Maybe I start to hear every song in every other song, but the bluegrass banjo tune "Black-eyed Susie" sounds suspiciously like "I'll tell me ma." Susie has been done by David Holt and Doc Watson on the "Legacy" CD, and I heard them do it last week live. Tangleweed (www.tangleweed.org) also does a great version. Now that I'm learning banjo, this hit me. Sounds more and more alike the more I hear it. I'm hearing it nostly in the "she is handsome, she is pretty" part.
"all banjo tunes sound similar" - yes, they indeed can. I sometimes find with some banjo players in a session, that when they lead off a tune it's difficult to identify the the tune being played, especially if the banjo is some distance away. I think what is happening is that I'm hearing the percussive sound of the note being struck and not enough of the sustain to help me identify the pitch of the note. Someone closer to the banjo might be able to do this , and then I can pick up the tune from that player. I don't think I'm alone in this.
"The tenor banjo is renowned for its clarity of melody line".... and the subtle, tasteful playing techniques and magnetism of its players.
Scruggs-style 5-string banjo playing is , to me, essentially a series of arpeggios from which - in the hands of the best players - the tune emerges in syncopated fashion, like a single golden thread through a complex tapestry, or perhaps in the way a picture emerges from the dots in an impressionist painting by Seurat. Of course there are other ways of playing it, but the challenge remains to stop tunes sounding the same.
Hmm well I think those who have never heard a good OT Clawhammer player just aint lived!
That style unlike the other styles, employs left hand playing which sounds like the legato phrasing heard in wind instrumentals. It is quite intoxicating and even without the elaborate decoration of ITM Tenor Banjo it seems to me to have no equal - in Bnajo that is.
I play both tenor banjo and clawhammer style 5 string. I have to say, despite the simplicity of some of the tunes, the OT clawhammer style is much more fun to play, while the tenor banjo can be more definite and punchy to listen to.
With regard all OT/ bluegrass tunes sounding the same, i think this is because bluegrass is still pretty much played for jamming sessions and therefore the tunes are handy to pick up and fun to join in with, and it hasn't been taken over yet by the snobbish intricacy which too often goes along with the trad stuff.
No, fap, im not. But too often there's a snobbish attitude to playing tunes. Fair enough, learn the tune properly, but if ur in a session for fun, it should be acceptable to play the general air of the tune - im not talking about random notes, but sometimes people criticise by saying u should be playing one note instead of another, when in the live setting of a tune, it doesnt really matter a sh*te if the tune sounds pretty much right.
Black Eyed Susie/ I'll Tell Me Ma
Black Eyed Susie/ I'll Tell Me Ma
Maybe I start to hear every song in every other song, but the bluegrass banjo tune "Black-eyed Susie" sounds suspiciously like "I'll tell me ma." Susie has been done by David Holt and Doc Watson on the "Legacy" CD, and I heard them do it last week live. Tangleweed (www.tangleweed.org) also does a great version. Now that I'm learning banjo, this hit me. Sounds more and more alike the more I hear it. I'm hearing it nostly in the "she is handsome, she is pretty" part.
# Posted on May 26th 2007 by docfeetz
Re: Black Eyed Susie/ I'll Tell Me Ma
I'm not so sure, docfeetz; but it is generally acknowledged that all bluegrass songs sound similiar, and all banjo tunes sound similar.
# Posted on May 26th 2007 by oldstrings
Re: Black Eyed Susie/ I'll Tell Me Ma
You can play tunes on a banjo?!?
# Posted on May 27th 2007 by benhall.1
Re: Black Eyed Susie/ I'll Tell Me Ma
Black Eyed Susie has a chorus which is totally unlike the chorus of the other one, and the melody line is slightly different.
BTW there is a real old version of Black Eyed Susie played in the OT Clawhammer Banjo style.
# Posted on May 27th 2007 by Schlongbow
Re: Black Eyed Susie/ I'll Tell Me Ma
I love bluegrass - I like both tunes!
# Posted on May 27th 2007 by Lingpupa
Re: Black Eyed Susie/ I'll Tell Me Ma
"all banjo tunes sound similar" - yes, they indeed can. I sometimes find with some banjo players in a session, that when they lead off a tune it's difficult to identify the the tune being played, especially if the banjo is some distance away. I think what is happening is that I'm hearing the percussive sound of the note being struck and not enough of the sustain to help me identify the pitch of the note. Someone closer to the banjo might be able to do this , and then I can pick up the tune from that player. I don't think I'm alone in this.
# Posted on May 27th 2007 by lazyhound
Re: Black Eyed Susie/ I'll Tell Me Ma
I was, of course, referring to the 5 string banjo; upon which all tunes sound like a variation of Cripple Creek.
# Posted on May 27th 2007 by oldstrings
Re: Black Eyed Susie/ I'll Tell Me Ma
The tenor banjo is renowned for its clarity of melody line, enabling most fiddlers to follow along easily.
# Posted on May 27th 2007 by oldstrings
Re: Black Eyed Susie/ I'll Tell Me Ma
"The tenor banjo is renowned for its clarity of melody line".... and the subtle, tasteful playing techniques and magnetism of its players.
Scruggs-style 5-string banjo playing is , to me, essentially a series of arpeggios from which - in the hands of the best players - the tune emerges in syncopated fashion, like a single golden thread through a complex tapestry, or perhaps in the way a picture emerges from the dots in an impressionist painting by Seurat. Of course there are other ways of playing it, but the challenge remains to stop tunes sounding the same.
# Posted on May 27th 2007 by Bren
Re: Black Eyed Susie/ I'll Tell Me Ma
Hmm well I think those who have never heard a good OT Clawhammer player just aint lived!
That style unlike the other styles, employs left hand playing which sounds like the legato phrasing heard in wind instrumentals. It is quite intoxicating and even without the elaborate decoration of ITM Tenor Banjo it seems to me to have no equal - in Bnajo that is.
# Posted on May 27th 2007 by Schlongbow
Re: Black Eyed Susie/ I'll Tell Me Ma
I play both tenor banjo and clawhammer style 5 string. I have to say, despite the simplicity of some of the tunes, the OT clawhammer style is much more fun to play, while the tenor banjo can be more definite and punchy to listen to.
With regard all OT/ bluegrass tunes sounding the same, i think this is because bluegrass is still pretty much played for jamming sessions and therefore the tunes are handy to pick up and fun to join in with, and it hasn't been taken over yet by the snobbish intricacy which too often goes along with the trad stuff.
# Posted on May 27th 2007 by copo24
Re: Black Eyed Susie/ I'll Tell Me Ma
Damn! Here's me trying to light fires, encourage civil war, or at least enrage a fiddler or two, and all I get is mild agreement.
# Posted on May 28th 2007 by oldstrings
Re: Black Eyed Susie/ I'll Tell Me Ma
So let me get this straight copo24, your suggesting that most trad players are snobs? Yes or no answer please.
# Posted on May 28th 2007 by fap
Re: Black Eyed Susie/ I'll Tell Me Ma
No, fap, im not. But too often there's a snobbish attitude to playing tunes. Fair enough, learn the tune properly, but if ur in a session for fun, it should be acceptable to play the general air of the tune - im not talking about random notes, but sometimes people criticise by saying u should be playing one note instead of another, when in the live setting of a tune, it doesnt really matter a sh*te if the tune sounds pretty much right.
# Posted on May 28th 2007 by copo24