I'm looking to buy one. Never played one before, but I'm a finger picker (and a nose picker). What is the nicest NON-open back that I can get for $500. Blue? Anyone?
No, but I wish. I've played them before, but no lessons were had. Very different to play than guitar.
If you want something a tad easier, get a mandolin. That's fun as hell to play. Anyways, good luck.
post by Earl Scruggs at Apr 28,2014 12:26pm
INB4 racist fagget OP learns banjo is an African instrument and changes his racist fagget mind.
I've thought about picking it up as well and I'm coming from a violin/viola/cello background, any idea how that might translate?
Anybody play the jug, we could get something going
post by DYA is DUAL AMBIGUITY SWATH at Apr 28,2014 1:14pm
The four "normal" strings of a banjo are generally tuned in 5ths, like a violin (where a guitar is usually tuned in 4ths), so a lot of the chord shapes will translate, at the very least.
post by arilliusbm at Apr 28,2014 1:15pm edited Apr 28,2014 1:16pm
Anyone familiar with any stringed instrument shouldn't have a problem doing the basics, but banjo is different. And to be good at banjo, well that's fucking hard. Watching bluegrass live is amazing, don't care what any of you foghats say.
post by DYA is DUAL AMBIGUITY SWATH at Apr 28,2014 1:16pm
That's assuming we're talking about a 5-string ("regular") banjo, which is mostly used to play chords (strummed or arpeggiated, with fingers or fingerpicks), versus a tenor banjo, which is used in old time music and Irish traditional music (and not much else) to pick melodies with a flatpick.
The four "normal" strings of a banjo are generally tuned in 5ths, like a violin (where a guitar is usually tuned in 4ths), so a lot of the chord shapes will translate, at the very least.
Are you thinking of tenor/plectrum banjos? Those are 4 strings, tuned in 5ths, with the tenor being used more in Irish music and the plectrum (same thing, just with a longer neck and tuned lower) showing up in dixieland jazz.
5-string banjos are generally either tuned to open chords (typically G, but also sometimes A or C or D), or weird modal tunings.
That's assuming we're talking about a 5-string ("regular") banjo, which is mostly used to play chords (strummed or arpeggiated, with fingers or fingerpicks), versus a tenor banjo, which is used in old time music and Irish traditional music (and not much else) to pick melodies with a flatpick.
Irish music for sure, but tenor banjo is pretty rare in old-time music. 5-string is huge in old-time sessions, probably "the" most common instrument besides fiddle, but usually played (and set up, and built) pretty differently from bluegrass 5-string.
post by DYA is DUAL AMBIGUITY SWATH at Apr 28,2014 1:29pm
I may actually be thinking about the mandolin. Go home, I'm drunk.
post by DYA is DUAL AMBIGUITY SWATH at Apr 28,2014 1:29pm
(Which is usually tuned in 5ths-except-not-really, with the high string as a drone. You'll see that tuning and more used in Irish stuff on the 5-string, as well as the normal open tunings.)
$500 should get you a pretty decent bluegrass banjo (meaning a 5-string, closed back, usually set up to get you as loud and sharp sounding as possible with the least right hand effort). When I was playing bluegrass I had a Gold Tone that was a little more than that at the time, but it was also a little fancier than their basic model (which was fine, just less fancy). So that's who I'd recommend I guess. Deering also does cheap banjos, but I was not as impressed by them.
(Which is usually tuned in 5ths-except-not-really, with the high string as a drone. You'll see that tuning and more used in Irish stuff on the 5-string, as well as the normal open tunings.)
Ah, Irish on a 5-string is some weird sorcery I'm not familiar with (but have heard a few times)! Makes sense they'd use a mix of Irish/5ths tuning and a drone.
Anyone familiar with any stringed instrument shouldn't have a problem doing the basics, but banjo is different. And to be good at banjo, well that's fucking hard. Watching bluegrass live is amazing, don't care what any of you foghats say.
For real. Bluegrass banjo was BY FAR the most physically demanding instrument I've ever tackled, and I say that as someone who used to soak his right hand in super hot salt water ("to toughen it up") when I was learning to play slap upright. I eventually had to give up because it was giving me constant right wrist strain.
Clawhammer only for me now! Which, honestly, I find way more fun to play outside of a serious bluegrass band situation.
post by DYA is DUAL AMBIGUITY SWATH at Apr 28,2014 1:35pm
The best way to sum up what I've learned about ITM is "if you're not doing it with pipes, fiddle and whistle you're not exactly doing it wrong, but you're going to have some adjusting to do" with the caveat that even those are just playing old harp melodies so fuck it.
Snowden, do you do any folk music projects? I remember you talking about this years ago. Seems like you've got a knack for this kind of stuff.
Not really, sadly. When Erich and I were in Unholy Goatfucker together we used to jam all the time but since he moved and I left Western Mass (where you can't swing a [insert acoustic instrument here] without hitting a great old-time jam), I've dropped off hard. Mostly I just play drunk folk songs with my girlfriend these days.
post by DYA is DUAL AMBIGUITY SWATH at Apr 28,2014 1:37pm
The whole tradition is pretty much just taking instruments that nobody wants 'cause they're out of style (and therefore cheap) and making it work. (Hence the wooden chromatic flutes, 'cause silver keyed chromatic flutes were coming into vogue, hence the tenor banjo, etc. etc.).
post by DYA is DUAL AMBIGUITY SWATH at Apr 28,2014 1:37pm
Oh and whatever banjo you get, replacing the bridge can be a cheap way to improve it. I like these, because they sound and intonate better than your basic straight bridge. Plus they look cool:
Is that an ebony and maple bridge? I've been looking at a Deering Goodtime 2 and it comes with that. I also looked at the Gold Tone's, but they are a little pricey if you want a resonater.
