i've not been playing banjo a lot this week - in fact only picked it up a couple of times. main reason i think is my mind is on other things - have just bought a house with my partner Mark, and am moving in a couple of weeks - think i'm in a sort of state of panic over everything i've got to do. we are both musicians, so, luckily, he is understanding and once we get moved in i think i will get back into a good practice routine. we counted up today how many strings we will have between us when we move into new house together - it was 106 i think as i have six banjos (mainly cheapos, none fancy!) plus a mandolin (which i can't really play) an electric guitar and my old beloved yamaha acoustic guitar. Mark has several guitars, a couple of twelve string guitars and a couple of bass guitars. our neighbours are gonna love us!!
great to read people's updates and pleased you are playing away and developing. i'm sorry i've not been able to share much of my progress, but hopefully i'll be back in the swing of things soon,
9 Comments |
 | VioletMoon says:
7/6/2014 8:21:59 PM
A move is stressful but a new house is exciting! It'll be great when you get settled in.
I live in a little 1950s house with neighbors close enough that we could set up a tin can telephone line if we wanted to and I often go out on the porch to play fiddle or banjo. A couple of times I've said, "If I'm too loud, just let me know," but they don't seem to mind. I actually love it when I'm on the porch and can hear someone practicing recorder or the like next door. Your neighbors WILL love you!
My son's home for summer and we haven't counted strings but we were counting instruments over the weekend--three banjos, one guitar, one electric bass, two fiddles, a koto, and a sort-of-mountain dulcimer.
We actually went out to buy a few more stands so we can keep them off the furniture -- and ended up stumbling on a used Big Baby Taylor with a nice sound and feel and price so it looks like we're going to need another stand. : )
All the best to you in the move! Enjoy.
Cyndy
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 | laertes22 says:
7/7/2014 5:11:16 AM
Congratulations on your new home! I hope you both enjoy it. Sitting on a porch or deck and playing outside is one of the true pleasures of life and a great way to relax.
If it makes you feel any better, I have not been practicing regularly for the past week and a half or so, as I have been on vacation. For the July 4th holiday, my fiancee and I went up to Asheville, NC which is a hotbed for Old Time music, and we saw some amazing performers. One string band had 3 sisters on fiddle, clawhammer banjo, and guitar, plus their mom playing spoons!
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| VioletMoon says:
7/7/2014 5:48:16 AM
Asheville sounds like a great vacation! And listening counts toward practice. : )
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| laertes22 says:
7/7/2014 6:06:33 AM
Cyndy, Asheville is an amazing place if you have never been. It is located in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Essentially, at some point in time, a bunch of hippies settled into an area that was largely rural, country mountain folk. The two populations and cultured somehow started merging and you get this amazing mix of "alternative culture" and traditional rural/"mountain" culture. You can see Old time string bands and you can also find drum circles. Also, whereas a lot of areas of the Carolinas jumped onto the Bluegrass bandwagon decades ago, Asheville (along with Charlotte and the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill areas) are some of the few bastions that have kept Old Time music alive and thriving.
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Frank McKenney says:
7/7/2014 7:07:57 AM
Hi everyone….My name is Frank McKenney.I've been trying to learn the banjo for about 15 yrs. It's a never ending process. I have a lot of fun though. I haven't played my guitar in over a year because my wife and I also moved. We moved from Boston area to Florida. We are closing in the middle of the month. All my instruments are in storage. I have a Gold Tone banjo, 2 harmonicas and a pan flute with me. I write a lot of lyrics, have been doing that for about 4 yrs. I switched to lyrics from bad poetry. I have a lot of fun writing. They are all in development. I come up with some melodies to go with the words but I can't sing for my supper. I send some lyrics to a song publishing company in Nashville. They are more professional than me. My hope is to market one. I like their work. I will keep doing this until I run out of money. oh yeah, with all those instruments I have with me the only one I play is the banjo. It's maddening. Best to all ….Frank
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 | Zischkale says:
7/7/2014 2:41:22 PM
Hey, Frank, thanks for joining. Interesting collection you've got there, a pan flute? Play any Henry Thomas songs?
One of my long-term goals oughta be writing. Bat poetry or not, it sounds like a blast to write lyrics. Got any goals in mind? Going to pick up any of those other instruments and give banjo a break?
Hope the move goes smoothly, Jill! Once you get those 106 strings settled in, focus on 5 of 'em for awhile, post an audio clip in a few months or somethin'.
Cyndy, do you know how to play that koto? The thing looks like some kind of hammered dulcimer. Intimidating.
G, I think I need to keep Asheville in mind next time I'm out that direction. Would love to hear some great old-time music live. Definitely counts as practice to be an active listener.
This week I'll be picking fiddle back up, and working on my Tune of the Week post for next Friday. And for what it's worth, I've got 41 strings at home, including the busted up antique store banjo with two strings I've yet to fix. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
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| VioletMoon says:
7/7/2014 2:47:27 PM
Looks like 41 strings for us, too.
I took less than a year of koto lessons when I lived in Japan and I know the beginning basics. It's plucked down with the thumb and up with two fingers with unique picks and, actually, it kind of reminds me of picking a banjo. I don't play it much but I played it for my husband on our first date and he set up two more dates that evening and, well, it'll be 32 years next month. Family heirloom!
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 | skiptomylou says:
7/8/2014 2:20:14 PM
Asheville sounds amazing - i would love to visit - i dream of one day taking a 'banjo journey' around the south of america. i did visit some places a good few years back but, although a music lover, i didn't know anything about old time stuff. i was lost then. now i've seen the light, ha ha!
great to hear from you Frank - i hope you worked out how to download tab - i did answer your message - did you get it? - i know sometimes messages get lost in the ether on the hangout. i love writing too - especially love writing lyrics
thanks for the good wishes Cyndy and Aaron - yeh, new house has a garden, which i'm excited about (live on 11th floor of a block of flats just now, or apartments as you probably call them, with no garden) - hopefully the weather will stay nice enough to sit out in it and pick!
all the very best to all,
Jill
(actually, last night after posting my message i ended up sitting playing for about an hour so i feel a little better)
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| Zischkale says:
7/14/2014 9:18:23 AM
That koto story's pretty great!
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