well, there is no doubt we need more tenors. grego,(i hav to type SO quietly at this hour) but yknow honest injum iam noe, like, dominant, with my instrument. dont you find though, that it is pretty amazing,I mean as an instrument? I mean, we can play in the upper frets and get into unison with the fiddles an whistles OR we can also go into the bas anplay with the guitars an pianos
idunno, grego, I shake with the possibilities of this ACoustic instrument.....i mean afterall, before the postWW11 Electric guitar was invented in Memphis, the primo accompaniment instrument was the Tenor...The fivestring wa invented to override the electric sound.........\
anybody know anything else about this? All i know is that, deeply, i sense that the appplications of a tenor banjo, as a bridging instrument between bass and treble, have been overlooked..........
for sure i didn't answer your question regarding the availability of thee instruments in Texas
Grego, tenor players are on the crest of a wave.. mark my words....
jus wait until the wurld becomes un-plugged. then tenors will..uh sorrybout the agressive descrption........ Rule!!!
oh, oh, there you are you..opinionated aussie....so..hmm your taste is pure?
( - :
i am quite serious mark, about the possibilities of the tenor as a bridging instrument.....
tenor players? comments please? i lissen to lots of cds (dunno what they are, pete puts 'em on) but I don't really hear the same sounds as I am trying to play...
sxuse me....tomorrow i will list some of the records ok. I will ask Mr. Pete for the names
But bridging in what way though? Do you mean playing chords or basslines or countermelodies or what?
BTW you can call me anything you like but please don't call me an aussie. I'm a whinging pommie and about as pure as a cheap wrap of speed
er sorrie,, you aulde pommie...Pommie?
hang on there you paper marking language proffesor. iam gone togit a beer but sall return quick as an implied bass triplet......
here i am back, noshing on hot nightime enchilada and cold beer, champing for bitof dicussion, and shamelessly hijacking gregos post(but the same has been done to me, an anyway he's beloved banjo player to so all is good an right}.
I care about Noyhing compared to the possibilities and applications of my intrument..... ask me a question.. umm...provoke me....
ok so .re the bridging....
the lowest note on the tenor is a g, only a minor third above the low e on a guitar. Therfore wetenors can, for example, do walk ups to match the guitar thump, but our sound is crisper, andcan be made in a most persuasive manner
ok so thats an exampel of bass applicain..now to treble...because of our open neck ( uh, compared to fiddle or mandolin) we can duplicate the melodies up in the 10th 12th 15th frets, and still have space to manoever.. like you ever tried that on a mandolin? whew.. unles ihad ET's pointy litle fingers........ but the tenor banjo kind of.has all this technology. m..on display......so mark, as a concertina/ bouz player you must know what Im talking about.i recall a not-to distant thread w=er you defended "back-up' playing (harmoivc accompaniment in the puredrop discussion maybe.) mark, ihave played zouk too I have own, not a Tish or a .Maybele, but i dig it , an it ws my wat in to the banjo....
how can iexplainthis/ I have plaeyed many many years as aguitar bckup.. i am sensitive to the changes, and not only antipatng them but the wonderful opposite, dDELAYING them. really. i am an accompaniest at heart, i am getting ok at piano vamping now also, bt a bit shy..........
but iam also deeply entranced by the melodies, and learning them well, and now here is the bANJO, this ancient invention of skin and string, and it seems to answer to me....
I don't want to provoke you, but I'm interested to know what you mean by "bridging". Do you mean chords, basslines or counter melodies? I personally feel that chords on the TB make trad sound too bluegrassy and therefore impure I also think that basslines are best taken by an instrument with more sustain, e.g. a guitar, and that probably goes for any type of music. I also feel that if you play a counter melody on a TB, it ends up sounding like you just don't know the tune and are trying to "noodle" it, since people are used to hearing TB take the melody.
So you mean punching in snippets of bassline on the bass string to compliment the guitar whilst simultaneously playing melody high on the neck? That sounds as though it would sound good but quite hard to do.
to th first, a tenor player worht his salt cannot play chords in the mandolin-bluerass style. however chorde designed with the me-do..you know, buildingthe classic shape where the lower pitched third is physically behind the tonic note , the octave.....ooh gawd , can't you just come over to my house an I'll show you?.whew.talk about larnin' to write.....
ok. to the second uh , th countr melody. yeah, it can sound like noodling, an awful blaring noodling. but if you know the melody (cuz you played it lts or listened to it lots) then you can Counter melody ti effectively, like for example follow a descending hornpipe line with a harmonic sixth or third. oh gawd wash my mouth with soap I dont want to sound so techy!
but, you see.banjo can do it effectively because.. for example. if it fels it needs to fill a music hole, or lift the session , or Whatever. it can switch from chords to harmonic counterpoint to bas line to high mmelody. there is enough power and drive in the construction of this instrumrnt, in the skin and the string,the African roots, to transcend anything else going on musically. even a fiddle............violins Do not have the percussive power that banjos have
banjos have been sorely overlooked, blasted, lambasted this LAST half century becauseTHE ONLY INSTRUMENT CAPABLE OF UNSEATING IT HAS BEEN THE ELECTRIC GUITAR.....
YIKES.BETWEEN THE woops caps an th cross posting i begin to sound like a maniac.
which iam not
promise
swear
jeezuz mark, I am not trying to blow my own horn. i am merely trying to tell you
:this fecking instument is the fecking woowee
it is Amazing1
Mark. i have played 30 years of guitar, twnty years of mandolin, ten years of piano..and my last two years on the tenor have..holy f..propelled me into the musical stratosphere...
i wish icould be more articulate
ok.back to your questions.no.. of Course not.AT once on the bass and the high melody, but if the tune wants o go round say three times, and you're not sure if theres enough energy for a fourth pass,well hell,,(practse at home first, but then execute the tune again, in unison by going up into th high frets..(yeah, i know it looks a bit jimi hendrix, but hendix went solely on "feeling", but celtic players can rely on melodies, trad tunes..........hmmmmmd you get what i am saying at all?
Hi Grego, if you are still there, and assuming you are unfamiliar with the wonderful Mr Vincent Mondello, I suggest you try him - not based in Houston but in Henderson Texas: 8490 CR240N, Henderson,Tx, 75652 Tel: 903-836-4575.
Or check out his website at www.4stringbanjos.com
He always has loads of banjos and is very friendly - although I don't think he knows much about irish music or playing being a Jazzer himself.
PLEEEEEEEEEASE>> BANJO STORES IN HOUSTON????? *&^%$!
Nick b, I soooo appreciate your post! I've never seen a thread hijacked so quickly, like,... anywhere.
Now, where is Henderson? Is that somewhere I could sneak out of a west Houston office, check out some banjos, and be back before anyone notices?
I've visited the 4stringbanjos.com site several times and it sometimes has exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for. But someone here gave me the advice "buy with your ears, not your eyes", and I'm taking it to heart.
I am afraid that I have no idea where in Tejas it is, but hey how far can it be (yep I know it could be miles...).
Vinnie Mondello is a really nice guy, totally trustworthy IMHO and just the sort of person to help you out when trying to find a decent instrument. In other words it would be worth loading up the car with some aircon and some top toons and driving over to where ever the hell Henderson is, as it is bound to be worth it. (obviously check out what stock he has in first). I certainly would if I lived on that side of the pond, let alone in texas!!
In fact, I have never met the guy, however, I have bought banjos from him and had extensive (and I mean extensive) e-mail dialogue with him. I have also spoken to him on the phone a few times. He has always been extremely friendly and helpful even when things did not work out with one of the banjos I bought from him, when many would have washed their hands of the responsibility, he really helped to resolve the situation. (That is why I agree that you should buy with your ears! not your eyes)
On the other banjo discussion webrings - like banjocom, he is a regular contributor always on the look out for ebay fraud etc. I have never heard anyone have a bad word to say about him (unlike almost all the other banjo dealers in the US, who people have occasional bitches about for one reason or another)
But don't take my word for it, give him a call and have a chat.
