"When I first got interested in classic banjo music Eli answered my questions in complete detail, first in hand written letters and later in email messages. He would include anything tangential to my questions and things tangential to the…"
Classic-Banjo
The place to find all things Classic Fingerstyle Banjo
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Jody Stecher
- 78, Male
- San Francisco, CA
- United States
- Blog Posts (24)
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Jody Stecher's Discussions
Conversation moved from Comment Wall
4 Replies
Started this discussion. Last reply by IAN SALTER Jan 23.
What are people practicing?
29 Replies
Started this discussion. Last reply by Ethan Schwartz Sep 21, 2024.
About the Alan Middleton instruction book
Started Sep 14, 2024
Gifts Received (2)
Jody Stecher's Page
Latest Activity
" The thumb tremolo under discussion is a means of achieving sostenuto (sustain) on the bass string while the digits play chords on higher strings. This effect is nowhere to be found on that recording."
"Thanks! And Yikes! The only way I can get my thumb to do anything but flop around chaotically is to brace the ring finger perpendicularly on the vellum and wobble the thumb nearly parallel to the bracing finger. That leaves the…"
"Do you remember the technique and can you describe it? Is this tremolo by the thumb alone with no participation by the index finger?"
"Thank you, Joel. This is exactly what I was wanting to know. I look forward to reading your 5 Stringer article to find out Bradbury's sources. "
"Joel, you've mentioned before that there are several versions of the Bradbury book. I've been trying to find the comments using the search function but not finding what I'm looking for. Could you please say what has been…"
"I don't have copies of these. I found a Victoria Schottische on Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKcFzhxcEsk
Here's some info on Queen of the Waves, including words, the defining element which makes a musical work…"
"Ethan, it's in the Melbay version on page 39. It's the first chord of the 4th measure of the intro. The inversion is A, C, D on strings 3,2, and 1.
Context suggests that the note to bring out here is the top one, D.…"
"I would want to bring it out when it is the melody note and the surrounding notes are harmony notes. "
" Each string is played with a different finger. To make one string louder than others played at the same time, pluck that string harder. This is done by intending to do it. It's not an issue, not complicated, not difficult. You can…"
"I was saying that How To Excel and Bradbury are apples and oranges. Bradbury's method is a tutor for beginners. As Joel aptly pointed out, How To Excel is not. Therefore there is nothing to be gained by comparing the two, But Grimshaw…"
"Austin, Do you think I said there were no exercises in The Banjo And How To Play it? I didn't, I gave the full title of the other one,
The word "Exercises" is part of the title. Again, the title is "How To…"
"To whom and to what point are you replying? And what do you intend to say? "
"Let's compare apples to apples please. It seems to me that the Grimshaw near equivalent to the Bradbury method is "The Banjo and How To Play It", not "How To Excel On The Banjo/ 114 Melodious Exercises". "
"You should do it in all three keys. Why chose? More importantly than choice of key you should play it with a better sense of timing so that the piece is not aurally incomprehensible as it currently is. Bring out the melody. Make the banjo sing the…"
"I am used to seeing numbers for frets but in measure 10 they are the wrong frets for the notes so I thought maybe the asterisks meant something else. Now I realize that the numbers are misplaced in that measure but correct in measure 11. In…"
Jody Stecher's Videos
Jody Stecher's Blog
Banjo Benches at San Francisco Airport!
I was taking a flight out a new terminal at San Francisco the other day and was surprised and amused to see the shape of some comfortable new benches with a new shape. Off topic because they look like plectrum banjos? No indeed, these are Zither Banjo Benches! I'm afraid my mobile phone takes horrible quality pictures but at least the shape was captured. The wave of the future?
…
ContinuePosted on November 17, 2011 at 4:06 — 5 Comments
Farland Metal banjo head on ebay
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 20:50 — 2 Comments
clear photos of the missing banjo
Note the copper bass string, the red binding around the pot and the inlay "The Cammeyer Vibrante Royal" These are distinctive.
Posted on November 28, 2010 at 22:16
Comment Wall (21 comments)
- At 4:06 on April 7, 2009,
Trapdoor2 said…
- Jody, regarding the banjo I'm playing in my videos: that's one of Bob Flesher's "Cotillion" (12") models; my main axe for about 6 yrs. Thanks for the kind remarks, I've gone from archtop Stelling "shrill" to "tubby" over the years (in more ways than one!). I have a fiberskyn head on it, Aquila Nylgut strings and one of those Cole 5-footed bridges. I have a small collection of banjos but the Flesher gets all the playing time these days.
- At 5:54pm on March 14, 2010, Joel Hooks gave Jody Stecher a gift…
- At 8:11 on August 19, 2010,
Liz McElwain said…
- Thanks, Jody. Hope to be able to meet you over the Didmarton weekend.
- At 17:08 on September 11, 2010,
Anthony Peabody said…
- I enjoyed meeting you at Backwell, and I am afraid that I assumed that you were a newcomer to Banjo, so please erase from your hard drive any superfluous and quite unnecessary advice. You don't need any encouragement either. I was the bass banjo at the end of the line, filling in the blanks, and wishing I could play better. So you see, you encorage me!
Anthony Peabody
- At 17:48 on December 22, 2010,
Eric STEFANELLI said…
Thanks Jody, to add me as a friend, i am deeply honored !
I would be to give you some piece of information about my banjos making, give me please your e-mail, mine is : eric.pat-luths@orange.fr .
About your music, many people in France like bluegrass & old timey music, and play it, there is many bands, many american banjo players come to France every years to teach, and have many pupils, there is summer country festivals...i was myself a pupil of Tony Trishka in 1978 and and Ben Eldrige in 1982/83, but we can speak about it by mail. Classic banjo is unknow or very few people know this kind of banjo music.
Eric
- At 14:09 on August 3, 2011,
Pam Tointon said…
Thank you Jody I enjoyed that. Nice to hear an original composition, but well beyond me yet as a beginner I'm afraid.
regards Pam
- At 12:51 on October 18, 2011,
Neil Angus Goodwin said…
- Thankyou for the info, that might explain why it is the only Cammeyer I have seen with the metal bands.
- At 23:51 on March 5, 2012,
allan ideson said…
thanks jody for your input.ime a guitarist .i have good instruments ...this banjo .has a lot of volume .also the neck and fingerboard are a work of art .after all these years the neck is straight .....no truss rod.when i master the beast ill put some tunes on ....thanks...allan
- At 21:34 on March 8, 2012,
skip sail said…
hi Jody,met you on your australian tour,we talked Fred Macdowell and Robert Petway and jammed a bit on some fingerpicked blues at Camperdown. Thanks for the welcome to the forum! Skip
- At 7:32am on May 14, 2012, thereallyniceman gave Jody Stecher a gift…
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