Is that an ebony and maple bridge? I've been looking at a Deering Goodtime 2 and it comes with that. I also looked at the Gold Tone's, but they are a little pricey if you want a resonater.
Ebony and maple is the standard, but the construction is different.
You guys have to promise not to make fun of me, but I used to hang out with a dude who built banjos (strictly minstrel style though, which is a parallel world of banjo playing/construction that seems to have more in common with classical guitar than with any of the stuff we've been talking about) and he used to build bridges out of different woods for fun. We'd hang out, drink beer, and make up bridges with different combinations of wood. I hope I still have some of them somewhere, it make a huge difference. But ultimately I came back to good old ebony/maple.
Is that an ebony and maple bridge? I've been looking at a Deering Goodtime 2 and it comes with that. I also looked at the Gold Tone's, but they are a little pricey if you want a resonater.
If you're just starting, go with whatever you can afford - there's a good chance you may want to switch to something else once you get the hang of it. My first banjo was a super harsh-sounding aluminum pot open back, oof.
I will say: is there any particular reason you want a closed/resonator back? I only really liked mine for playing bluegrass, my open back (which to be fair, is also a nicer banjo) felt and sounded better for everything else. I have it set up for tone over loudness with a fake goatskin head though. If I just wanted volume, I'd go with a crisper sounding head, maybe an open back with a tone ring (instead of just a hoop), before I got a closed back.
open back : acoustic guitar :: closed back : electric guitar
post by DYA is AWAIT SMUDGY HALIBUT at Apr 29,2014 1:32pm
A) Consider one with a removable resonator (so you can use it when you're sitting in a loud session, and take it off if you're in a Irish session and you're getting dirty looks for drowning everybody out).
B) Minstrel style as in fretless? (Fretless banjoes are a thing. Let that soak in.)
post by eye-gore at Apr 29,2014 2:15pm edited Apr 29,2014 2:18pm
Yeah, a removable resonator would be a great idea. I think somebody used to make an entry-level one, if I had to guess I'd say Gold Tone or Deering but it's been awhile.
I think minstrel playing does embrace fretless (and gut strings) more than a lot of styles but I don't know if they're synonymous. Don't know much about it really, but I remember them being pretty weird - curvy headstocks, no tone rings or even hoops, sometimes with tacked skin heads. This one dude would buy old barrels and cut out cross sections to make the bodies.
Ok, bought a Deering Goodtime, open back. Fucking thing is LOUD. Love playing it. If you finger pick at all, banjo is an easy transition....except the chords are different and fucking weird.
Ok, bought a Deering Goodtime, open back. Fucking thing is LOUD. Love playing it. If you finger pick at all, banjo is an easy transition....except the chords are different and fucking weird.
Ok, bought a Deering Goodtime, open back. Fucking thing is LOUD. Love playing it. If you finger pick at all, banjo is an easy transition....except the chords are different and fucking weird.
Kill yourself, scumbag.
Wow...exciting post. Glad you took 6 seconds out of your life (that you will never get back, may I add) to post that supremely intelligent and well thought out retort regarding your avulsion to me. I'm angry now. Due to your post, I will immediately scream at my computer screen, piss my pants, and have a terrible day. Thanks for that, troll guy.
Yeah, Reno is nuts. I think the story is that he and Earl Scruggs were rivals but then Reno joined/was drafted for WW2 and when he got back, Scruggs style picking had become the standard for bluegrass.
Which is probably kind of an exagerration - Scruggs' playing was a pretty logical continuation of what some other banjo players had been doing for years before Bill Monroe wrapped it all up with a bow and called it "bluegrass," so it's not really that weird that it became so popular. Whereas I don't even know where Reno's style came from - electric jazz guitarists like Charlie Christian or something?
By way of contrast, here's the Dillards doing the same tune. Doug Dillard is probably my favorite bluegrass banjo player, but he's much more traditional than Don Reno of course. Still has a pretty distinctive style though, even if a lot of his playing is rooted in the straight Scruggs tradition.
Legend has it he learned to play without finger picks, which is why he had an incredibly hard-hitting right hand. Who knows though.
Ok, bought a Deering Goodtime, open back. Fucking thing is LOUD. Love playing it. If you finger pick at all, banjo is an easy transition....except the chords are different and fucking weird.
Kill yourself, scumbag.
Wow...exciting post. Glad you took 6 seconds out of your life (that you will never get back, may I add) to post that supremely intelligent and well thought out retort regarding your avulsion to me. I'm angry now. Due to your post, I will immediately scream at my computer screen, piss my pants, and have a terrible day. Thanks for that, troll guy.
Ok, bought a Deering Goodtime, open back. Fucking thing is LOUD. Love playing it. If you finger pick at all, banjo is an easy transition....except the chords are different and fucking weird.
Kill yourself, scumbag.
Wow...exciting post. Glad you took 6 seconds out of your life (that you will never get back, may I add) to post that supremely intelligent and well thought out retort regarding your avulsion to me. I'm angry now. Due to your post, I will immediately scream at my computer screen, piss my pants, and have a terrible day. Thanks for that, troll guy.