Henderson is about 140 miles east of Dallas and west of Dublin. Fuller's Vintage Guitar on 116 N. Loop in Houston may have some banjos. Their phone # is 713-880-2188.
sorry, really, for getting all noisy in here about things other than gregos banjo research. I am glad that in spite of my rant you managed to provide him with what he needed.
i feel i need to finish my thought.
dow sez "like man you are gonna play the bass and the 12th fret al lat the same time?" and it stung cause of course i cant, however i am aspiring to learn this instrument thoroughly..
and iam becoming more aware of its potential as i play and explore..the banjo, i think maybe got a bad rap in the forties and fifties,, all ther fingerpicking texture of the 5 string bluegrass style for example.. 9i think they use finger picks too dont they,, i mean thats a hell of a lot of banjo noise all happening at once dont you agree.. so meanwhile the much moore delicate tenor kinda gets lost. For example on Homespun tapes there is listed one tenor teacher and about twenty five string teachers..
i am not looking for a teacher, i have a lot of self motivation and a fair bit of experience, but i really would like to find someone else who i can share quite specific ideas with about the enormous potential of this instrument. For example, in unison playing (which has been determined to NOT be the same as "puredrop", if the banjo plays exact unison all the time its,like, just too much. Usually I like to come in on the second or third pass.. however i dont want to just "sit there the rest of the time and wait for my turn, so to speak, so naturally I am going to start doing some other things, maybe thumpingh with my bare thumb on the strings, maybe running a few harmony notes, maybe just accenting the first beat or the hook, maybe playing a few chords, you know what i mean, i donr mean noodling, i mean adding to the session sound. Now,i find that when i do this i can enormously affect the group energy, and its not because of "me" or because I am a "great" player, its because of the amazing potential in the instrument itself. String and skin, melody and drum...its Strong stuff.as ithink isaid,and as it is posted in my history, i have played many years on guitar and piano and i understand some of the points regarding good vs poor accompaniment. And because i have played melodies on the mando for 25 years (though i always hated it ci=ause it cramped my hand) so i know the fifths tuning..so, for me personally, to start playing ther banjo (2 years now) and to start playing the banjo out in public (been going to my session since march) is REAALY really exiting.. i live and breathe this instrument,and every month it's more. I am now playing about 5 or 6 hours a day.. i know, it's kooky..
ok.. so thats as back up instrument. It is very hard to listen to a lot of banjo out front.. solo banjo.. and of course to lead a tune or to play solo on the street or whatever, a person must stick cleanly to the melody, the center of the tune, Of course to virtuoso all over the shtick gonna sound just like that, virtuoso shtick..
anyway,, whwe i feel better. If anyone reads all this i will be amazed..
Dow, does this clarify what I am trying to say at all/ You are interested in back up playing cuz of your zouk i know..theres lots of back up players, we are many..
and dow you also play melodies, back up and melody.this is an exiting place to be musically dont you think/
vboyd, I think you need to buy a Dobro or a National Steel and flatpick it. All the richness of the guitar fingerboard, plus sustain for intricate accompaniment. Most of the volume of the banjo for melody work.
ah yes..never thought of it.. i love the sound of a national steel..
i find that the last two years on the slimmer neck of the banjo, compared to the guitar, has spoiled me, so i dont like the big fretboard anymore.. i like the wide spaces between the frets and the four rather than six strings.. i have thought about getting a tenor guitar too..
anyway, i dont want to change instruments really, i just want to play this, one but lern to do it really well. I know part of playing banjo is really reining it in, and this is hard for me to do cause i am naturally kind of ..mm.. Noisy...and i am trying to learn to get that boisterous part of me in balance with other parts, like my sweet sensitive side which I know is lurking in there somewhere
lissen grego, thx a lot for listening and stuff. I am going to try to do less talk on this machine.. it sort of gets me all whirlwinded ... More reading posts, less talking on them..
anyway, good luck in Texas. I get the impression from your posts that your work takes you travelling a lot..
