Bluegrass
Banjo: Transitioning to the Next Level.
By Ben Freed
People who take the step of calling a banjo
teacher for lessons generally fall into two categories: First, there are the
beginners that have little or no background in banjo and are interested in
starting from step one. They usually start with Cripple Creek or something
similar and need to be guided by the teacher on basic concepts and technique.
The second category is made up of those
individuals who could be called advanced beginners or intermediate level players
and are interested in moving up to a more advanced level of playing. They often
state that they are stuck with a handful of solos and picking patterns and
need guidance to improve to the point where they can play along easily with
others, improvise and make up their own solos to songs. After having watched
advanced players perform and improvise effortlessly, they want to know how to do
it and they want to do it soon.
Here are ten suggestions directed towards
those who want to transition to the next level:
- Be patient with your progress. Making the
transition to the next level on bluegrass banjo does not happen in a
short period of time, certainly not within a year. It is a multi-year
project that occurs gradually. If you can accept this fact and be patient
with your steady progress over the years, you will make the
transition in time. No competent player learned to improvise or play a solo
extemporaneously without spending quite a number of years in a growth
period. Actually, the best players will tell you that the growth process
lasts a lifetime.
- Familiarize yourself with the classic recordings
of all the important players, not just the one or two most famous ones.
While it may not be possible to be exposed to each and every standard,
you should begin the process of expanding your repertoire of tunes by
listening as much as possible over an extended period to the body of works
that make up this genre. This is also a multi-year process. You can begin
this by checking out my book of solos(Ben's
Personal Tab Collection::One Hundred Essential Bluegrass Banjo Solos
- Work with a real teacher. A good teacher is
indispensable and will 1. correct your bad technical habits, 2. show you new
repertoire using tablature and recordings, 3. teach you some theory and
expand your knowledge of the fingerboard, and, perhaps most importantly, 4.
inspire you towards improvement. Keep in mind that 90% of the learning
process will be achieved by you on your own, while the teacher is there to
keep you on the right track. You may not be able to commit to weekly
lessons, but good personal guidance, even if only on an intermittent basis,
will be invaluable. Check this
international list of BLUEGRASS BANJO teachers
- Record yourself while practicing, and then listen
back. This feedback technique is invaluable for selfadjusting any
possible timing and articulation deficiencies.
- Make up arrangements of songs you know already.
This might take a few hours of practice per song, but is well worth the
exercise. Show your variation to your teacher for modifications and advice.
- Compose your own original melodies. Most people
who write originals do this by just sitting down and casually messing around
with the banjo, or noodling. Composing your own songs doesnt mean
they must be performed publicly, but it is a great way of learning the
fingerboard and developing your improvisational style. If youre not sure
where to begin, you can start by simply copying the ideas in a song you
already know.
- Learn to play the classic repertoire, which is
made up of a few hundred standard solos. A good player will be familiar with most
of the classic bluegrass banjo solos and be able to call them up from memory
in a few minutes. This process, again, takes many years. Its not a bad
idea to play carefully through your whole repertoire every time you
practice. Even if your goal is not mastery, understand that all students of
musical performance are encouraged to learn the classic repertoire of their
instrument, whether it is jazz piano, Irish fiddle, classical guitar, or
bluegrass banjo. Accept that this is an important aspect of transitioning to
advanced levels of playing and take it on as a multi-year project. Check
out.Ben's
Personal Tab Collection::One Hundred Essential Bluegrass Banjo Solos
- Learn multitrack recording: Multitrack(sound-on-sound)
recording can be done nowadays on an affordable cassette recorders(under
$200) or high priced digital audio workstations, and home computers.
Without getting into the details here of how its done, suffice it to say
that learning sound-on-sound recording techniques is invaluable in
developing a variety of skills on your instrument, including control,
dynamics and timing. It also presents the opportunity to dub in other
instruments, which will give you an appreciation for the harmonic and
rhythmic support needed to back up your instrument. Also, a little knowledge
of studio engineering is useful for any musician.
- Practice every day. For generations much has
been said about the value of practice, so without reinventing the wheel
here, lets say that for bluegrass banjo students, modest but real
progress can be made if a daily 30 minute commitment is made. I should add,
however, that students of mine who end up actually playing at a high level,
come back to say they have actually been practicing 2-3 hours a day.
Thats when practicing becomes most enjoyable. Dont forget occasional
work with a metronome.
- Play music with other musicians. For real
musical growth, there is perhaps no substitute whatsoever for playing with
other musicians on a regular basis.
- Perform publicly. If you can find a venue to
perform in front of a live audience, you will hopefully use the opportunity
to ratchet-up your abilities a level or two.
Back to home page for learning Bluegrass Banjo
benfreed@optonline.net