Whats the difference ?

[bilbo]

Hi Guys n Girls, greetings from sunny Scotland, I'm playing away and getting better I think, anyway I am confused, As you all probably do I tune in to various online sites and YouTube to get tips on how to play better, Patrick and his dear old Dad have been a big help ( although they dont know it ).
I've also developed a liking for a guy called Rob Boussarra, he does good teaching sessions too, and a Lady by the name of Casey Henry too.
Anyway the thing is, these folk all teach you to play the same tune differently, so, the question is, which one is right ? do I go with the Patrick frailing style of '' Cripple Creek '' or do i go with the totally different version offered by one of the other practicioners ?
Or do I keep doing what I've sort of ended up doing and that is to take bits and pieces of all of them and cobble them together into a version that sounds best to me.

I'd think it was funny if some banjo purist came up to me in a couple of years and declared I was '' Doing it all wrong '' as it seems to me we have a free-for-all out there.

What do you lot do, do you religiously follow a banjo guru to the exclusion of anyone else ? or do you muddle along the same as me.

Ive also seen you guys in action on some of the UKfolkies YouTube videos and pretty good guys, I like it a lot, keep picking and maybe we'll all pick together some day.

[reels]

"take bits and pieces of all of them and cobble them together into a version that sounds best to me." You've answered your own question I reckon.

I'm not a fan of any purist philosphy anyway. If 5 people agree on everything all the time then 4 of them are unnecessary.

[bilbo]

Yeah thanks reels mate, Its not just the styles that are different in many cases but its the actual notes, its an interesting concept that allows us to add little bits in here and there just because we ourselves like them.
I mean imagine trying that one on with my piano teacher when I was a kid, '' But Miss, I think this sounds so much more interesting than that Mozart dude wrote it '' ----shed have went on a fit and whacked me on the back of the hand with a ruler.

[Danny]

Hi Bilbo

Several interesting points here really.

1st, different teachers teach different styles, all perectly valid of course. Patrick Costello for instance teaches frailing style, while Casey Henry (btw the woman in the video is Murphy Henry, Casey is her daughter, who happens to have a youtube account) teaches bluegrasss style picking

As a beginner you should, in my humble opinion find a style/technique that works for you and go at that exclusively.

It's also worth examining the motives of the teachers. Some people teach for the love of the art and craft of playing the banjo, others to try and sell books and dvd's.

Murphy/Casey Henry, as good as she/they may be are dvd sellers, all their youtube stuff is, is basically an advert for the stuff they want you to pay for.

Others (Style and personality aside here) teach for the love of the craft and the desire to share it with all and sundry for the sheer joy of the love of the music and the desire to keep that going.

Oh, and a word to the wise, if you ever see the name 'Mel Bay' RUN AS FAR AS YOUR LEGS WILL CARRY YOU, THEN KEEP ON CRAWLING

Hope I didn't come off like a preacher, but I learned a lot (ok, all) of these lessons the hard way.

Feel free to reply, or indeed contact me via the PM option

Danny

[bilbo]

Thanks Danny -- I know it makes sense to concentrate on one style, fact is I get the most satisfaction from playing in a frailing style, and I get most sense of achievement when I have mastered something in the bluegrass style, just now I'm working my way through an online lesson of many parts by Rob Bourassa of the old banjo tune '' Old Joe Clark '' its very tricky but I love doing it.
Equally I love frailing away in a basic sense and have a sort of playlist which i work through consisting of '' Loch Lomond '' , '' Red River Valley '' and '' The Bonnie Lass Of fyvie O '' and a few others.
I know there are a lot of sharks out there selling DVD's and books and stuff, and that's not neccessarily a bad thing if its done in a tasteful manner and value for money is being offered at the end of the day.
My main concern is learning well and not picking up any bad advice and habits which will come back to haunt me later.

I think I'll go sit in a darkened room and play '' Worried Man Blues '' for a while.

[patrick]

I don't really have a "style" for Cripple Creek. The song is what it is and I improvise within that framework every time I play it.

-Patrick

[ned]

Hello mate.
Just listen to the bloke playing your banjo, if you like what you hear enjoy it.
If you dont like it change it your way untill it sounds good to you.
It is your music after all.
Even if you are as bad as me ENJOY what you do.
Learn from every teacher , but stay yourself. .
We all aim for perfection , but it has yet to be acheived.
Get your own style down the way YOU like it , and then experiment with the other stuff.
Apart from that Dont eat yellow snow.

Pete

[Danny]

Jun 7, 2009 19:04:26 GMT ned said:

Dont eat yellow snow.

'Cos that's where the huskies go