Grego, sorry for being involved in hijacking your thread. It's sort of like the equivalent of talking loudly over someone when they're trying to have a conversation about sth else. Apologies...
I saw a used tenor banjo at a Guitar Center once here in Houston, it wasn't in very good shape. I decided to order mine online. When I called Fuller's they didn't have any in stock, but you never know what they may have used.
There are a few good players in town, Turlach Boylan is the only pro I know of, there are a few that show up at the local session.
Banjo stores in Houston?
Banjo stores in Houston?
Anyone know of good music stores in Houston that are likely to have used tenor banjos for sale?
I'd appreciate any recommendations.
Greg
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by grego
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
well, there is no doubt we need more tenors. grego,(i hav to type SO quietly at this hour) but yknow honest injum iam noe, like, dominant, with my instrument. dont you find though, that it is pretty amazing,I mean as an instrument? I mean, we can play in the upper frets and get into unison with the fiddles an whistles OR we can also go into the bas anplay with the guitars an pianos
idunno, grego, I shake with the possibilities of this ACoustic instrument.....i mean afterall, before the postWW11 Electric guitar was invented in Memphis, the primo accompaniment instrument was the Tenor...The fivestring wa invented to override the electric sound.........\
anybody know anything else about this? All i know is that, deeply, i sense that the appplications of a tenor banjo, as a bridging instrument between bass and treble, have been overlooked..........
for sure i didn't answer your question regarding the availability of thee instruments in Texas
Grego, tenor players are on the crest of a wave.. mark my words....
jus wait until the wurld becomes un-plugged. then tenors will..uh sorrybout the agressive descrption........ Rule!!!
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by vboyd100
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
I dunno about tenor banjo accompaniment, if that's what you mean by "bass". That's a bit too impure for my taste.
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by Dr. Dow
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
oh, oh, there you are you..opinionated aussie....so..hmm your taste is pure?
( - :
i am quite serious mark, about the possibilities of the tenor as a bridging instrument.....
tenor players? comments please? i lissen to lots of cds (dunno what they are, pete puts 'em on) but I don't really hear the same sounds as I am trying to play...
sxuse me....tomorrow i will list some of the records ok. I will ask Mr. Pete for the names
Gawd, i feel paassionate about this,
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by vboyd100
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
But bridging in what way though? Do you mean playing chords or basslines or countermelodies or what?
BTW you can call me anything you like but please don't call me an aussie. I'm a whinging pommie and about as pure as a cheap wrap of speed
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by Dr. Dow
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
my life revolves around this.....
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by vboyd100
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
i hold my breath. Now, count.........
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by vboyd100
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
er sorrie,, you aulde pommie...Pommie?
hang on there you paper marking language proffesor. iam gone togit a beer but sall return quick as an implied bass triplet......
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by vboyd100
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
PS I'm not opinionated. I'm just right, and letting other people know they're wrong for their own good
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by Dr. Dow
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
here i am back, noshing on hot nightime enchilada and cold beer, champing for bitof dicussion, and shamelessly hijacking gregos post(but the same has been done to me, an anyway he's beloved banjo player to so all is good an right}.
I care about Noyhing compared to the possibilities and applications of my intrument..... ask me a question.. umm...provoke me....
