Richard Dress Says:
Monday, October 25, 2010 @1:12:47 PM

On the plus side you have musical talent, which is a big help. But you are treating the banjo like a guitar. Your clip sounds more like Mississippi John Hurt than Earl. Nothing wrong with that, except you are not taking advantage of the neat things the 5-string offers with its 5th string and three finger roll. Everything bluegrass depends on using the off-balance feel that you can get from that combination. TIMTIMTIM... looks boring but it is the key to the banjo. Check out youtube.com/watch?v=8r0cTz44wow

How well you can play the simple forward roll is the measure of how good you can play the banjo.

EricArden Says:
Monday, October 25, 2010 @4:39:51 PM

Looks like the G string is rarely hit or are my eyes broken? The video is a good example of the picking, but my concern is chords. How does plucking the same three strings with the occasional G string, make a chord???
I hit the 5th string to the beat of the kickdrum.

EricArden Says:
Monday, October 25, 2010 @4:41:55 PM

I'll make a recording of some normal bluegrass stuff. Maybe thats what I should have recorded in the first place.

I haven't figured out of to fit licks and stuff into this type of bluegrass I'm doing. I'm going for the Alison Brown "Shoot the Dog" type sound.

Richard Dress Says:
Monday, October 25, 2010 @4:59:52 PM

The roll you are seeing is mostly GGD, a power chord if you want to look at it that way. Unlike the guitar, the banjo is tuned to a G-chord so just about any string you hit open works. As a beginner you should focus on getting the bluegrass 'feel' not making chords. The important thing is the spaces between the notes, not the notes themselves. Once you can play a proper roll, you can add in more complicated stuff like full chords and oddball rolls. Adding the other stuff will degrade your 'feel' so working up a good roll in the beginning is very important.

bcrabtree Says:
Tuesday, September 4, 2012 @11:29:43 PM

"At the Gates" cover?