I would recommend,Scahills tutor,and sullys tutor
Gerrys tutor is ok, but not as detailed as the others.
undoubtedly Bronstein, and Llig would disagree with me.
I highly recommend Enda Scahill's Irish Banjo Tutor. It's a complete tutor with 2 CDs included so you can hear the exercises, ornaments and tunes played slow and fast.
I don't like any TB books, not that I've looked at any.
To my mind all trad music books/collections are tenor banjo books, get O'Neil's 1001 and spend some money on CD's that feature banjo playing. Listen to the various styles on your CD's and learn tunes from the collections, CD's etc adding ornaments as you get comfortable fitting them in on tunes you can already play and so on.
Of my top 5 banjo bods all have a different style and a different approach, thats what I'd be looking to develop rather than focusing on any one players technique.........
When I started playing banjo I asked a good banjo playing acquaintance for a tip, his tip was;
I have copies of a couple. I didn't really work my way through any of them, but I read them to see what they had to say.
I like Enda's the best, I think, and it would have helped a lot if it had been out when I first started. And I gleaned a couple of interesting points out of it. But Solidmahog is right, immerse yourself in the music. Not just banjo players, but all of it. Listen to good Irish music, and find people near you that you can play with in person, and you'll go a long way.
Then if you are finding banjo-specific issues with your playing, you can look into the tutors a bit further.
That said, a book or DVD may be good for things that you can't pick up from listening: suggestions regarding ways of holding the pick, body/hand/instrument position, left hand fingering systems etc.
Actually, a lot of that stuff could be found from free resources such as Mike Keyes videos on Youtube for the Mel Bay Banjo Sessions.
Once you have the mechanics of the basic techniques, the best tools, IMHO, are a sh*tload of recordings of good players and some software to slow down the faster tunes so you can hear exactly where and how different players use their arsenal of techniques and ornaments.
Slow down progs that springs to mind include:
Amazing Slowdowner,
VLC Player,
Audacity,
Best Practice...
I have Gerry's book and it was very helpful to me when I started out. I would recommend it. I also like Enda's book and would recommend that too however, I'm a bit more advanced of a player now so I don't know how I would have done if I started from scratch with it.
Good luck! A lot of good advice in the previous posts, listen, listen, listen!
I will be immersing myself totally in the music. I have been for years ! I wanted a book/tutor because where I live in Canada there's a dearth of knowledgable players. There's a few guarded fiddlers, but not many plectrum players - and they're all guitarist like me :( .
Anyway, I've a lot of work ahead so if you'll excuse me...
I use Transcribe on my PC in windows vista, so you don't have to have a mac. I've never heard of any of the other programs, but transcribe works great, don't expect the pitch analyzer to be much help for trad as there is usually too many overtones, even in recordings of solo musicians.
True Earl, my mac bias had blurted forth to my key board and post button before I could stop myself, lol. The realization that at least 2 of the other titles run on my beloved and that when I downloaded Transcribe I recall I saw a PC version as well, were lost to my consciousness. Long held prejudice dies hard, sorry.
I managed to get every book on the Irish tenor banjo that I could find and every DVD/tape to boot. I agree that learning from teachers and working on your own style is the most productive aspect of learning the banjo. Basically you have to do all the above if you can.
I got Enda's book about three months before I had a chance to take a workshop from him. The combination of the two was much better than either one alone, especially since I had a chance to do my homework first and then talk to him about what was learned. In addition I have some private youtubes of this workshop (if anyone is interested, email me) that i can review at my leisure.
Books on their own can only get you so far. I live in a desert as far as teachers go, but i have managed through workshops, listening to CDs, youtube, http://theirishtenorbanjo.ning.com/, reading, and playing obsessively in sessions to start to learn the instrument and define a style for myself. It is a lot of work and you can't rely on just one source for inspiration and tutelage.
books for Irish tenor banjo
books for Irish tenor banjo
Hello experts!
I'm interested in Gerry O'Connor's book on Irish banjo and wondering what anyone's opinions on the quality of the book might be.
Does it talk about techniques and ornaments? Or is it more a catalog of tunes?
What other books might one recommend?
Thank you.
# Posted on June 23rd 2010 by tkr1967
Re: books for Irish tenor banjo
I would recommend,Scahills tutor,and sullys tutor
Gerrys tutor is ok, but not as detailed as the others.
undoubtedly Bronstein, and Llig would disagree with me.
# Posted on June 23rd 2010 by Dick Miles
Re: books for Irish tenor banjo
I highly recommend Enda Scahill's Irish Banjo Tutor. It's a complete tutor with 2 CDs included so you can hear the exercises, ornaments and tunes played slow and fast.
http://www.endascahill.com/Enda_Scahill/The_Tutor.html
# Posted on June 23rd 2010 by fiddlerdan
Re: books for Irish tenor banjo
cross post yz
# Posted on June 23rd 2010 by fiddlerdan
Re: books for Irish tenor banjo
I like mel bays Irish Fiddle book for tenor banjo
# Posted on June 24th 2010 by Earl Cameron
Re: books for Irish tenor banjo
I don't like any TB books, not that I've looked at any.