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by vboyd100
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
ok so .re the bridging....
the lowest note on the tenor is a g, only a minor third above the low e on a guitar. Therfore wetenors can, for example, do walk ups to match the guitar thump, but our sound is crisper, andcan be made in a most persuasive manner
ok so thats an exampel of bass applicain..now to treble...because of our open neck ( uh, compared to fiddle or mandolin) we can duplicate the melodies up in the 10th 12th 15th frets, and still have space to manoever.. like you ever tried that on a mandolin? whew.. unles ihad ET's pointy litle fingers........ but the tenor banjo kind of.has all this technology. m..on display......so mark, as a concertina/ bouz player you must know what Im talking about.i recall a not-to distant thread w=er you defended "back-up' playing (harmoivc accompaniment in the puredrop discussion maybe.) mark, ihave played zouk too I have own, not a Tish or a .Maybele, but i dig it , an it ws my wat in to the banjo....
how can iexplainthis/ I have plaeyed many many years as aguitar bckup.. i am sensitive to the changes, and not only antipatng them but the wonderful opposite, dDELAYING them. really. i am an accompaniest at heart, i am getting ok at piano vamping now also, bt a bit shy..........
but iam also deeply entranced by the melodies, and learning them well, and now here is the bANJO, this ancient invention of skin and string, and it seems to answer to me....
whew. timeto eatsome enchilada.......
y
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by vboyd100
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
I don't want to provoke you, but I'm interested to know what you mean by "bridging". Do you mean chords, basslines or counter melodies? I personally feel that chords on the TB make trad sound too bluegrassy and therefore impure
I also think that basslines are best taken by an instrument with more sustain, e.g. a guitar, and that probably goes for any type of music. I also feel that if you play a counter melody on a TB, it ends up sounding like you just don't know the tune and are trying to "noodle" it, since people are used to hearing TB take the melody.
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by Dr. Dow
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
Sorry I just cross-posted with you.
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by Dr. Dow
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
So you mean punching in snippets of bassline on the bass string to compliment the guitar whilst simultaneously playing melody high on the neck? That sounds as though it would sound good but quite hard to do.
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by Dr. Dow
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
BTW our friend Greenwiggle sometimes does stuff like that but in a different tuning I think. It's fun to watch and listen to.
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by Dr. Dow
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
all very good points, pom.
to th first, a tenor player worht his salt cannot play chords in the mandolin-bluerass style. however chorde designed with the me-do..you know, buildingthe classic shape where the lower pitched third is physically behind the tonic note , the octave.....ooh gawd , can't you just come over to my house an I'll show you?.whew.talk about larnin' to write.....
ok. to the second uh , th countr melody. yeah, it can sound like noodling, an awful blaring noodling. but if you know the melody (cuz you played it lts or listened to it lots) then you can Counter melody ti effectively, like for example follow a descending hornpipe line with a harmonic sixth or third. oh gawd wash my mouth with soap I dont want to sound so techy!
but, you see.banjo can do it effectively because.. for example. if it fels it needs to fill a music hole, or lift the session , or Whatever. it can switch from chords to harmonic counterpoint to bas line to high mmelody. there is enough power and drive in the construction of this instrumrnt, in the skin and the string,the African roots, to transcend anything else going on musically. even a fiddle............violins Do not have the percussive power that banjos have
banjos have been sorely overlooked, blasted, lambasted this LAST half century becauseTHE ONLY INSTRUMENT CAPABLE OF UNSEATING IT HAS BEEN THE ELECTRIC GUITAR.....
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by vboyd100
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
YIKES.BETWEEN THE woops caps an th cross posting i begin to sound like a maniac.
which iam not
promise
swear
jeezuz mark, I am not trying to blow my own horn. i am merely trying to tell you
:this fecking instument is the fecking woowee
it is Amazing1
Mark. i have played 30 years of guitar, twnty years of mandolin, ten years of piano..and my last two years on the tenor have..holy f..propelled me into the musical stratosphere...
i wish icould be more articulate
ok.back to your questions.no.. of Course not.AT once on the bass and the high melody, but if the tune wants o go round say three times, and you're not sure if theres enough energy for a fourth pass,well hell,,(practse at home first, but then execute the tune again, in unison by going up into th high frets..(yeah, i know it looks a bit jimi hendrix, but hendix went solely on "feeling", but celtic players can rely on melodies, trad tunes..........hmmmmmd you get what i am saying at all?
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by vboyd100
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
mebbe lost you/
?
hello et?
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by vboyd100
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
pacific to pacific,,,,,,,,,,,huulooo
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by vboyd100
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
Hi Grego, if you are still there, and assuming you are unfamiliar with the wonderful Mr Vincent Mondello, I suggest you try him - not based in Houston but in Henderson Texas: 8490 CR240N, Henderson,Tx, 75652 Tel: 903-836-4575.
Or check out his website at www.4stringbanjos.com
He always has loads of banjos and is very friendly - although I don't think he knows much about irish music or playing being a Jazzer himself.
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by nick b
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
Also, vboyd100 I agree, tenors rock...
or should that be plunk rock???
or even plink plunk rock?????
# Posted on June 9th 2004 by nick b
PLEEEEEEEEEASE>> BANJO STORES IN HOUSTON????? *&^%$!
Nick b, I soooo appreciate your post! I've never seen a thread hijacked so quickly, like,... anywhere.
Now, where is Henderson? Is that somewhere I could sneak out of a west Houston office, check out some banjos, and be back before anyone notices?
I've visited the 4stringbanjos.com site several times and it sometimes has exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for. But someone here gave me the advice "buy with your ears, not your eyes", and I'm taking it to heart.
# Posted on June 10th 2004 by grego
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
I am afraid that I have no idea where in Tejas it is, but hey how far can it be (yep I know it could be miles...).
Vinnie Mondello is a really nice guy, totally trustworthy IMHO and just the sort of person to help you out when trying to find a decent instrument. In other words it would be worth loading up the car with some aircon and some top toons and driving over to where ever the hell Henderson is, as it is bound to be worth it. (obviously check out what stock he has in first). I certainly would if I lived on that side of the pond, let alone in texas!!
Best of luck
Nick
# Posted on June 10th 2004 by nick b
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
I'm curious, Nick. You live on the other side of the pond but you know Vinnie really well? Is he a transplant?
# Posted on June 10th 2004 by grego
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
There you go, Greg:
http://thesession.org/discussions/display.php/2531
Good luck on your hunt, though.
# Posted on June 10th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
Zina, thanks. I stand corrected.
# Posted on June 10th 2004 by grego
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
No, I think he is a born and bred American
In fact, I have never met the guy, however, I have bought banjos from him and had extensive (and I mean extensive) e-mail dialogue with him. I have also spoken to him on the phone a few times. He has always been extremely friendly and helpful even when things did not work out with one of the banjos I bought from him, when many would have washed their hands of the responsibility, he really helped to resolve the situation. (That is why I agree that you should buy with your ears! not your eyes)
On the other banjo discussion webrings - like banjocom, he is a regular contributor always on the look out for ebay fraud etc. I have never heard anyone have a bad word to say about him (unlike almost all the other banjo dealers in the US, who people have occasional bitches about for one reason or another)
But don't take my word for it, give him a call and have a chat.
Nick
# Posted on June 10th 2004 by nick b
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
Henderson is about 140 miles east of Dallas and west of Dublin. Fuller's Vintage Guitar on 116 N. Loop in Houston may have some banjos. Their phone # is 713-880-2188.
# Posted on June 10th 2004 by griffith
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
sorry, really, for getting all noisy in here about things other than gregos banjo research. I am glad that in spite of my rant you managed to provide him with what he needed.
i feel i need to finish my thought.
dow sez "like man you are gonna play the bass and the 12th fret al lat the same time?" and it stung cause of course i cant, however i am aspiring to learn this instrument thoroughly..
and iam becoming more aware of its potential as i play and explore..the banjo, i think maybe got a bad rap in the forties and fifties,, all ther fingerpicking texture of the 5 string bluegrass style for example.. 9i think they use finger picks too dont they,, i mean thats a hell of a lot of banjo noise all happening at once dont you agree.. so meanwhile the much moore delicate tenor kinda gets lost. For example on Homespun tapes there is listed one tenor teacher and about twenty five string teachers..
