Handy Hints for Classic Banjo Players

[thereallyniceman]

I thought it may be a good idea to share any tips or good ideas. Forgive me if they seem obvious, but they weren't obvious to me at one time:

When getting ready to play do a quick tuning check by placing:
1st Finger at, 5th fret, 1st string.
4th Finger at, 8th fret 2nd string.
3rd Finger at, 7th fret, 4th string.

This gives all G notes. Play across all five strings and listen for beats or wowing..it is easy to spot the out of tune string.

Any more useful tips?

[thereallyniceman]

Here are another couple:

Get a small piece of violin bow rosin and scratch the surface to produce a small amount of fine rosin dust. When fitting a bridge place a very small quantity under the feet of the bridge and this will stop it moving on the vellum surface if you pick , or rasp a chord, too hard.


Buy a small bottle of any 'Essential Oil' that you like the smell of from a heath food store or chemist's shop. Use a piece of clean rag and a very small amount of oil. Wipe the fingerboard, strings as well . Then wipe and buff with a dry rag.
This cleans, polishes, feeds the wood to stop it cracking and makes the instrument smell good too.
I have used Lemon oil, Orange Oil, Lavender Oil.
BUT do not do it too frequently and don't use too much oil............. and don't use Citronella oil as it smells of cat pee.

[marc dalmasso]

another : if you find an old Weymann on e_bay ; buy it only if there is a hard case included or if the seller is a packaging ' champion ; if not , forget ; i used to buy 2 of these some years ago ; here 's are the picture of the fist & the second when they arrived

[Trapdoor2]

Yikes! Now I'll have to stop that Weymann order...

Re: tuning. I bought a Peterson strobe tuner that is programable...it hits that 2nd string spot on, once I taught it how. ;-)

I like the 'rosin' trick...but I've never (ever) had a bridge slip whilst playing. I do fear for them collapsing occasionaly as I do the Converse "Drum Chord" routine (pounding on the top of the bridge for a drum effect)...sometimes I get carried away. ;-)

Tip: make up an 'everyday' checklist and give your banjo a "once over" every time you pick it up out of the case. One of my Stewarts tends to have loose hardware and the tailpiece bolt on my Flesher is often found with the nut falling off. I basically do a "walk around" starting at the peghead and working around the banjo. I should really just use some mild thread lock or a dab of white glue on the hardware...

[thereallyniceman]

Trapdoor2 said:

I like the 'rosin' trick...but I've never (ever) had a bridge slip whilst playing. I do fear for them collapsing occasionaly as I do the Converse "Drum Chord" routine (pounding on the top of the bridge for a drum effect)...sometimes I get carried away. ;-)

Hi Marc... Bridge has never moved???? You must play like a girlie :)
I suggest some good thumb rasp practice.

[Trapdoor2]

LOL. Ian, I do tend to play quietly...and quite far from the bridge so perhaps I need to 'man up' my playing a bit indeed. ;-)

I recall there was a guy at the 1992 Tennessee Banjo Institute who specialized in Flamenco banjo...his bridge was actually glued to the head due to the forces involved with his playing style.

[Adam]

Are there any tricks to knowing what tuning a tune should be played in?

As an example, let's look at Minstrel Stage Reel, from Baur's The Banjoist Budget. I was really confused by the sheet music for this. Seeing that the lead-in note is an E played on an open string, which I assumed to be the 4th string (as the E is the lowest note sounded in the tune) I tuned my 4th string up from D to E. In the first full measure there are open strings sounded for the B and G# notes, which I assumed to be 2d and 3d strings, respectively (tuning up the 3d string). It wasn't long before I realized this wasn't getting me anywhere with the tune.

Fortunately I found Marc's tabbed version on a blog post (Baur's Ornaments) made by Rob. With the aid of his tabbed version I immediately saw the error of my ways, tuned my banjo to E tuning (eBEG#B) and away I went playing the tune.

I assume that the key of A has something to do with it, but I don't understand how A relates to the E tuning.

Is it just memorization? - knowing that any tune in A is played out of E tuning?

Obviously I am VERY new to reading music ... But I'm curious to know if there is an obvious answer from within the sheet music as to what tuning I should be in. If there is not an easy answer, and the answer just comes with time, that's fine - I can be patient as I learn to read the dots. But if there are any tips or tricks, I'd love to learn them.

I apologize to anyone reading this and rolling his/her eyes ... It's probably boneheaded to some, but I
ask the question in all sincerity.

All advice, help appreciated.

Thanks!
Adam

[Jody Stecher]

Adam asked: Are there any tricks to knowing what tuning a tune should be played in?




Check the date of your printed music and you can be pretty sure how to tune.

Baur's tuning was probably e *A* E G# B.

In classic banjo field it's a given that unless there is a printed indication to the contrary ("elevated bass" for example, or the tuning for Sebastopol) the four highest strings will be tuned to an open chord (1 3 5 8) and the bass string will be tuned a fifth below the third string. Put another way, C tuning (or the same arrangement tuned lower) is the standard and can be assumed. Earlier printed banjo music was written with the third string at E and therefore the bass was A. Some very early banjo music has the same arrangement of tones a step lower, with the bass at G and the middle string at D. Later American banjo music was played three half steps higher (bass string at C) and eventually written that way. British banjo music got on the C standard sooner.

[Adam]

Thanks very much, Jody ... That's useful information!

All the best,
Adam