What tunes make for best banjo playing. Jigs almost always seem fine "the mooncoin" or " Paddy O'Rafferty"s" being two of my favorites. Hornpipes mostly work well, but reels seem to not always work. Looking for opinions and favorite tunes.
Farewell to Ireland (or Erin? the A minor one) is always a good one. It makes good use of the range of the banjo, with those As and Gs on the 4th string in the 1st part - and you can laugh defiantly at the flute player, who has to take it up an octave (and can't laugh and play simultaneously).
Slieve Russell
Banish Misfortune
Garrett Barry's
Castle Kelly
Morrison's Jig
Rights of Man
Walls of Liscarroll
New Rigged Ship
Boys of Bluehill
Gravel Walk
Old Copperplate
Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine
Ships at Full Sail
Tobin's Jig
My Darling Asleep
I too, prefer to play jigs and hornpipes rather than reels on banjo, as does vega. With a few exceptions, I usually reach for a different instrument when a reel is played.
I must be different!
I prefer to play reels to jigs or hornpipes, and anything to polkas. I find reels have a lot more variation and I can get more bounce onto them.
My favourites are :-
Donegal Reel
Pinch of Snuff
Mountain Road
Chicago Reel
Are there any more reel enthusiasts??
The Teetotaler
Drousy Maggie
I dont play banjo - but I am totally a reel enthusiast - I would say I know about 4 times as many reels as any of the other tunes I play and in a session I will start only reels. Occasionally if I'm feeling in the mood for a change I may start jigs - but that is very occasionally!
I play mandolin (and other people's banjo's from time to time). I sometimes go through a jig phase, or a hornpipe phase, but for the most part I am a reel person. I find a reel rhythm easier to maintain. In fact, I confess to sometimes inadvertently turning hornpipes into reels - not by playing them too fast (when I play on my own, my 'natural' pace tends to err on the slow side of average), but by adding in extra notes which disguise the hornpipe structure of the tune and perhaps losing some of the 'dotted' feel.
That said, I do have a penchant for playing certain piping jigs - The Humours of Kiltyclogher, The Humours of Ballyloughlin, for example - ones with lots of room for cranning on the low D.
banjo friendly tunes
banjo friendly tunes
What tunes make for best banjo playing. Jigs almost always seem fine "the mooncoin" or " Paddy O'Rafferty"s" being two of my favorites. Hornpipes mostly work well, but reels seem to not always work. Looking for opinions and favorite tunes.
# Posted on November 6th 2002 by vega
Re: banjo friendly tunes
How about 'Far Away' - if you can play this one you will be highly respected by other musicians! lol
# Posted on November 6th 2002 by breandan
Re: banjo friendly tunes
Farewell to Ireland (or Erin? the A minor one) is always a good one. It makes good use of the range of the banjo, with those As and Gs on the 4th string in the 1st part - and you can laugh defiantly at the flute player, who has to take it up an octave (and can't laugh and play simultaneously).
# Posted on November 6th 2002 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: banjo friendly tunes
Some of my favorites to play on banjo:
Slieve Russell
Banish Misfortune
Garrett Barry's
Castle Kelly
Morrison's Jig
Rights of Man
Walls of Liscarroll
New Rigged Ship
Boys of Bluehill
Gravel Walk
Old Copperplate
Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine
Ships at Full Sail
Tobin's Jig
My Darling Asleep
I too, prefer to play jigs and hornpipes rather than reels on banjo, as does vega. With a few exceptions, I usually reach for a different instrument when a reel is played.
# Posted on November 6th 2002 by blowfly
Re: banjo friendly tunes
I must be different!
I prefer to play reels to jigs or hornpipes, and anything to polkas. I find reels have a lot more variation and I can get more bounce onto them.
My favourites are :-
Donegal Reel
Pinch of Snuff
Mountain Road
Chicago Reel
Are there any more reel enthusiasts??
The Teetotaler
Drousy Maggie
# Posted on November 6th 2002 by riggers
Re: banjo friendly tunes
I dont play banjo - but I am totally a reel enthusiast - I would say I know about 4 times as many reels as any of the other tunes I play and in a session I will start only reels. Occasionally if I'm feeling in the mood for a change I may start jigs - but that is very occasionally!
# Posted on November 6th 2002 by bb
Re: banjo friendly tunes
I play mandolin (and other people's banjo's from time to time). I sometimes go through a jig phase, or a hornpipe phase, but for the most part I am a reel person. I find a reel rhythm easier to maintain. In fact, I confess to sometimes inadvertently turning hornpipes into reels - not by playing them too fast (when I play on my own, my 'natural' pace tends to err on the slow side of average), but by adding in extra notes which disguise the hornpipe structure of the tune and perhaps losing some of the 'dotted' feel.
That said, I do have a penchant for playing certain piping jigs - The Humours of Kiltyclogher, The Humours of Ballyloughlin, for example - ones with lots of room for cranning on the low D.
# Posted on November 7th 2002 by CreadurMawnOrganig