Banjo Event

As previously mentioned, there were two major banjo events two weeks ago. I figured I might as well share one of them...I recorded a version of "Horses" by Sally Timms (but really, bonnie 'prince' billy, let's be sensible here.) And here it is.

getting back into practicing again. current song i'm working on is "Deportees" by woodie guthrie. My physics teacher used to play it on his banjo and it was a favorite of mine. He did more of a folky-plucky-clawhammer version, if i remember correctly, and I've been playing it scruggs style, but hey. It's all banjo to me!

(maybe that'll be my new catch phrase. "It's all banjo to me!" Even when the topic of conversation has nothing to do with banjos.

"Hey Christopher! How're you doing?"
"It's all banjo to me!"
"...what?" )

Man oh man

One might think I've been giving up on the ol' Banjournal, what with the infrequency of posts in the last week or two. The thing is, my trolley is totally been off the track, in terms of Banjohood. I've not practiced in a week. I had a 2 Major Banjo Events on monday and since then...absouletly nothing.

My life feels like it's going a little wonky at the moment, but The B shall be my Rock of Gibralter and keep me steady.

Steady now, The B. Steady.

And we continue...

155bpm tonight for about 45 minutes straight. Played my rolls, played the variations to the rolls (which were shakey at best, but it's okay, it's the first time I've played them) and played "Long Black Veil" for a while, using the alternating thumb roll. Good practice. The fingers on my right hand kind of tingle - I guess that means it's working.

badnews/goodnews

so, the bad news is i've been lax about practicing these past few days.

the good news is that i just quit my job in hopes of becoming a full-time banjo-playing nomad; to wander about these 50 states sharing peace, love, and songs about people's private parts.

Teach Yourself Light-Speed Banjo

The book that I'm learning banjo from (what with the previously mentioned Cartoon Douchebags on the cover) has a CD of all the songs in the book so that I can hear how they're supposed to sound, as opposed to how I'm playing them. And the nice lady on the CD plays the song nice and slow so I can hear every note she's playing and then she plays it again. REALLY fast. I'm not entirely sure if she expects me, the beginning banjoist, to play along at that speed. If so, I'm really going to have to change my current tactic of "go a little faster everyday" to "go as fast as you possibly can and then tomorrow, GO FASTER." Which is what I'm going to start doing.

Today, I hit my rolls at 145bpm. I had a few slip-ups, especially on the forward/backward roll and the alternating thumb roll, but it was overall pretty solid. We can do this. It's just Me and The B. The cartoon douchebags will not get the better of us.

Movie Review: Deliverance

The Good: The best banjo scene in a movie ever.
The Bad: I'd really really really rather not talk about that part.

i practiced...kinda...

So, this evening, i've gotten a little drunk and instead of practicing the usual rolls and such, i've been playing popular songs from the 80's, 90's and TODAY on the banjo, using the forward roll pattern that I've been working on, to the point where my right hand kind of burns. That's gotta be a good sign, right? No pain no gain...

Also, with all this bluegrass music I've been listening to, I've realized that not only are some of these banjo players picking faster than I can move, they're picking faster than I can think. I'm constantly two measures behind in trying to keep track of how they're doing it. It's amazing. and difficult. And I can't wait until I'm really good at it.