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I was hanging around the Banjo Hangout this afternoon and read an interesting post about a video. What would make this video of great interest to banjo players, you ask? Great Banjo players, of course.

Earl Scruggs, J.D. Crowe, Alan Munde, Sonny Osborne, Don Stover, and Bill Emerson and a few more great players all take a turn at Foggy Mountain Breakdown. Wow!!! Usually, I can come up with something to say, but Wow!! does the trick here. This video is a study of different techniques and is really worth watching closely.

Here’s the link: Great Banjo Players!!!

I thought I’d round out this post with a few more YouTube links.

Alan Munde

Del McCoury delivers for Amazon.com?

Ralph Stanley - Clinch Mountain Backstep

Take some time and watch these videos, you’ll definitely learn a lot.

The great new Tony Trischka book is available. Click on the image below to BUY it.

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A favourite of fiddlers,banjo pickers and guitarists alike, the Black Mountain Rag has certainly stood the test of time. This is one of those songs that just gets stuck in my head. Usually getting something stuck in your head is bad, but this time it is a good thing.

If you want to hear a few versions of this song just check out YouTube and search - Black Mountain Rag. You’ll find a variety of different approaches to this song, and I’m sure one will inspire you. Most of the YouTube videos I found feature the guitar, even though this is actually a fiddle tune.Here are a few versions to get you started.

A little history of this song is in order. The Black Mountain Blues was the original name of this song, and it first appeared as The Black Mountain Rag in the 1947 recording by Curly Fox. This version has gone on to sell over 600,000 copies. The song was originally adapted in the 1940’s from “The Lost Child” by Leslie Keith, who played fiddle for the Stanley Brothers.I’ve also included a version played on the banjo to round things out - I hope you like it, rough edges and all.

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We are all trying to become better banjo players - right? I know I’m always reaching for that next level. Sometimes though, it seems as if I am stuck and can’t move ahead. When this happens I like to go back to the basics and just play some music and not worry about learning anything specific. Jamming is the best way to challenge yourself and have have some fun at the same time. Don’t worry - this kind of jamming doesn’t mean you have to go out and join a band or anything like that. Grab your iPod or dig through your CDs and presto - you have a band that will put up with you, and let you practice the same song over and over.

Now that you have a band, it’s time to learn to play with this band. If you’ve never played with other musicians before this is a great way to get you feet wet. Pick a song that you know well, and by knowing it well, I mean that you can play it by memory and without mistakes. Get your music player of choice set up and press play; play along with the music and be sure that you are fitting in. If you are having trouble figuring out a part - just back up and try again. That’s the beauty of this band, they will play anywhere, anytime and they don’t get tired. Listen and try to figure out the licks you hear - you’ll discover a lot of things you won’t learn from TAB.

Have fun - I learned to play music with the help of a pile of records and eight track tapes. Spending hours a day playing along with these recordings taught me how to play in a band, and when I got asked to join a band when I was 13, I already had a few years of experience playing “with the beatles”. Give it a try, your timing will be improved and you will learn a few new tricks.

If you are looking for a few good CDs to play with, I recommend trying the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s - Will the Circle be Unbroken series. You’ll get to work with Earl Scruggs, Vassar Clements, Doc Watson, Johnny Cash and Jimmy Martin, to name a few. These three releases are full of classic songs, and have a killer lineup of players to learn from. You can also buy all six Cds in one collection - it takes up a lot less space on the shelf

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Banjo is an instrument that is usually associated with speed, and if you’ve ever listened to Bluegrass you have heard some ridiculously fast banjo work. How can you increase your speed you ask? Well its simple, you just practice and practice for years. Of course dedication is important, attention to detail, strength, and about a hundred other things, but I recently discovered an easy way to let you play faster.

One of the easy ways to play faster is by keeping your strings clean. The reason for this is simple - If your strings are clean your fingers will slide on them more easily. There are a few different string cleaners available: Dunlop Ultraglide 65 String Cleaner, Tone Finger Ease String Lubricant, and my favorite GHS Fast Fret.

