Classic-Banjo

A Site Dedicated to all enthusiasts of Classic Style Banjo

All Blog Posts (246)

Cannon Jig, J. Morley...

Here's a tune I brought back from the Nashville Gathering. Eli Kaufman played it for me and I actually remembered the title. This is an early Morley piece, probably from when he was still playing fretless. Easy and fun!

Cannon Jig all.pdf

Added by Trapdoor2 on November 14, 2010 at 3:23 — 1 Comment

Nashville Banjo Collector's Gathering...11/4 thru 11/6

Well...

I had a ball at the gathering. Got to visit with old friends meet new friends and see (and pick) a helluva lot of great banjos, teach, learn, yak (lots of that!) and generally eat-breathe-sleep collector banjo stuff for two days.

So much fun to hang out with Joel and Carl. Those guys went non-stop the entire time...every time I walked past their room, there was banjo music ringing thru the door. I'm amazed that hotel security didn't put 'em both in chains.…

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Added by Trapdoor2 on November 7, 2010 at 20:51 — 7 Comments

New Podcast on ClassicBanjo.com

I just posted my new podcast on blog.classicbanjo.com. It is entitled, "Banjo Orchestras: Popular or Classical Culture? I invite you all to listen to it and make comments.

Hal Allert

Added by Hal Allert on November 3, 2010 at 23:47 — No Comments

Darkey's Dream Dots...for SAM

By request:

The Darkey's Dream dots.pdf

Somewhere In Dixie dots.pdf

~~I'll try and get "Somewhere In Dixie" scanned tomorrow night.~~ Done!

===Marc

Added by Trapdoor2 on October 17, 2010 at 4:30 — 2 Comments

Zither banjo Arthur Stanley, 2 Eccleston Street

I found an old banjo in a junk shop two years ago and its only now that I have a bit of space to renovate.

I had two main questions when I started to look at this, "what is the age of the instrument? The web is a wonderland for projects such as this and after a bit of searching I found my banjo had a makers stamp on it with the name and address A Stanley, 2 Eccleston Street SW. I found a reference to a performer on A Stanley who had a connection with Greenop banjos.

British…

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Added by Clive McCarthy on October 14, 2010 at 17:30 — 8 Comments

my zyther ' revival

I buyed this zyther banjo on e_bay 8 years ago ; beautiful but unfortunatly the seller was a liar and the banjo was totally unplayable because of an up_bow ; i think the mahogany neck was not well seasoned and was strong…

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Added by marc dalmasso on October 12, 2010 at 18:06 — 5 Comments

Learning to read ♪♫

Allow me to explain my recent absence of content contribution to this wonderful site for a minute. I know you've all missed my amateurish attempts at banjeau pickin'. :)

I decided to buckle down and kick the tablature habit. It is, indeed, a fine learning tool (I probably wouldn't have started earlier this year if Rob hadn't offered up the tab that he did, thanks Rob!), but as you gents have said before it cripples your repertoire. I'm glad to say I'm trying my darnedest to quell the… Continue

Added by Tyler Cornett on October 6, 2010 at 19:30 — 6 Comments

Bare finger experiment

Well, I decided today to do a little experiment. I was cutting my nails and simply cut my usual picking nails back to the quick. I generally leave about 1/16” to 3/32” nail exposed on both index and middle finger (a bit more on the thumb, maybe 1/8”) and rarely cut those, rather filing them back occasionally.…

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Added by Trapdoor2 on September 16, 2010 at 20:45 — 42 Comments

Hello out there

I have been interested in classic banjo for awhile now. Only know a few simple pieces, Spanish Fandango, Buckley's Copenhagen Reel etc. Bought the Chris Sands book a few years ago but it doesn't contain any beginner or intermediate tunes. I have been finger picking all along, bluegrass and various two and three finger styles but would like to learn more intermediate classic pieces. I'm not much for standard notation but learn tunes mostly by ear and tablature. I'm hoping this site can help me… Continue

Added by rick ceballos on August 25, 2010 at 14:50 — 3 Comments

Whistling Rufus ; play with Pat

2nd banjo here , played by Pat _ 2004 ; regular key of C .

missing the click to start ; you can add one or just start after the intro .

RUFUS_02 patoune_Mp3.mp3

Added by marc dalmasso on August 22, 2010 at 11:30 — 2 Comments

Victor Talking Machine

I just got one of these off of eBay for $149 (MSRP is supposedly $500) it's a replica, I don't know who's making them, but it's a beauty.

I'm enjoying it immensely! I only have purchased one 78 record so far, of the great Vess L. Ossman (Yankee Land & Peter Piper banjo solos) & it did come with one with some unremarkable orchestra tunes on it.

Here are some recordings I did of the record.

enjoy!…

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Added by Tyler Cornett on August 14, 2010 at 22:00 — 1 Comment

GREAT TO B E A MEMBER

I was astounded to find in an antique book shop in Denver circa 1973 an extensive collection( over one hundred....spread all over the store) of Banjo sheet music dated 19th century...all notated in E and A and abounding in Gallops, Schottishes, Serenades, Minuets,etc...I had been playing banjo for 20 years before that and never heard that I can remember of classical banjo music, quartets, orchestras, etc. I, of course still have that amazing pile of sheet music...I should learn to transpose on… Continue

Added by Warren Nelson on August 14, 2010 at 17:06 — 1 Comment

Two historic recordings of Darkey's Dream

I've posted two recordings of Darkey's Dream. John Pidoux excels in the slow section, the fast part is played well but the accompanist is dragging and has no sense of time. The fast section by Ossman has better support. The recording is pretty noisy though. Being able to share audio recordings is a benefit of the audio player feature of the $500 version of the ning package.

Added by Jody Stecher on July 25, 2010 at 19:51 — 3 Comments

My Mystery Banjo needs a new head.

Hi guys,

I was just wondering if you all in your great experience could help out a banjo newbie like myself in procuring a new banjo head for this fine instrument I got from eBay a while back. I don't remember what the auctioneer said about it, sadly it has been more than 60 days and I can't find any record of it. I want to say he said it was a Sears Roebuck from early 1900. I don't know.

Since the head was torn I decided I would take it apart piece by piece, clean it up and… Continue

Added by Tyler Cornett on June 28, 2010 at 0:30 — 1 Comment

Classic Banjo Podcast

Hello Everyone. I am pleased to announce the unveiling of my new Podcast for classic banjo enthusiasts. It has small stories about famous pioneers you might not be familiar with. I have also been restoring some old recordings and intend to include a few songs on every broadcast. If you can stand any more classic banjo, why don't you sit in my parlor for awhile and listen to me talk to you.…

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Added by Hal Allert on May 28, 2010 at 23:34 — 2 Comments

My 4-Day weekend adventure at SMBA...

Hi y'all!

I was selected to be on the faculty this year for the Smoky Mountain Banjo Academy (SMBA), acting as "Banjo Historian" and teacher of just about everything other than Bluegrass. The Academy ran from Thursday evening thru Sunday afternoon and although the size was low (less than 30 students for the full 4 days, though there were more 'walk ins' for…

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Added by Trapdoor2 on May 10, 2010 at 21:10 — 2 Comments

and banjo ' s necks too

i can guarantee it is true ; they broke my Japanese Aria neck in 1982 ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo&feature=fvst

Added by marc dalmasso on May 4, 2010 at 7:40 — 1 Comment

Zither-Banjo.org

Just to let you all know we are experiencing temporary problems with the our server and both my zither-banjo and my retrospective Clifford Essex site are off line at the moment.

Added by David Wade on April 25, 2010 at 8:41 — 3 Comments

With a little help from my (UK) friends

I would like to identify this banjo i buyed from ebay in 2004 . It has the typical tension hoop + tailpiece on the tension hoop with 2 screws like the Clifford essex ; but i am not sure at all it is a CE .The pot is 10 inches . There is no brand or serial number ; just the name of the original owner . The metal parts are not nickel but chrome but i think it could have be done later

. there are the dots on each fret on the side of the neck like if the banjo was originally a fretless ' one… Continue

Added by marc dalmasso on April 22, 2010 at 12:30 — 3 Comments

Recent acquisitions...

Just thought I'd let y'all know what I got in the mail today from the estate of Z.M.Bickford. The seller seems to either enjoy classifying by publisher or perhaps Mr. Bickford simply had them filed that way. Anyway, the first set are published by Stephen Shepard, Patterson NJ (I had never heard of him). The first is 2 collections of "choice" banjo solos, all of which are 'single page' and all from ~1904-1914:

Book 1

Mazie Waltz (Shepard)

Three Star Schottische…

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Added by Trapdoor2 on April 8, 2010 at 20:32 — 7 Comments