To my mind all trad music books/collections are tenor banjo books, get O'Neil's 1001 and spend some money on CD's that feature banjo playing. Listen to the various styles on your CD's and learn tunes from the collections, CD's etc adding ornaments as you get comfortable fitting them in on tunes you can already play and so on.
Of my top 5 banjo bods all have a different style and a different approach, thats what I'd be looking to develop rather than focusing on any one players technique.........
When I started playing banjo I asked a good banjo playing acquaintance for a tip, his tip was;
"whatever you do, don't try and play like me".
# Posted on June 24th 2010 by Solidmahog
Re: books for Irish tenor banjo
I have copies of a couple. I didn't really work my way through any of them, but I read them to see what they had to say.
I like Enda's the best, I think, and it would have helped a lot if it had been out when I first started. And I gleaned a couple of interesting points out of it. But Solidmahog is right, immerse yourself in the music. Not just banjo players, but all of it. Listen to good Irish music, and find people near you that you can play with in person, and you'll go a long way.
Then if you are finding banjo-specific issues with your playing, you can look into the tutors a bit further.
# Posted on June 24th 2010 by Reverend
Re: books for Irish tenor banjo
Agree with the listening/immersion thing.
That said, a book or DVD may be good for things that you can't pick up from listening: suggestions regarding ways of holding the pick, body/hand/instrument position, left hand fingering systems etc.
Actually, a lot of that stuff could be found from free resources such as Mike Keyes videos on Youtube for the Mel Bay Banjo Sessions.
Once you have the mechanics of the basic techniques, the best tools, IMHO, are a sh*tload of recordings of good players and some software to slow down the faster tunes so you can hear exactly where and how different players use their arsenal of techniques and ornaments.
Slow down progs that springs to mind include:
Amazing Slowdowner,
VLC Player,
Audacity,
Best Practice...
# Posted on June 24th 2010 by buddhuu
Re: books for Irish tenor banjo
"Slow down progs that springs to mind include:
Amazing Slowdowner,
VLC Player,
Audacity,
Best Practice..."
And; Transcribe, for the Macists ; )
# Posted on June 24th 2010 by Solidmahog
Re: books for Irish tenor banjo
Scahill's book is probably the best, but as the others say, it's nothing you can't teach yourself.
# Posted on June 24th 2010 by Bren
Re: books for Irish tenor banjo
I have Gerry's book and it was very helpful to me when I started out. I would recommend it. I also like Enda's book and would recommend that too however, I'm a bit more advanced of a player now so I don't know how I would have done if I started from scratch with it.
Good luck! A lot of good advice in the previous posts, listen, listen, listen!
# Posted on June 24th 2010 by drinkybanjo
Re: books for Irish tenor banjo
Thanks everyone for the input.
! I wanted a book/tutor because where I live in Canada there's a dearth of knowledgable players. There's a few guarded fiddlers, but not many plectrum players - and they're all guitarist like me :( .
I will be immersing myself totally in the music. I have been for years
Anyway, I've a lot of work ahead so if you'll excuse me...
Thanks again.
# Posted on June 24th 2010 by tkr1967
Re: books for Irish tenor banjo
I use Transcribe on my PC in windows vista, so you don't have to have a mac. I've never heard of any of the other programs, but transcribe works great, don't expect the pitch analyzer to be much help for trad as there is usually too many overtones, even in recordings of solo musicians.
# Posted on June 24th 2010 by Earl Cameron
Re: books for Irish tenor banjo
"I use Transcribe on my PC in windows vista"
True Earl, my mac bias had blurted forth to my key board and post button before I could stop myself, lol. The realization that at least 2 of the other titles run on my beloved and that when I downloaded Transcribe I recall I saw a PC version as well, were lost to my consciousness. Long held prejudice dies hard, sorry.
I like Transcribe though
# Posted on June 25th 2010 by Solidmahog
Re: books for Irish tenor banjo
I managed to get every book on the Irish tenor banjo that I could find and every DVD/tape to boot. I agree that learning from teachers and working on your own style is the most productive aspect of learning the banjo. Basically you have to do all the above if you can.
I got Enda's book about three months before I had a chance to take a workshop from him. The combination of the two was much better than either one alone, especially since I had a chance to do my homework first and then talk to him about what was learned. In addition I have some private youtubes of this workshop (if anyone is interested, email me) that i can review at my leisure.
Books on their own can only get you so far. I live in a desert as far as teachers go, but i have managed through workshops, listening to CDs, youtube, http://theirishtenorbanjo.ning.com/, reading, and playing obsessively in sessions to start to learn the instrument and define a style for myself. It is a lot of work and you can't rely on just one source for inspiration and tutelage.
The journey is worth it!!
Mike Keyes
http:///www.banjosessions.com
# Posted on June 25th 2010 by mikeyes