I’ve heard a lot of people talk about string cleaners and lubricants and never really bothered to try them. I thought what difference could it make, it’s just another product to sell. But I have finally tried Fast Fret and I am impressed. Clean strings sound better and Fast Fret also allows your fingers to slide more easily on the fretboard. Give Fast Fret or one of the other string cleaners a try - it certainly won’t slow you down.

I hope this helps you out with your banjo playing, it’s one of the few things you can do to improve without hard work. If you would like to purchase Fast Fret, or one of the other products just click on the links above.

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Record yourself the next time you practice - start by recording one song. Pick a song that is very familiar and of course, a song you play well. After you have recorded your song you can listen back and study your performance. What can be learned from recording a banjo performance and giving it a good, close look? That’s what I ‘ll be discussing in this post, becoming a better banjo player by recording yourself.

The first thing you’ll need to do to record yourself is to have something to record yourself with. This recording device can be as simple as a cassette recorder or as sophisticated as a digital multi-track recorder. I have been using a free, open source program called Audacity. If you want to find out more about Audacity or download it, click the link - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

If you want something more high tech, I’ve included a link to the Recording Equipment section at zZounds - Just click on the banner below.

Now that you have some options to record yourself, that’s the next step - record yourself. Should you record yourself once and live with the mistakes or record until you are satisfied with your performance? I think you should keep going until you are happy, not perfect, but a version you can live with. My reasoning is simple, if you listen back to a recording that isn’t as good as you thought it should have been, you can be discouraged. If you have to take three or four tries to get a good clean run, then that’s the way it is.

This is part of the learning process, mistakes are the markers that tell you - this needs practice, so pay attention and LEARN from your mistakes. If you play a song and get a third through it and make a fatal mistake and stop, you try again, but this time you are focused on this sticking point and have a higher chance of getting through it. Soon you have a good version of your song and at the same time you have had to bring your playing up to a higher level by cleaning up some rough spots in a song and holding yourself to a higher standard.

Record a song and have a listen to yourself playing the banjo - What is good? What could be improved? What is wrong, yes, wrong! - sometimes a recording points out a mistake like a wrong note. Don’t forget to make note of the things you like about this recording. That last point is VERY important - be kind to yourself and take time to be aware of the good stuff that you do. Well that’s step one, I’ll give you a few more of my thoughts on recording and using it to learn in an upcoming post.

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What is noodling - HINT - it has nothing to do with the picture to the right. Noodling is just playing around on the banjo and playing what ever comes to your mind, no structure. This is important to develop new ways to approach old songs and also to develop new ideas.

To learn the banjo you have to persevere - work hard, and in time you will be a good banjo player. But all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, or in banjo terms - don’t just practice technique, experiment and have fun. If you are not enjoying yourself you won’t get better, learning shouldn’t be painful.

Most banjo players want to play songs, they don’t want to practice rolls and all that boring stuff. Unfortunately all of the banjo songs I know contain a lot of rolls and licks, so learn the basics, you need them.

Take time to improve your technique and learn new tricks, but also take time to drift away and play what ever you feel like playing. This noodling can lead to some important discoveries, remember a fellow by the name of Earl Scruggs, he developed his own style and changed the way we think about banjo.

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When you practice your banjo, do you wear a strap? I think that a strap should be worn whenever you play the banjo, whether it is at home or on the stage. A strap keeps the banjo in the same position - standing or sitting. If your banjo is in the same position it will be easier to keep your hands in the right spot, making it easier to play consistently.

Banjos are heavy and a good strap can really make a big difference - no more aching back. If you have your strap set up properly you shouldn’t have to support the neck with your left hand and the neck will be at about a 45 degree angle. Adjust the banjo until it feels comfortable for you, everybody is different, so experiment and find what works best. Earl Scruggs said to setup your strap so you are comfortable when you are standing, and he knows a thing or two about playing the banjo.

There are a lot of different straps out there, some have metal hooks, some have plastic hooks, some cradle the banjo and some straps are held on by something called a Chicago screw. A Chicago screw sounds much more interesting than it is; it’s basically a rivet that screws together. The main thing is to find a strap that you like, that is comfortable, and use it. Well, I gotta go, I think if I adjust my strap just right I’ll play like J.D. Crowe….

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