Please tell us about yourself !

[Mike Moss]

Hi all,

 

I've been thinking about Classic Banjo, its current situation and its future, and I'd like to start a debate on this subject. From what I've seen, despite the fact that it we seem to mostly target our fellow banjoists from other styles of playing, there are quite a number of musicians who have come to CB from non-banjo backgrounds -- lutenists, early music players, guitarists, ragtime musicians...

 

This diversity of origins shows that there is a broader appeal to CB rather than simply being a "niche within a niche" of the banjo world. It also has much appeal for those of us who like to dig into old books and do historical research (as in early music) and with genres which are not covered by other banjo styles, such as ragtime and light classical.

 

In order to get the ball rolling, I'll introduce my own musical journey and how I started playing CB. I started out playing the piano for quite a number of years, and I studied in several schools. I didn't enjoy it much, however, and as soon as my parents stopped putting pressure on me, my interest in the piano waned. I was drawn to baroque music, however, and I became interested in fretted instruments when I saw a beautiful lute in a music store which cost a small fortune. It was far beyond my meagre means, however, and my search for an affordable student lute proved fruitless. I then began to study the guitar, which I persevered with for two years, but which I never really enjoyed, as well as the violin, which a friend of mine taught me how to play. I hardly play either of those instruments nowadays. One day, however, I got my hands on a balalaika, which someone had brought back from Russia. It was a rather poor-quality instrument, but I was drawn to its simplicity and its repertoire, which was an interesting blend of folk and classical music. The instrument, elevated from its humble roots as the hardly-musical implement of the Russian muzhik, has much in common with the banjo in its journey through history. Playing the balalaika gave me a renewed interest in folk music, and that made me notice the banjo. After much hesitation -- banjos aren't cheap instruments -- I bought my first banjo. I first chanced upon the Scruggs style, which I learned avidly and stuck with for about two years; I eventually discovered frailing, which I also played in parallel to Scruggs for a while, but neither of those two styles really satisfied me, and I soon began to feel their limits. I would probably have ended up getting tired of the banjo if I hadn't discovered Classic Style, which I have been playing ever since. There is something about CB which just can't be beaten -- the sound, the repertoire, the research involved -- and a bit of a "Goldilocks factor" as well. Some styles of music are either too simple or too challenging -- CB always seems to be "just right". It's less of a chore than classical guitar, but it never gets boring and there are always new challenges to overcome. You can play pieces which are as simple as they come, or take on mighty finger-twisting challenges. That's what I love about classic banjo.

 

Anyhow, that's my blurt. Anyone else care to contribute?

[Steve Harrison]

Well said Mike..especially the comment about the music being "just right". I also played various instruments before coming to the banjo, namely guitar and mandolin and due to the influence of my dear old mom, the piano accordion when she packed me off to lessons as a youngster to learn a "proper" instrument. I still play the old iron lung when the mood takes me but it isn't my wife's favourite as to her ears "it's a bit too loud!" She's not that keen on the banjo either but of the two, it's one she would rather hear. I rarely play guitar these days and so I recently gave my Gibson Epiphone to my son who is a far better player than I am. I'm still trying to persuade him to duet with me but classic banjo music is not his style. My 9 year old grandson has shown some interest in the banjo and I'm hoping that when his hands have grown a bit, he may give it a try.  Maybe he'll be the vanguard for the next generation

[thereallyniceman]

My first experience of the banjo was when I was 16/17 years old. Despite the legal age for consumption of alcohol, here in the UK being 18 years, I often found myself in a local Pub called “Your Father’s Moustache”. This place was designed to part the young and inexperienced drinker from his cash by selling 4 pint jugs of beer which were served onto long narrow and extremely wobbly tables… you can guess the rest… “Order me another jug!”

 

The redeeming feature of the pub was that a entertainment was provided by scantily dressed waitresses and a Banjo Band that bashed out tunes in, what I now know was, plectrum style.  When the band took a break I often took a break from my beer to talk to the banjoists and admire their Banjos  (Vega Tubaphones). Unfortunately the Pub closed down and I was left without my banjo fix, so I had to just stick to the beer.

 

THEN, one day several years later, in another local pub, the entertainment started and on came a young lad who proceeded to play popular tunes on the banjo. It was nothing like the Banjo Band, but I, and the rest of the crowd, were spellbound by his playing! At the break I made my way to chat to the lad, who obviously thought “Oh no, not another drunk who wants to play the banjo”. I managed to find out that he lived locally and by coincidence he had attended a small country school where my wife was now a teacher, so contacting him was easy, which I did. The lad turned out to be Chris Sands and soon I was having lessons in “Classic Style” from him.

 

I saw many other styles at banjo rallies, but nothing seemed as interesting as Classic Style. Mike summed it up when he said that there is always a challenge; even working out the best fingering to suit you in simple pieces is fun. As for finger twisters, well, there are plenty of those!

 

Let’s hear your story of how you came to play Classic Style Banjo, or if you are new here, please let us know what has attracted you to the style.

 

I want to spread the word about Classic Banjo playing and to get more people to take up this great style. I am always am keen to have your suggestions, so if you have an idea of how to promote our style to newbies or musicians alike, please do post your ideas on here.

 

[marc dalmasso]

My father is a classical musician.... His main  instrument is the flûte and he knows some Sousa '  marchs because he used to play it with the piccolo when he was in the army .

So , naturaly , when i was a child ,my parents bring me to the Nice classical ‘ conservatory to learn piano & Solfegio .My piano ’  teacher was an old unmaried lady  ( demoiselle exactly ......... ) But i didn 't take the expensive  $$ ££ privates lessons with her because i had another professor , cheaper may be  and my father , too .More : mademoiselle F........ was  " the older lesbian in Nice " ( dixit exactly my father  , later ) and  she didn ' like lil ' boys ; so when arrived the contests in the classical ‘ conservatory , i was always unsucessful ; however i played my piano ‘ classic pieces without any mistakes when some others girls played it very bad , even stop and cry in the middle of the piece ; however they were sucessful for the contest ! I didn 't understand  this ,  why  ? i was 11 or 12 years old and , pretty soon  , i leaved the conservatory and started to play ragtime on the piano , by myself . here ' s the reason why i meet ragtime_music  when i was a teen ... .  2 or 3 years later , i started to play guitar & banjo .

 ( true story ,  suitable for the lyrics of a blues_ song ?.. )

[Alan Ramsay]

Well, my route to classic banjo is fairly straightforward.  I had never even touched a mucial instrument until I was 33 (two years ago) when I picked up a cheap ukelele and started tinkling away.  I quite enjoyed it though quickly realised singing and strumming was not for me so bought a fingerpicking book and messed around.  I found Rob Mackillop via google as the local uke/guitar/mando/anything-with-strings teacher so took a few lessons.  I was hooked.  Then I had pretty much exhausted the ukes fingerpicking repertoire and Rob suggested classical guitar.

 

So I was taking lessons in classical guitar with Rob and every time I turned up for a lesson, Rob had added yet another classic banjo to his collection.  I listened to Rob playing a few tunes and really liked the sound.  As others have said, the repertoire is great.  There's something about the sound..

 

So when Rob was selling one of his many classic banjos, I bought one and have been playing ever since.

 

I just wish people would stop asking if I can play Duelling Banjos :-)

[Sylvia]

 I came across the 5 string Banjo round about '93.when I went with my husband, who played 4 string plectrum banjo, to an Accoustic Strings Club, up in Durham. I heard David Miles play and was sold on the 5 string banjo then.  I tried on three occasions to get into learning how to play, but it was only on the last time when I dug out an original of Emile Grimshaws " How to Excell "  and amazingly at the same time found Rob Mackillop had posted and tabbed the first twelve or so exercises from that book,that I had any sucess. I also bought one of Robs Classic Banjos and love it to bits, and think I spend more time on the Banjo than anything else.

Spent quite a few years while in the North East doing Classic Guitar with digressions into Mandolin and yes Mike, Balaliaka, with the blessings of my guitar teacher , but always came back to the guitar.Also tried Ukeulele.

Since moving from the North East, I only strum guitar now and again with friends. But amongst other things musical here, do play Alto Sax in a small village band and  with a jazz quartet group.  the latter being a fairly new undertaking. I do appreciate that staying with one thing is probably better than doing a whole host of things . however .. what the heck, it's nice to try lots of things. Life is too short not to.

[Trapdoor2]

My parents always had music in the house. My mother played the piano a little but my father couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, so to speak. However, they both enjoyed a variety of music, my father leaning towards “country” (Bob Wills, Johnny Cash, et al.) and my mother leaning towards Classical (Toscanini, Stokowski, et al.). Both enjoyed Big Band and Swing.

My father was a Navy pilot (WWII & Korea) and on one occasion he had been assigned to fly a group of celebrities on a USO tour of Korea. I have a photo of him helping Ann Blythe down the steps from the aircraft after a flight. The other celebs were Buddy Hackett and Eddie Peabody. The story is that Eddie gave Dad a couple of his LPs…so, when I was finally entrusted to the house record player, we would often hear a side of Johnny Cash followed by some Big Band followed by Tchaikovski followed by Eddie Peabody.

I had 3 brothers and each of us was expected to at least attempt an instrument. My oldest brother, a child of the 50’s, got an accordion (which died a grisly death at the hands of the rest of us boys). My next oldest was a piano savant, playing intuitively by ear with both hands (Gordon died @ 21 of complications due to his epilepsy). Often we two would set the accordion up on the piano bench and he would play it like a piano (I got to work the bellows).

I took piano lessons for a while but never really got past the 2nd grade level. I hated everything about taking lessons, I wanted to play ragtime…and right then! By the age of 10, I had quit. @ 13, my father offhandedly asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I expressed a desire to play the banjo, “just like Eddie Peabody”.

Dad bought me a cheap 5-string (not knowing that Eddie played a Plectrum) and the Mel Bay book “Fun with the Banjo”. It isn’t a very good book (it has nothing to do with hot ragtime) and the banjo was soon hung on the wall as decoration.

Fast forward a few years. I had just moved into a dormitory at school and heard music being played outside on the porch. Another kid (we were 20) was playing “Cripple Creek” on a banjo about 6 doors down. He taught me my first rolls (and “Cripple Creek”) and off I went to buy a cheap banjo (my mother had sold the other one in a garage sale). We are still best of friends, some 35 yrs later.

I worked thru the Scruggs book (and many other books published in the 70’s and ‘80’s), eventually took lessons from a professional player, bought a succession of increasingly better instruments and found that I didn’t really enjoy playing Bluegrass all that much.

The music shop I frequented was under dual ownership, one owner was a Berklee (Boston) trained guitarist, the other was an Old Time fiddler. The fiddler told me I ought to try OT banjo, so I traded my mother’s piano to him for a Stewart Orchestra #2 (which I still have) and learnt to play it clawhammer style. I still really enjoy playing in that style, far more than I ever did playing Bluegrass (though I do occasionally dig out my picks and run thru the Scruggs canon).

In 1992, I attended the Tennessee Banjo Institute, a gathering of banjoists from all over the world. There I experienced my banjo-epiphany, I watched Clarke Buehling, Bill Morris and Chris Sands play something called “Classic Style Banjo”. I was hooked!

[Dick Mundy]

About 40 years ago I bought an old banjo from an ad in the local paper shop. Bought some strings for it and started to learn Bluegrass, eventually got tired of it, It didn't sound very good and I was not making a lot of progress. It has hung on the wall ever since.

Recently I thought it was time to clean it up and discovered it was a Temlett A scale zither banjo. 

Rather than fitting zither banjo strings on it I thought it might be kinder to fit nylons. It needed quite a lot of work on it but when I first played it it was a revelation. It actually sounded good and was far easier to play. Out of curiosity I tried playing it with my old bluegrass finger picks. This dramatically improves the volume, and I think the tone. Heresy I hear you all cry!

 

At this point I came across this site and I am working on the tutorials, and I have to say The Really Nice Man is really, really ,very nice for posting these, thanks! I am also working my way through Grimshaw and the Clifford Essex Tutor.

Dick

ps I now largely use my fingers in the approved fashion, except for the occasional bast of "The Devils Dream"

  

[thereallyniceman]

Hi Dick,

It is great to see you posting. Learn Bluegrass? ... NOOOOOO!  I am surprised it took so long to get tired of it. It takes me about 3-4 rolls, a couple of hammer ons and that is quite enough for me!

Gloria says "Hi"  and, like me, she very pleased that you are enjoying the Lesson tutorials. I am glad that you are finding something of help to you in them. 

David Wade has just posted a Zither banjo video, so perhaps you could have a go sometime to show us your progress. They don't have to be prefect... just look at mine :-)

 

Ian &

Gloria  xx  ;-)

[Jody Stecher]

Bluegrass  banjo playing is 70% about accompanying singers and other instruments and making them sound better.  25% is about exquisite timing and beautiful tone. The remaining 5% is about showing off.  Bad bluegrass players play too fast and/or too loud. That is not the fault of the genre. Bluegrass banjo players tend to dismiss classic banjo as being over-polite and "nice" and lacking grit. Classic banjo players need not reflect that error and dismiss bluegrass banjo on the basis of bad players whose entire "music" is that dreaded five per cent.

[thereallyniceman]

Yes Jody, my tongue in cheek humour is causing trouble again! 

 

:-)

[Dick Mundy]

Hi Ian,

Sounds about right, the poor old Temlett hung unloved on the walls for decadesafter the initial foray into bluegrass, but I am now learning the error of my ways. Mind you I still think there is more than one way to abuse a banjo :)!

Dick

thereallyniceman said:

Hi Dick,

It is great to see you posting. Learn Bluegrass? ... NOOOOOO!  I am surprised it took so long to get tired of it. It takes me about 3-4 rolls, a couple of hammer ons and that is quite enough for me!

Gloria says "Hi"  and, like me, she very pleased that you are enjoying the Lesson tutorials. I am glad that you are finding something of help to you in them. 

David Wade has just posted a Zither banjo video, so perhaps you could have a go sometime to show us your progress. They don't have to be prefect... just look at mine :-)

 

Ian &

Gloria  xx  ;-)

[Rob MacKillop]

It took me a LONG time to find the banjo. First blues guitar. Then classical guitar, self taught. Then I studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music. Won a scholarship to study in Italy, where I had an accident - I cut the tip off of my middle finger, left hand, while cutting bread. Didn't play anything for a year, but started to get interested in research. Discovered all the Scottish lute music (see www.scottishlute.com). Bought a lute and some early guitars and citterns, and made eight CDs, toured as far as Japan, etc, etc. Realised it wasn't the life for me - I prefer to stay at home with my wife and daughter. Decided to spend time exploring music I'd not had time for. I'd had a little interest in the banjo, but bluegrass didn't really do it for me, and I'd never heard of clawhammer. Found some minstrel banjo players on YouTube, and slowly got sucked in. Carl Anderson invited me to the Ning classic banjo site. Within a week I had my first classic banjo - a Thompson and Odell 'Artist' all the way from Bernunzio's, and a week later uploaded my attempt at Sunflower Dance, after hearing Marc Trapdoor2 playing on this site.

I've done about 100 banjo videos since then, two Mel Bay books, and a download album on CD Baby. Been through about eight different banjos. Yup, I've been obsessed!

For a long time my main interest has been the 19th-century repertoire, American, especially that of Frank Converse. His music came closest to 19th-century guitar in style and technique, and that was a fairly familiar world to me. I love playing with gut strings. However, it soon became clear that I had not at all assimilated what many regard as the true way of playing classic banjo. I went through a crisis of confidence - how can I love this stuff but not make the 'right' sound? I'll be honest - I heard Vess Ossman, and many other greats, but I didn't like the sound they made. What an admission! In fact, I am still not in love with it. It seems extremely percussive, aggressive, although definitely lively! By contrast, many of the 19th-century banjo books were describing a mellow, mellifluous sound, with the flesh on gut strings. It slowly dawned on me that there are three distinct periods of classic banjo playing that interested me: stroke style, guitar style, and modern i.e. post 1890 style. Simplistic, maybe, but some will recognise it. And each period had its own style(s) of banjos.

Now I have a magnificent banjo by Eric Stefanelli, which I use with my banjo quartet. It's very much a modern (post 1890!) banjo, but it can be mellow enough for my liking. I've also come to accept that I make my own sound, not Vess Ossman's or anyone else's. And, quite frankly, anyone who doesn't like it can go and jump. I couldn't change if I tried. I just love playing the banjo the only way I can. My playing is far from perfect, but it's my voice.

So it's has been a long time coming, and a short but intense time doing. I feel I'm at the end of Chapter 1, and there is a whole big story starting just over the page. There are many guys I'd like to thank - most of you on this site! - for encouraging me onwards. I get seriously WAY more pleasure out of watching your videos than watching my own. And I'm learning all the time from all contributors here and elsewhere. Bring it on!