Learning a new song part 1: preparing

(Admin note: this post is a day late in coming. Got behind on my scheduled post day. New posts are supposed to arrive each Mon., Weds., and Fri.)

This is a 4 part series in which I chronicle the process I use to learn a new song. I’ve seen various results as I watch my students try to tackle new material, and I thought maybe glimpsing into the mind of an experienced picker and watching how he does things may be instructional and useful.


I understand right off the bat that my techniques aren’t the techniques of everyone. You really good pickers will be tempted to write me and say “that’s not how to do it!” So, to you experienced pickers and beginners alike I say that my aim isn’t to produce a “my way or the highway” discussion here. I haven’t cornered the market on picking. I might not even have the best techniques and ideas. What I do have, though, is many years of success at playing the banjo and a demonstrated ability to learn songs, and it’s this that I want to share with my readership. So, read on.

While hanging out in the Banjo Hangout chatroom one day, I got to chat with a really good picker from a band formerly known as The Boys From Indiana by the name of Jeremy Blankenship (I can’t remember what the group is called now). He turned on his web cam and then proceded to play a really hot number that caught my ear. I learned that the song is called Knee Deep In Bluegrass, and I set my mind on learning to play it. (I also learned that I am late to the game; it’s been out awhile!)

So…how to go about getting this done? My preferred learning medium is tablature, and it would be nice to find some for this song. Now, there are many that swear by the Murphy Henry method and feel that tablature is too hard, not a good way to learn, and that strictly playing by ear is the best way to go. I say first that whatever works for you is the way to go, but I also add that if you worked with me on tablature for a short while, you wouldn’t feel that way. Tablature has a ton of advantage to it, and in my opinion tablature belongs in your arsenal of tricks, in combination with whatever tools and methodologies you love using, including playing by ear. While I definitely do recommend tablature, I will also admit that it has some weaknesses, and a complicated song is often hard to sort out with tablature alone; it helps to have a sound file to go with it so that you can have a frame of reference. There is a way to have a sound file of any piece of tablature you are working with, so read on for more thoughts on this.

My first stop, as always, is to the Banjo Hangout. Whenever I want to learn a new song, I check to see if it is on the tablature list at the Hangout. And sure enough, I checked the Hangout, and there it was. Here’s a link to the song: Knee Deep In Bluegrass. (Download the song and learn it with me!) I discovered that Knee Deep In Bluegrass is a song on the Accutab recording by the same name (this is a great album which I’ll be reviewing soon in a new section called “reviews” where I review new audio/video items) so I went to the Accutab website and found out that they have an entire book of banjo tabs covering all the songs on that album. I went ahead and ordered the book of tabs, then went to my iTunes account and looked up the album. I found it and downloaded it, so I’m all set with a recording of the original song as played on the album.

Now, I use a very important piece of software on my computer to work with tablature; I strongly recommend you take a look at it. The product is called TablEdit. (To check out the TablEdit website, click here.) TablEdit, very simply, is a piece of music notation software that you can use to create tablature sheet music. You can also open other people’s sheet music files that they’ve written in TablEdit. When you surf the tablature files on the Hangout, you’ll see that there are 3 or 4 predominant file types that songs are saved as, and one of those is TablEdit. (TablEdit files have an ending of .tef) You can either buy the full software package from TablEdit, which gives you a ton of features and is great if you are composing as well as just opening files (I’m a banjo teacher so I work with TablEdit a lot) or you can download their free viewer which simply allows you to open TablEdit files.

Up above I said read on for comment on having sound files to go with the Tablature you are working with, and that was a reference to the fact that TablEdit has a feature that allows you to play, through your computer’s speakers, the tablature that’s on your screen. This is a GREAT feature with two main benefits: you come up to speed on the piece you are working with quicker by memorizing it and then trying to play along with the song as TablEdit is playing it (need it slower? You can adjust TablEdit up or down in speed!) and you also get the benefits of metronome-like precison when it comes to rhythm and timing. Now, for sure there is no subtitute for the metronome and you should also buy one, but you can get the functions of a metronome built right in to TablEdit, which is killer. A last thought on having a sound file…what if you find a piece of tablature somewhere that isn’t in TablEdit format? One solution, though not necessarily a quick one, is to be sure and buy the full version of TablEdit, then go ahead and type out the piece you are trying to learn by hand. Once you are done, you’ll have a fully functioning, playable piece of sheet music that you can play along with.

Well folks, our tools are at hand, and we’re ready to dive into this brand-spanking new piece of music. Let’s recap what we’ll need to proceed:

1. A version of the song we want to learn, written in TablEdit format
2. The free TablEdit viewer or the full software package
3. A recording of a pro band playing the song (if available, but not crucial)
4. A metronome
5. Finger picks
6. Banjo
7. Capo if necessary

That wraps up the first installment of this 4 part series. Please reply to this post and leave your thoughts and comments, and watch this blog for part 2 to come out later this week. In part 2 we’ll discuss my experiences as I lay my hands on the song, pick through it, struggle with memorization, and use the tools referenced above. To quote the Clampetts: ya’ll come back now, y’hear?!

Part 2 is now available. Click here: http://banjosrule.com/blog/learn-a-new-song-part-2-digging-in/

Banjo Paul
“Wunse, I coodn’t even spel bango pikker…now I are one!”
www.banjosrule.com (main site)
www.mybanjolife.com (blog)