What other instruments are you playin'?

[Bottomgottem]

I took piano as a kid and played trombone through Jr. High. I have retained absolutely none of that skill.

 

My drummer and I have recently picked up banjos. (No North Carolina related banjo jokes, please.) That is a great deal of fun, though it shames me to say that my drummer has progressed farther than I have.

[Dave Gallagher]

Bagpipes.

 

You can see me here:

 

www.stlouisirishpiper.com

[way2fat]

Bottemgottem - Intersting, my drummer and I play banjos too. He plays clawhammer and I play Scruggs.

[Gab]

I started out on guitar about 8 years ago. I was on a scholarship abroad and wanted to impress my girlfriend on return.

 

I switched to bass 2 years later mostly due to listening to RHCP and Jamiroquai + there were always too many guitarists around.

 

After rehearsing with a band for the first time, i got into drums: i used to play with it during the breaks. In the end i bought a drumset for fooling around (ca. 4-5 years ago) which i still have, but plan to sell sooner or later.

 

I am seriously considering keyboards as well, but am lacking in the bass departmnent so much that it just don't seem right at the moment.

[Bottomgottem]

Originally posted by way2fat:

Bottemgottem - Intersting, my drummer and I play banjos too. He plays clawhammer and I play Scruggs.

Same here. He's clawhammer; I'm Scruggs (except for me sucking at it).

 

Freaky!

[Gab]

Originally posted by Bottomgottem:

Originally posted by way2fat:

Bottemgottem - Intersting, my drummer and I play banjos too. He plays clawhammer and I play Scruggs.

Same here. He's clawhammer; I'm Scruggs (except for me sucking at it).

 

Freaky!

Out of sheer curiousity: what's all this clawhammer and scruggs stuff You're all talking about?

[Dave Brown]

Banjo technique on a bass forum?

 

Clawhammer is a style of hammering chords on a banjo; Scruggs, named for Earl Scruggs, is a fingerstyle cross-picking method.

 

At least, I think that's right.

[HowieKrishna]

I started out on bass when I was about 11 or 12, then switched over to acoustic guitar at about 16 (hey, it was the 70s and that whole "sensitive singer-songwriter" fad got the girls every time!). At 19 I went electric and played rhythm guitar in a number of punk and New Wave bands (need any safety pins or skinny ties?). By the time the 90s came around I had sobered up and went crawling back to my first love... and my bass has been good to me ever since.

 

I also sing and play keyboards.

[Tenstrum]

Originally posted by Dave Brown:

Banjo technique on a bass forum?

 

Clawhammer is a style of hammering chords on a banjo; Scruggs, named for Earl Scruggs, is a fingerstyle cross-picking method.

 

At least, I think that's right.

You would be correct.

Although we mostly refer to it as cross-picking or Scrugss style or "Dang, that feller sure can play a banjer..."

 

I also play a little Mandolin myself...make that very little....

[way2fat]

Tenstrum- As far as I know there is no banjo picking style called cross-picking, but I have heard the term in relation to the mondolin.

 

Dave- Clawhammer-related styles go back to the earliest days of the Banjo in the US as opposed to Scruggs style, (always remove your hat and speak with hushed and reverent tones when invoking the name of Earl Scruggs), which was developed by his Earlness and others in the 30's and 40's. Clawhammer, Frailing, Drop-thumb and related styles were developed to provide rythymic accompaniment(?) to a fiddle, since back then a "band" was often just a fiddle and a Banjo. Scruggs style was developed to play in a bluegrass band and usually plays something that isn't exactly the melody but is pretty close- fiddles and mandolins usually play the melody while the banjo kind of hops around on top of them- and to me doesn't work as well solo, it sounds a lot better with a guitar.

 

Bottem- The parallels are striking, I'm not that good at it either and my drummer is pretty good, especially since he's been going to festivals in east Tennessee like Uncle dave Macon Days since he bacame a huge fan of Stringbean. Quick story - Lester managed to meet Lee Roy Troy at one of these events and hook himself up with lessons. One day as he and Lee Roy are playing, Lee Roy stops and says "Hey let's go over to Marty Stuart's house. He don't live far from here." So they did and Lester sat and watched Lee Roy and Marty Stuart play fiddles, banjos, guitars, and mandolins for about an hour.

[Gab]

Originally posted by Tenstrum:

Originally posted by Dave Brown:

Banjo technique on a bass forum?

 

Clawhammer is a style of hammering chords on a banjo; Scruggs, named for Earl Scruggs, is a fingerstyle cross-picking method.

 

At least, I think that's right.

You would be correct.

Although we mostly refer to it as cross-picking or Scrugss style or "Dang, that feller sure can play a banjer..."

 

I also play a little Mandolin myself...make that very little....

Thanks folks! No banjos around here, i guess it will stay among one of those instruments i won't master during this lifetime. Along with bass and all the rest.

[Tenstrum]

Originally posted by way2fat:

Tenstrum- As far as I know there is no banjo picking style called cross-picking, but I have heard the term in relation to the mondolin.

I think you're confused.

Cross picking (at least in my neck of the woods) is mostly associated with the banjo, mainly in a chromatic style. However, it can pretty much be performed on any stringed instrument.

At lot of people also refer to Clawhammer as Minstrel style playing.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001FGBHA/qid=1135882226/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-3515802-7148936?v=glance&s=music

Scroll down and click on the Foggy Mountain Breakdown or Earl's Breakdown samples.

 

As for the Mandolin, think Bill Monroe...

[g.]

Being Mr Typo, it still pains me to see the title for this topic. I fully expect the human race to be replaced by sea slugs as the dominant species if this is not addressed before the next major climatic shift ; }

[way2fat]

I must be confused, I've never heard the term related to banjo, let alone as a synonym for Scruggs style. I thought it was done with a flat-pick. Judging by your location you should know better than me, so I'll just say thanks for getting me straightened out.

[Dave Brown]

Well, I didn't mean cross-picking exactly. It is played with finger picks, but what I was really referring to is the alternate finger, thumb style that is, as Tenstrum pointed out, "banjer playin'." Whoa doggie.

 

I got me a banjo and a book once and farted around with it for a while. It seems to me to be very similar to bass slap technique, making Bela Fleck and Vic Wooten twin sons of different mothers.

 

And okay, Greenboy. I'll get my moderator hat out.

[g.]

Ah, just make the original poster do it himself. With his nose. I do that all the time to correct my typos. The nose knows.

[way2fat]

Interesting, I'd never noticed parallel between slap-bass and clawhammer style because I mostly play finger style bass and Scruggs style banjo, but that is a very keen observation.

[Bassplayerjoe]

I first started off wanting to be a guitar player. I tok a few lessons and realized I was terrible. Then I started bass because that was the missing piece for the band and I loved it, bass is amazing. I also play drums in my spare time. I just bought a used set about two months ago. But the drums don't even come close to how much I enjoy playing bass. It will always be my instrument!!!

[Tenstrum]

Originally posted by Dave Brown:

Well, I didn't mean cross-picking exactly.

I thought that cross-picking implied a triplet style of finger picking.

Maybe I'm wrong???

 

At any rate.

My dad plays with a 'banjer picker' that specializes in doing chromatic runs all over the place. Dang, he can play...

 

We are going to do a home recording at the end of February. I'll be sure to post some good tidbits once we get it finished.

[UTS-D]

Does Xbox count?

[way2fat]

Tenstrum, if you want to hear guy that that can light up both the banjo and the electric geetar, and who was crossing bluegrass over before Bela Fleck and New Grass Revival, search out Eddie Adcock. If your dad is near my age (51) he's probably heard of him. He is the real deal.