleton Dance, when arranging and adding fancy bits try and keep in mind the point of the piece.  You can cram in all the notes you want and lose the point. This is romantic era programmatic music that tells a story.  Following…"