Firstly, apologies for starting a new discussion on an old topic - but it seems in order to contribute to an existing discussion you have to csroll to the end of it. This would take
about a week on my PC...
Anyway, for anyone interested I'd like to share my thoughts on
fingerpicking the tenor banjo.
As one contributor says, it's nothing new (even though I've never encountered anyone else doing it in the nearly 40 years I've been attending traditional music sessions). I've been experimenting with this technique on and off since the mid-70s.I play tenor banjo exclusively in this style now. Why? Because I can better articulate what I feel I want to play. Banjo
triplets etc are, now, much easier to execute. The tone produced is somwhere between the 'Sully' thimble sound and conventional plectrum style. I've also found that 'normal' finger picks do not give an satisfactory tone (ie plastic thumb pick, two metal fingerpicks). I use a 'speedpick' on the thumb and two heavy duty, modified, plastic fingerpicks (and a wider-than-usual string spacing). Admittedly I find fingerstyle relatively easy since I've been a 5-string player since the late 60s...
++Another contributor said that you would be unlikely to be heard in a session. Nonsense. I play in sessions throughout the NW (England) and can be as audible as any other musician (had some great sessions in Longford this year too!).
I use conventioanl Irish tuning - it doesn't seem to make sense to me to use an 'open' tuning as this seriously restricts what you can contribute to a session in as much as , typically, a set of tunes can flit between any number of keys.
I am working on a non-commercial recording and will have a CD of Irsh Fingerstyle banjo ready in the not-to-distant future.
I would be happy to email a sample tune to anyone interested to hear this technique.
all the best
Gordon Johnston
Some of the best tonal sounds one could ever get from a banjo are those produced by finger picking, preferably without finger picks in my view. I've played Bluegrass in the past and I prefer not to use finger picks.
A great exponent of finger picking in Irish music is Bela Fleck, who includes this in a tutoring video I saw a while back. It was mainly concerned with Bluegrass but Irish styles were demonstrated quite well. I think he still used open tuning though.
Iv'e been doing this for years too,but not at sessions.I use a light plastic thumbpick and two metal fingerpicks.It seems to work on my banjo.Standard tuning for the Irish stuff and open tunings for the American fiddle tunes.I started out as a fingerpicking guitarist and it's just easier for me.I play the mandolin and bouzouki with a plectrum but I'm still having trouble with the triplets even after all these years.Let me know when your cd is ready.
Are we talking Irish Trad here? There is a long tradition of flat picking tenor banjo, especially as related to triplets. Gerry O'Connor, when he plays traditional banjo is a good example. He anchors the fifth finger. He has a great MadForTrad tutorial CD ROM published.
I would be interested in hearing your CD when it is ready - I have dabbled with various thumbpicks which I have made using a flatpick riveted to a cutdown thumbpick, which is useful to free up the fingers for slower tunes, or accompaniment, while still allowing flatpicking when the tunes speed up, without having to change back to flatpick
Generally, I still use the normal flatpick though
Fingerstyle tenor banjo
Fingerstyle tenor banjo
Firstly, apologies for starting a new discussion on an old topic - but it seems in order to contribute to an existing discussion you have to csroll to the end of it. This would take
about a week on my PC...
Anyway, for anyone interested I'd like to share my thoughts on
fingerpicking the tenor banjo.
As one contributor says, it's nothing new (even though I've never encountered anyone else doing it in the nearly 40 years I've been attending traditional music sessions). I've been experimenting with this technique on and off since the mid-70s.I play tenor banjo exclusively in this style now. Why? Because I can better articulate what I feel I want to play. Banjo
triplets etc are, now, much easier to execute. The tone produced is somwhere between the 'Sully' thimble sound and conventional plectrum style. I've also found that 'normal' finger picks do not give an satisfactory tone (ie plastic thumb pick, two metal fingerpicks). I use a 'speedpick' on the thumb and two heavy duty, modified, plastic fingerpicks (and a wider-than-usual string spacing). Admittedly I find fingerstyle relatively easy since I've been a 5-string player since the late 60s...
++Another contributor said that you would be unlikely to be heard in a session. Nonsense. I play in sessions throughout the NW (England) and can be as audible as any other musician (had some great sessions in Longford this year too!).
I use conventioanl Irish tuning - it doesn't seem to make sense to me to use an 'open' tuning as this seriously restricts what you can contribute to a session in as much as , typically, a set of tunes can flit between any number of keys.
I am working on a non-commercial recording and will have a CD of Irsh Fingerstyle banjo ready in the not-to-distant future.
I would be happy to email a sample tune to anyone interested to hear this technique.
all the best
Gordon Johnston
# Posted on October 26th 2005 by jambo123
Re: Fingerstyle tenor banjo
Some of the best tonal sounds one could ever get from a banjo are those produced by finger picking, preferably without finger picks in my view. I've played Bluegrass in the past and I prefer not to use finger picks.
A great exponent of finger picking in Irish music is Bela Fleck, who includes this in a tutoring video I saw a while back. It was mainly concerned with Bluegrass but Irish styles were demonstrated quite well. I think he still used open tuning though.
I'd certainly like to hear a sample from you:
Terryk@postmaster co.uk
# Posted on October 26th 2005 by halfirish
Re: Fingerstyle tenor banjo
Iv'e been doing this for years too,but not at sessions.I use a light plastic thumbpick and two metal fingerpicks.It seems to work on my banjo.Standard tuning for the Irish stuff and open tunings for the American fiddle tunes.I started out as a fingerpicking guitarist and it's just easier for me.I play the mandolin and bouzouki with a plectrum but I'm still having trouble with the triplets even after all these years.Let me know when your cd is ready.
# Posted on October 26th 2005 by dafydd
Re: Fingerstyle tenor banjo
I'm interested to hear what this sounds like! Why not post an mp3 on Jim Doran's mightycraiconline?
# Posted on October 26th 2005 by patrick cavanagh
Re: Fingerstyle tenor banjo
Finger picking on a 5 string bajo sounds great but in my opinion on a tenor doesnt sound that good, best sound i think is with the plec
# Posted on October 26th 2005 by Conor88
Re: Fingerstyle tenor banjo
Are we talking Irish Trad here? There is a long tradition of flat picking tenor banjo, especially as related to triplets. Gerry O'Connor, when he plays traditional banjo is a good example. He anchors the fifth finger. He has a great MadForTrad tutorial CD ROM published.
# Posted on October 29th 2005 by CeolCairdeas
Re: Fingerstyle tenor banjo
I would be interested in hearing your CD when it is ready - I have dabbled with various thumbpicks which I have made using a flatpick riveted to a cutdown thumbpick, which is useful to free up the fingers for slower tunes, or accompaniment, while still allowing flatpicking when the tunes speed up, without having to change back to flatpick
Generally, I still use the normal flatpick though
# Posted on October 30th 2005 by Enob