progess

hey guys,
been awhile now. i started my banjo lessens the other day and man its nice getting serious now. the teacher i got seems real good i mean im impressed with how he plays but i think he is mainly a guitar player cause he plays in a couple of blues bands.
we are working on cripple creek and when he started playing it it sounded great and the way ive heard it played on different cds. he says he really enjoys playing a banjo.
man i hate these rolls but i got to learn them. no getting around it. he set me up with 2 rolls for cripple creek and i just couldnt get them for nothing then all of the sudden after about an hour i started getting them to were i can play aolt of bars without messing up. i think its pretty cool.
been listening to alot of banjo tunes like sruggs, nitty gritty dirt band, etc
well thats about all i got to say for now, im going to hang in there.
stan

Try playing Foggy Mountian Special sometime, if you wish. There really ain't many rolls in that but its still scruggs. The up the neck stuf might seem hard, but you'll get better at it. And I'll admit that you can really kill strings when playing up the neck, but even Earl might have done that sometimes so don't fell to bad about it.

Good luck with your picking, fellow banjo lover!

thats funny your saying that. my teacher taught me some licks to cripple creek and said i can really have alot of fun with them and using the forward roll. well after playing them a thousand times and really getting that roll down good i started experimenting and i think i stumbled on to foggy mountian breakdown which blew me away. i not quit there yet but i hear it coming. hammers and slides are pretty cool

also im starting to get use to useing picks. i still seem to have a problem with them. my teacher told me to wear the picks for the first 10 minutes of practice everyday then take them off and have fun. i want to play with the picks and as time goes by i find myself getting more accurate with them. at first i had a real long thumb pick but got a shorter one and i seem to work it alot better.
stan

I use to have trouble with my thumbpick catching on a string by the part that goes around the top of your thumb, you know? I had to get longer thumbpicks so they would hit the head before it would catch a string, now a need to quit tapping the head with my picks, LOL.

Another problem I'm having ever now and again with my middle finger pick is that when I pick my finger goes to far down and kinda catchs on the string by the little hole in the center, although it might not sound like much, it can be a real pain when you trying to play Dear Ol Dixie (which I have yet to master) which relys quite a bit (at least on certain parts) on fast bottom string melody line picking by the middle finger. Maybe my hand position ain't right.

Anyway, good luck!

Well, all I can say is practice makes perfect, or at least as close to perfect as you can get on a banjo! LOL

hey guys,
its been awhile since ive posted. since the last time i did my playing has improved 10 fold. the teacher im using has really pushed me along and my addiction has just gotten overwhelming also. im very confordable with different rolls and playing up the neck. i seem to be picking up the lesson alot more easier. what an amazing instrutment. i have a morgan mornoe and really getting to know this banjo. other than a little fret work on the 4th and 5th string it plays sweet. my teacher also does the set up. just had a couple of buzzing frets which he took care of. i find myself practicing everyday at least 2 to 3 hours a day. i will play a banjo for the rest of my life. hoping next year to start looking into getting into a bluegrass band.
talk later
stan the blue grass man lol

Glad your liking it and it sounds like its coming along well!