Everyone wants to learn faster, but most people who buy banjos don’t get very far with them. This is because learning the banjo takes concentration and hard work and that just doesn’t sound very fun. If you accept the fact that you are going to have to put in an effort, you can move on and start really learning. If you start each practice session thinking you will never be able to play,or just thinking about other things during your practice times, you will not get much out of it.
My goals as a banjo player are simple - to become more proficient, so I can express myself more easily with the banjo. I want to explore all the possibilities that I can with this instrument, not just Dueling Banjos, Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Man of Constant Sorrow and The Ballad of Jed Clampett (although these songs have been played to death, I am still inspired by them to this day). There is a lot to learn, so you have to make the most of your time.
The only way to get better on an instrument is to practice, and to really get the most out of the banjo, you need to learn a lot, which means finding time to practice. Time is one of the key ingredients to get better - you have to reprogram your brain to play the banjo - you won’t just know how to play automatically. Repetition over a long period of time is how you do this - this is also known as practice.
Time is necessary to get better, but the amount of time to learn to play can be reduced by using this time wisely. How can you use your time more wisely? - here’s how:
- Practice regularly.
- Use Method Books, DVDs, or an Instructor if you have access to one.
- Focus - concentrate on what you are doing - give it 100%.
Okay, we have some key points about practicing, but let’s dig a little deeper. Regular practice is extremely important - learning needs repetition, you have to repeat the same exercise many times before it becomes natural and comfortable. It takes at least 30 days to change a habit, so to learn something new, you’re going to have to put in some serious effort as often as you can. If you can practice daily that’s great, if not, practice as often as you can. The more often you practice the better you get, it’s that simple.
You often hear people say; “I’m self taught” or ” I taught myself to play”, this may be true, but the majority of banjo players have used some kind of learning method to help them along. A good Banjo method, whether it is an instructor (the best option), a DVD, CD, book, hand written notes from articles or the internet is necessary to keep you moving ahead and learning. This leads us to the next topic: Focus. Here is a link to some books to help you along - Ten Great Books to Learn to Play the Banjo
This one sounds pretty simple: concentrate on what you are doing, but focus is often overlooked. I hear people brag, “I practice six hours a day”. If this practice time is not organized and productive you might be getting less out of six hours than someone practicing for thirty minutes.
Practice time is maximized by concentrating; paying close attention to everything you play will allow you to quit wasting time glossing over problems and give you more time to improve your playing.I have learned a song well enough to play with a group and performed it many times before I stopped and polished it up and fixed the trouble spots. This is where focus and attention to detail come in, the trouble spots are really just the parts of the song you didn’t quite finish learning. If you can zoom in on tricky passages, roll up your sleeves and work hard to get it right, then you can apply this same intensity to all of your practice time. Let’s examine what I do to solve a trouble spot, this will teach you to focus.
I’m sure everyone has a part of a song that just doesn’t quite work, it’s not terrible but it’s not great either. When I look close, I usually find that I’m not really confident in what I am playing. If I am not 100% confident and know exactly what I want to play then I guess it stands to reason that this part of song will be weaker and it will be noticeable. This is the time when focus becomes important, you have to find the problem and answer the question - Why can’t I play this part of the song? A little bit of investigation is in order - find the spot that you don’t like and determine the problem. Isolate the notes and the fingers you are picking with and see what is making you stumble. Sometimes it is using the same finger twice, or an unusual series of notes that you don’t use often, it can be almost anything that is giving you a problem, you just have to find it.
The first thing you have to do is play the passage that is giving you trouble, but don’t rush - articulate each note. This will lead you right to your problem. Now work through it one note at a time. That’s right, play the first note, then play the first and second together, and so on until you are back into some territory that you know. It’s actually very simple; find a problem and solve it, then work it back into the rest of the song, but it takes effort and concentration.
If you can concentrate and really focus on a single measure, you can use this same level of concentration to your advantage when you practice as well. The next time you practice, keep your mind on what you are doing and don’t let yourself gloss over the trouble spots and watch your banjo playing improve by leaps and bounds.
RELATED POSTS:
A Great Way to Improve Your Banjo Playing
Using TAB to Learn a Song on the Banjo
Subscribe to the Banjoblogger.com Feed
Popularity: 25% [?]
Listening to an all Bluegrass channel on the radio exposes you to a lot of different styles of bluegrass, a band that I always enjoy hearing is The Lost and Found. What a great sound, and what a tight band; these guys play with passion and definitely have a unique style.
or pick up the Earl Scruggs and the 5-string Banjo book with the TAB and learn it ( Click on the Picture in the middle of the post). I already have the book and the music and have started the learning process. Here are three more reasons to learn D Tuning:
