Oh, yes, no doubt Earl plays E minor.  But the rhythm is E major to my ear.  I think it sounds really cool and a hat tip to the old days.    I think Lester is playing an E also, but I am not completely sure.  I always try to get the guitar player to play E but whatever works.  The tension it adds, I believe, is one reason the tune became so popular...and of course Faye Dunaway in that white dress!

Keep it up, Rob, you are helping a lot of folks.

http://youtu.be/PftEZ27TDOw

Rob, Lester ,Curley Seckler on Mando and Benny Simms on fiddle all play E major.The Bass player just plays the E note. Depends on the banjo player if I play an E or Em I know some that insist on the E(Dana Cupp for one).I have a funny story I will tell you about that next time I see you.Earl cut FMB four times in the Flatt and Scruggs band plus a few more times with the Review or solo.The other 3 F&S cuts every one plays Em but i cannot hear Lester on these cuts, there is a Rhythm guitar playing Em but I can tell it is not Lester.

I don't know what's happening, but I have always liked that sound.

Dana is a great guy. I have known him since the 70s when we were young guys pickin in Michigan. Class act.

Thank you so much, you are wonderful! I've been trying to learn this song from a tab for a week or two, and it just wasn't coming to me. This video has allowed me to up my speed and actually sound like i know what I'm doing! Thanks again :)

Thanks a lot Rob! I've been taking online lesson from Tony Trischka, but my first ever lesson was your Cripple Creek (back in April). Learning that convinced me that I could actually learn the banjo. I'm approaching Tony's Foggy Mountain Breakdown role lesson and I think I'll work through your FMB lessons after I get the main roll figured out. Cheers!

Tony is one of the best. Peter Wernick too. You can't go wrong with those guys. They are the genuine article. What a great day we live in when folks can study online with the giants.

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Originally posted by Rob Bourassa

Tony is one of the best. Peter Wernick too. You can't go wrong with those guys. They are the genuine article. What a great day we live in when folks can study online with the giants.

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So true. Years ago you couldn't have even thought it possible. Back in the 70's I drove out to Ann Arbor to take a lesson from Willard Spencer. One of the greats in my book. :)

Russ

I been working on this for a couple of days Now . NOT EASY  Very slow going. Thanks  Rob

You also get a great sound from the little Gumby! Thank you so much for sharing!!
http://www.hqew.net

Thanks Rob. I've been wanting to play for a few years now and picked my first banjo about a month ago. Stumbled onto this site (and your lesson) about a week and a half ago. I can now play it pretty solidly at around 80-85 BPM. Not nearly as quick as practice companion C & D but still pretty good for a noob. The videos were a great breakdown and a few sections gave me some hell but patience and perseverance helped.

Thanks again for the great resource.

You are welcome all.

Happy New Year. I am editing videos this week. Good to have a lot of projects wrapping up and find some spare time.

That's what I do.

You can download YouTube videos using the following utility. It works great!

http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/

Good luck,

Paul

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Originally posted by jahenbo

Hey Rob,
First off thanks for putting FMB on Youtube. I was wondering if there is someway to download these to the computer so I can work with them without being online. See I travel a lot and don't always have access. I tried with Realplayer SP but got a message that the clip couldn't be downloaded from that site. Any help would be appreciated and would like to see more of your lessons if you have more could you send me a list to jahenbo2003@yahoo.com.
Thanks Jay

"The real Voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes"
Marcel Proust

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Hi I am a new banjo player, I had a tough time time scraping together the money for a  inexpensive banjo, so I would also be in the group of to poor to pay for lessons. So I am very grateful to the people who take the time to post youtube videos. I started with frailing but am stuck and wondering if I should change styles.  This is the perfect chance for me to learn a little 3 finger with a tune I am familiar with and really like. I am determined to learn and do have a lot of time to practice. So thanks again, this is perfect for me.

What is the minimum tempo for fmg that would be credible for the general public. I think around 140 bmp sounds pretty good.

Hello to you all. I just want to chime in here and thank Rob for this work. I've downloaded the videos and converted them to .avi's and I'm using "VLC media" to practice. I can set the A B feature and loop parts of the lesson. This is my first week learning and these lessons are helping me along good.
I don't have a banjo yet. I have a guitar tuned for banjo and It's not that bad to use. This is my off season from commercial fishing so I have no scratch to mess with till I get fishing again. My wife may spring for a banjo but only if she feels sorry for me having to use a guitar.
Thanks Rob.
Joe

Hey Joe Sull...Where do you commerical Fish from ? I had a commerical fishing business for almost 15 years. You along with a lot of people might have heard of me and mine, its pretty famous the world over as it was started in the 1800's and has been there ever since being passed down either in the family or bought in. I bought in after an Italian guy retired and went home...its called the "Newport Beach Dory Fleet". Situated on the coast Beach on the Pacific Ocean, We launch our "Dory" boats from the shore through the surf and travel out past the Bank where the land drops to over 600 fathoms. I use long line 3000 circle hooks on 1000# line 25# staging with janus circle aluminum hooks

oops...sorry guys I always forget I can just contact someone using private messaging. my bad. Hi Rob how are you doing my friend ? All is well here in sunny southern California...economy sucks other than that all is well

Thanks for posting this. I have been using your videos all day.

Sorry, I have been swamped. I have been working more this year than ever before.

I'm glad the vids have helped. I have so many more recorded, but have had so little time to edit. I have to get them off my Mac, so I can make more projects.

I am going to hit the hay early tonight and maybe get a bit of extra time tomorrow.

Great lesson and thanks for taking the time. I need all the help I can get.

Hello,

I've had Cripple Creek and FMB down for a while, as far as down I mean I play the whole thing from begining to end as in the video. When I try to speed it up I get sloppy, my fingers are not tense or anything my hands are not cramping up on me. It's more like a miss strings or hit the same one twice? Should I just play it slower with a met and slowly increase the met speed?

Thanks
Don

quote:

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Originally posted by Rob Bourassa
 

Sorry, I have been swamped. I have been working more this year than ever before.

I'm glad the vids have helped. I have so many more recorded, but have had so little time to edit. I have to get them off my Mac, so I can make more projects.

I am going to hit the hay early tonight and maybe get a bit of extra time tomorrow.
 

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I guess that means your doing better than before now, as far as $ goes :P