Comments on: The Foggy Mountain Banjo album instructional series. Part 1: Ground Speed

By: admin

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:36:21 +0000

Hey Jesse, what a great reply and great advice! I appreciate your thoughts and instructions. Getting into this fingering is not an avenue I had thought of in writing that blog post. It seems that the articles are so long and there is so much information overload, that I just can’t go in every direction possible. I plan to field questions from people on topics such as this as they arise, and certainly I count on knowledgeable people like yourself to pass that info along. If you see something that I just didn’t have room to discuss, please jump in there.

Listen up everyone: Jesse hit the nail on the head when he spoke of working out the economics of fingering the banjo. It’s crucial. I have an almost identical phrase that I’ve used over the years: economy of movement. Similar words, same meaning. Take it to heart!

Alright, onwards and upwards!

By: Jesse Taylor II

Jesse Taylor II — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:34:43 +0000

This should be a great series. Good suggestion, George, and my hat is off to you, Paul, for taking on the task. I just thought I’d inject a bit of advice for your “blog patrons”…hope it doesn’t distract from your future plans, Paul. I’m sure you’ll correct me if it does. Anyway, to those of you attempting this tune…as you go through your picking, whether you’re using the printed tablature or the TefView, one thing you may have trouble with is trying to figure out the “greatest economy” of fingering on the neck. For instance, starting from the kick-off, your fingers will be holding a “D-Position” (sometimes called the “2nd Position) Chord Pattern, only you’ll be holding it up the neck so as to make a “G-Chord”. Naturally, for this particular piece of music, you don’t need the note you would, otherwise, get on the 4th String, with your Ring Finger. Therefore, there’s no real need to touch that string. That will leave your Ring Finger free to make the note on the 3rd String at the 9th Fret. Moving right along, when you have to jump up to the 12th Fret, you’ll be wanting to make those notes, on the 1st and 2nd Strings, with your Pinky and Ring Finger. Since your Pinky already rested on the 1st String, while holding the previously mentioned G-Chord, and since your Ring Finger will be free, after making the previously mentioned note on the 3rd String, using those two fingers to get the notes at the 12th Fret represents “economy of fingering”. Your Pinky really doesn’t have to ever be picked up off the 1st String. It can slide right on down to the 12th Fret. Since there has been no note struck on that string, immeadiately before making the slide, it won’t make the movement of the slide “ring out”, as it would have if you’d picked the string just before making the slide. Since the Pinky never loses contact with the 1st String, this should greatly assist your accuracy. As for the Ring Finger, since it lays right next to the Pinky, it will be assisted in it’s placement by that Pinky finger, which has already “found the mark”. I mention this because I’ve seen so many “poor performances” rendered by folks attempting to either “bar” those two strings with their Index Finger, or by lifting the Pinky and attempting to replace it with, what they may feel is, a stronger set of fingers. Those little notes aren’t all that hard to “fret’. (If they are, your banjo needs some “set up” done on it.) You shouldn’t need a stronger set of fingers. Besides, the more you use your Pinky and Ring Fingers, the stronger they’ll get and the more accurate you’ll become at using them. Moving along again, when you pull back down the neck to get your notes at the 10th Fret, keep using your Pinky and Ring Fingers. They are already positioned on the strings. As well, when you pull back down to make the notes at the 8th Fret on the 2nd String and the 9th Fret on the 1st String (which you’ll recognize as being a portion of your G-chord), while you will be lifting the Ring Finger and replacing it with the Middle Finger, your Pinky should maintain contact with that First String from the 10th Fret to the 9th Fret. The same is true when you pull back down the neck to get your notes on the 2nd String at the 3rd Fret and the 1st String at the 5th Fret. (You should recognize this as being a partial fingering of your “1st Position” G-chord.) Your Pinky can maintain contact with that 1st String. There’s no need to lift it…at least, not enough to break contact with the String. You may wish to lift it to relieve friction between the neck and finger, but there’s no real need to remove it totally from contact with the string. Maintain a light touch. As you learn new material, try to gain a sense of what may constitute the most “economical” way to use your fingers. Keep in mind not only the best way of going into the “fretted notes”, but also be aware of where those fingers must be after those notes have been executed. I feel this may be one of the major differences between really “hot” pickers and those who never seem able to get it to “click”. Most certainly, improper fingering, either on the neck or in the picking fingers, is the limiting factor as far as gaining speed. Now…Paul…clue us into some of those great Scott Vestal licks you learned! -Jesse

By: My Banjo Life article series kickoff: let’s dissect a great banjo album | My banjo life

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:41:52 +0000

[...] The first article in the series is now posted: Article series part 1 [...]

By: admin

admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:07:10 +0000

Thanks so much George. Glad the article meets your expectations! I appreciate the feedback. It’ll help me as I write the next several articles. I’d like to also thank you again publicly for the idea for the series. It’s a great one and it’s going to be a lot of fun.

For any others reading these comments, don’t forget to refer to the introductory article that talks about the various tools that you should pick up to properly follow this blog series. Here’s a link to the article:
http://banjosrule.com/blog/my-banjo-life-article-series-kickoff-lets-dissect-a-great-banjo-album/ (copy that and past it into your browser if it isn’t clickable for you, or just go look for it on this blog’s main page.)

Thanks George!

By: gpreiss

gpreiss — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:00:37 +0000

Wow Paul! This first entry into the series exceeded my expectations. I just finished going through the tab and sound files. The sound files were really helpful, and I can tell you that dragging us through this stuff at 60 bpm was crucial. While listening to Earl play those from the album at 140 or more beats a minute all I can do is enjoy the music, but to learn anything from it at this stage would be like asking Michael Jordan to teach me how to shoot lay-ups, and then have him show me by dunking from the free-throw line! So I liked your use of the metronome while you built up the speed throughout the explanation.
I also liked how you chose the defining licks of the song, and started us off there instead of going straight through the whole thing. Thanks for all that you do, George