i am not looking for a teacher, i have a lot of self motivation and a fair bit of experience, but i really would like to find someone else who i can share quite specific ideas with about the enormous potential of this instrument. For example, in unison playing (which has been determined to NOT be the same as "puredrop", if the banjo plays exact unison all the time its,like, just too much. Usually I like to come in on the second or third pass.. however i dont want to just "sit there the rest of the time and wait for my turn, so to speak, so naturally I am going to start doing some other things, maybe thumpingh with my bare thumb on the strings, maybe running a few harmony notes, maybe just accenting the first beat or the hook, maybe playing a few chords, you know what i mean, i donr mean noodling, i mean adding to the session sound. Now,i find that when i do this i can enormously affect the group energy, and its not because of "me" or because I am a "great" player, its because of the amazing potential in the instrument itself. String and skin, melody and drum...its Strong stuff.as ithink isaid,and as it is posted in my history, i have played many years on guitar and piano and i understand some of the points regarding good vs poor accompaniment. And because i have played melodies on the mando for 25 years (though i always hated it ci=ause it cramped my hand) so i know the fifths tuning..so, for me personally, to start playing ther banjo (2 years now) and to start playing the banjo out in public (been going to my session since march) is REAALY really exiting.. i live and breathe this instrument,and every month it's more. I am now playing about 5 or 6 hours a day.. i know, it's kooky..
ok.. so thats as back up instrument. It is very hard to listen to a lot of banjo out front.. solo banjo.. and of course to lead a tune or to play solo on the street or whatever, a person must stick cleanly to the melody, the center of the tune, Of course to virtuoso all over the shtick gonna sound just like that, virtuoso shtick..
anyway,, whwe i feel better. If anyone reads all this i will be amazed..
Dow, does this clarify what I am trying to say at all/ You are interested in back up playing cuz of your zouk i know..theres lots of back up players, we are many..
and dow you also play melodies, back up and melody.this is an exiting place to be musically dont you think/
enough.. thx for listening..
# Posted on June 10th 2004 by vboyd100
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
OK, I give up.
vboyd, I think you need to buy a Dobro or a National Steel and flatpick it. All the richness of the guitar fingerboard, plus sustain for intricate accompaniment. Most of the volume of the banjo for melody work.
# Posted on June 10th 2004 by grego
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
ah yes..never thought of it.. i love the sound of a national steel..
i find that the last two years on the slimmer neck of the banjo, compared to the guitar, has spoiled me, so i dont like the big fretboard anymore.. i like the wide spaces between the frets and the four rather than six strings.. i have thought about getting a tenor guitar too..
anyway, i dont want to change instruments really, i just want to play this, one but lern to do it really well. I know part of playing banjo is really reining it in, and this is hard for me to do cause i am naturally kind of ..mm.. Noisy...and i am trying to learn to get that boisterous part of me in balance with other parts, like my sweet sensitive side which I know is lurking in there somewhere
lissen grego, thx a lot for listening and stuff. I am going to try to do less talk on this machine.. it sort of gets me all whirlwinded ... More reading posts, less talking on them..
anyway, good luck in Texas. I get the impression from your posts that your work takes you travelling a lot..
# Posted on June 10th 2004 by vboyd100
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
Grego, sorry for being involved in hijacking your thread. It's sort of like the equivalent of talking loudly over someone when they're trying to have a conversation about sth else. Apologies...
# Posted on June 10th 2004 by Dr. Dow
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
It's cool guys. I'm getting the impression Houston isn't a tenor banjo kind of city anyway. (Still very much open to contradiction...)
# Posted on June 10th 2004 by grego
Re: Banjo stores in Houston?
I saw a used tenor banjo at a Guitar Center once here in Houston, it wasn't in very good shape. I decided to order mine online. When I called Fuller's they didn't have any in stock, but you never know what they may have used.
There are a few good players in town, Turlach Boylan is the only pro I know of, there are a few that show up at the local session.
Eddie
# Posted on June 12th 2004 by beowulf573