Salty Dog Blues

Salty dog blues has become one of those tunes I love to play. It's become a practice tune which lets me work around the finger board. This version combines open chord forms with four finger chords and barre chords and I like to play it till I've had enough - or everyone else has.
The chords are a ragtime progression E7, A, D7, G. It's a Flatt & Scruggs standard but I like the more bluesy and ragtime versions by artists like Mississippi John Hurt.

Folly - Chris Knott

Really like this little guitar tune by Chris Knott over at Strikes a chord on Posterous

Instruments part 3

Windsor Popular No2

 This has been my main banjo for almost four years. It's a Windsor Popular No2, made in Birmingham UK in the 1930s, and compared to the Collins it plays like a dream. It's got a brass covered pot and the extra weight means to just sits there waiting to be played. It's got a nice action, and I now realise what people are on about when they say it plays itself. It's come from the stable of Stan Gee www.stangee.co.uk (see links) who has a number of instruments on his website.

I don't know what it is about vintage instruments but I love them. They come with history and a few knocks. This banjo and been re-fretted and restored at some point and the inlays have been changed to make it look like a Windsor Popular No1 - apparently.  They didn't do such a great job though and at some point I'd love to take it to a luthier and get those things put right.

Despite all that, I haven't picked up a more expensive new instrument with anything like the sound or feel that this banjo has. It cost  around £200 and feels more and more like a bargain. The only time I've played a modern instrument that felt comparable it cost best part of a £1,000.00. I continue to play it most days and my wife looks at it with a shade of jealously, often 'joking' that 'I'd leave her for that banjo.'
This is what she sounds like. (the banjo not the wife)

Instruments part 2

Blue Moon F-hole tenor Ukulele

Once I'd got the fundamentals of the banjo down I started to realise that the skills you learn on one instrument can transfer to others, especially if you combine that with a bit of basic music theory. Once you know why you do what you do with chords and scales etc it becomes easier to work out how you can do those things on others stringed instruments.

 I loved the pear shaped body and the slightly chunkier feel of this tenor ukulele and it means that you don't feel like a giant playing a kiddies instrument. It has a great sound and felt really easy to play. It's size means that it can be restrung as a baritone and its possible to tune it the same way as a banjo.

This became my holiday instrument and it went away with me lots of times.

Alas it too has also moved on.

Instruments part 1

I've been working on a few permanent pages for the blog and the first one is a record of the various instruments I've owned, made or borrowed.

Collins CB5 Bluegrass Banjo
This was my first banjo. I bought it unseen and untouched. It wasn't quite on a whim as I'd been harbouring a secret wish to play the banjo for a couple of years, but had always found a reason not to. I watched a programme featuring Frank Skinner trying to learn to play, which was part of a series on BBC about learning a musical instrument and this both inspired me and put me off at the same time. I didn't want people to think I'd started to play because of Frank - even though I had to an extent.

I had a £100.00 one Christmas and was tempted to buy Guitar Hero as a load of my mates had got it, and it seemed like good digital fun, but while surfin the net I found that I had enough for a proper instrument, and not long after I was pressing 'submit'. I know that everyone says you should always play any instrument before you buy it, but I hadn't played anything before and music shops can be a bit intimidating if you haven't got a clue what you are doing. Anyway the price fit my budget £100 which meant I could afford a tuner as well, so I bought it. It served me well for a year and it's a great instrument to learn on, also the price means that if you don't take it up you haven't broke the bank.

I managed to stick with it and I was hooked. I'd had a tricky a couple of years before and I found that playing and really practising gave me a sense of calm and took me out of myself. It still does and playing alone, but most of all with other people is one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. It's a lot harder than Guitar Hero, though!

The Collins has moved on to someone else now - but you always remember your first.

A Thirty Year Pause

Graham writes;

Andy,

I learnt to frail and play clawhammer banjo about 40 years ago from a man called Stan Gee. I stopped playing over 30 years ago but never quite got around to selling my Gibson Longneck or the banjo I made. About nine months ago I went to a folk night with my son in Stranraer where he lives, it was a round the room everybody either playing an instrument or singing and I was embarrassed because I couldn't play or sing. It spurred me on to start playing again and I have been enjoying playing since then. I've been back to the folk club and played and sang as my turn came around.

The main difference I have found in relearning old time banjo tunes is U Tube, it is so good at demonstrating how tunes are played. 30 years ago we had records and tablature books but live performances were pretty thin on the ground. I can now learn a tune and play along with someone on U tube. I have quite a few vinyl records that I collected at that time including records by Art Rosenbaum, Doc Bogs, Rufus Crisp, Derrol Adams, Hedy West and bands such as the deseret string band and The Fuzzy Mountain String Band.

This time around I am restricting myself to frailing and clawhammer because all those years ago I decided to learn three finger picking and I found it very difficult. I think it was this that gradually cheesed me off and eventually I gave up alltogether.

 I came across your web site while trying to find some tablature for the coal creek march. I have a version by Doc Bogs and I have heard and seen it played on Utube so I thought I would learn to play it and tab makes the job that much easier.

 Regards,

 Graham

Graham, I'm a big fan of Stan Gee he taught me too - what a fella! I've always been a bit intimidated at proper folk clubs and I've not really got any confidence in my ability to sing. I only hope, with your example in mind, that I can keep going for 40 years and still find new pleasure in the banjo and music. As I always say send me audio or video and share. Welcome back after a 30 year rest.

Thanks Harry

Hi, Found your blog last night and thought I would write to say that I found it quite inspiring. I have not really explored the whole log as I can only connect to the net for a while in the evening when I visit my friend and I have not tried to save any pages yet to see if they still work when saved.

I bought a banjo a long time ago when I lived in Glasgow and tried to play bluegrass style but failed. I could not pick out the melody. I now live in northern Scotland and "found" my banjo again a few weeks ago and started to play again but this time in clawhammer style. I then found Patrick Costello's web pages and have become hooked again. If only the Internet had been available when I first started everything would have been so easy. The young generation are so very fortunate to have such a tool at their command I hope they appreciate it and use it. Thanks for taking the trouble to write your blog and sharing your experience with everyone.

Harry

Harry - Many thanks, its always nice to get feedback. i followed a similar route into playing banjo, but was fortunate enough to find Patrick's site just as I was getting disillusioned with bluegrass/three finger style. The hardest aprt is getting through the mechanical phase when everything sounds forced, with enough practice the strange frailing technique becomes second nature. i remember the day it happened and I watched my hand 'play' of its own accord. I ran around the house telling everyone and they were suitably underwhelmed!

Keep at it,

Andy

now with added cowbell!

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3 Track Recording on my i Phone

I recorded this on my phone this evening. Using Amplitube on my i phone which includes multi-track recording - as a FREE app!!

Uncle Dave Macon

This one's for Carl - I think we need us one of them dance powered organ thingy-bobs!