Whiskey in the Jar - Tenor Banjo

I feel like I'm starting to make progress with the new tenor banjo. As with learning any new instrument it can be a bit disheartening at first but if you keep your head down and keep practicing it starts to come together. The hardest thing for me has been learning to play with a plectrum, it feels so weird after years of frailing! This sounds a bit rushed and clanky but that's because I was enjoying the fact that I've nailed the melody and I was hanging on for dear life. A bit more practice will breathe a bit of nuance and life into it. It sounds really high pitched because I'm playing in D on a standard CGDA tenor - its a long story!

I worked it our from the notation on Martin Daris' Irish music site http://www.martindardis.com/id804.html
which has loads of good stuff on it.

Dirty Old Town 5 String and Tenor banjo

We are working on a set for a St Patrick's night gig in March an we are going back over some old tunes and looking at some Irish songs that we've not done before. I expect we'll be playing this one along with Streams of Whiskey, Wild Rover, Whiskey in the Jar and a load of other stuff that we'll be borrowing form the Dubliners. Anyway I had a go a multi-tracking the 5-string and tenor banjos on Dirty Old Town.

Tenor v 5 String Banjo

I'm getting to grips with the finger board on my new tenor banjo and following some of the exercises in Gerry O'Connor's book Irish Tenor Banjo. One of the first tunes he looks at is The Wild Rover and I've been working on getting my little pinky finger into action as I don't use it that often playing the 5 string.
Here's the tune on the tenor and on the 5 string as a comparison.

Tenor


5 string

New Arrivals and a Repreive

Ashbury AB-65T Tenor Banjo 4 string, maple rim & resonator, rolled brass tone ring, presto style tailpiece.

I've been thinking about getting a tenor banjo for a wee while and this week the banjo lust wass too much to resist. So, I bravely soldiered out in the teeth of the storm (not - I live oop north and was only a light breeze for us) with my brother to Hobgoblin Music in Leeds. I'd played a  couple of Ashbury tenors at the Wadebridge shop and was really inpressed with the 45, 55 and 65 range £300-£600. I'd set my sights on a 55 open back which would have set me back £400+ so I was prepared to trade in my Windsor Popular to make a it a bit more digestible for Mrs NBB. I know one had gone on ebay recently for £250.

Carl was disgusted that I would even consider trading in an instrument as its an emotional thing for him. He like to hang on to his babies and he clearly likes an instrument in every room. Not that he's precious, I've never seen so many bin bags arrive at a gig before concealing mandolins, guitars and bass. 

Anyway the guys at hobgoblin where great. Not sniffy or stand-offish in anyway in fact they were very honest and open about their stock, and happy to chat. They were also really up front about the trade-in value they could offer for the Windsor and what you'd have to spend on a new banjo to get the same sound ie £600. I didn't need much encouragement to hang on to it and as they did have any AB-55s in stock I gave the 65T a whirl and loved its sound. Its a resonator model tuned CGDA at the moment but it just felt right straight away. Brighter than the Goodtimes that they had in and at £299.00 inside the price I'd planned to spend with the trade-in.

So I've now got a instrument stand that includes a new AB65T alongside the Windsor and Rutherford. The new a strange world of playing with a pick is something that I'm trying to get used to, so I'll post some sound when I'm happier with a bit of plastic between my fingers. Carl managed to come home with a mountain Dulcimer which is a bit like a violin crossed with a canoe - I think I got away lucky.