Apr 1 2013

Ross Nickerson – Featured Banjo Player

Five-string banjo master Ross Nickerson has recorded with some of the top names in Bluegrass music. Links to his website and performance schedule are listed below. Throughout his career Ross has always enjoyed sharing his knowledge and helping others to learn to play the banjo.

Ross kindly responded to several questions that I emailed to him and below are his useful tips and advice and links to his music. Please leave any comments to Ross in the comment box after this article.

1 – Do you have advice or words of wisdom for banjo beginners?
Learn several basic one complete measure picking patterns or “rolls” and several chords and learn to pick steady without pauses through a complete chord progression. Spend significant time doing this before trying to learn songs from tablature. Another good approach is learning to play one simple song by memory from beginning to end without pausing played in steady time. Play that song over and over till you really feel comfortable with it before trying to learn new songs so you avoid learning multiple bits and pieces of songs. Learn what it feels like to play steady and in time without pauses before taking on very much tab. Shortin’ Bread, Tom Dooley, Banjo in the Hollow are good ones to start with, lots of repeats and easy to play.

I recorded a DVD called Playing by Ear and Learning the Chords that teaches how to play steady through chord progressions and my The Banjo Songs for Beginners DVD has good simple songs to learn like Shortin’ Bread and Skip to My Lou, These songs can really help banjo students learn to play the melody which is not easy especially for beginners. nickerson

2 – How many weeks, months or years did you practice before you performed in public?
I practiced obsessively at first and was thrown to the wolves’ pretty early one. I had a friend who could play guitar and sing already so we got to work pretty quick. There was a lot of baptism by fire at first but I began to enjoy it more and more. Playing with others drives you to improve and helps you to learn where your priorities in practice lay.
What was your first public performance?
High School Talent show.

3 – What type of banjo do you play?
I always had only one banjo in the past, if I wanted a new one, I sold the old one, and I wish I had a few of them back. Now I am a bit older and doing a little better financially and have a few banjos. I represent Bellbird Banjos made by Peter Nahuysen. They are great banjos that not many pickers know about. My main ax is a pre-war 1936 TB 1 with a Jim Burlile Flathead Ring and Bellbird Neck. I have two Bellbirds, a Huber, a Stelling Staghorn and a Goldstar. I recently put a JBS Jerry Sloan tone ring in my bellbird and love it. The bellbird plays so easy and looks great, a bit lighter than average too. I like them all but right now when I travel with one banjo I take the prewar. It’s almost impossible to beat the sound you get with the old wood.
What banjo did you start out with?
I had a $50 Kay which really stunk, then I got a Framus which had a cool tone that I could not put down, then I bought an aria with stew mac ring, that sounded like a pro banjo and it took my banjo playing to a much more professional level. Then, when I played Foggy, it sounded like Foggy.

4 – Who are a few of your favorite banjo players?
I think I like the usual suspects, Earl, Bela, JD, and lots of others. I have studied techniques of banjo players but I don’t spend any specific time trying to copy tone. I am sure I get that some from listening but I don’t really try to, or necessarily want to sound just like somebody else. On my banjo cruise this year I am featuring Jens Kruger. I enjoy his music and would like to learn more about his techniques, approach and skill. I am excited to have the opportunity to pick with him.

5 — Do you have suggestions for how a beginner should organize a one hour practice session?
That is a big question, but learning to play banjo by sight reading tab should likely be zero of it. That is not to say tab should not be used but I’m afraid tab books have created a large misunderstanding in the banjo learning world. Those of us who “learned to play” without tab fell in love with tab, it made it so much easier to learn songs quicker, but the key is we could already play the banjo pretty good when we discovered tab. We were used to playing without our heads in the book.

In my workshops I devote a lot of time to teaching students how to practice more effectively. One of the techniques I teach is how to learn a song from tab in a way that I feel is easier and much more effective, which is absolutely not by sight-reading it. I have a new DVD called How to Practice Banjo the teaches a practical, easy to follow way to learn songs quickly and effectively from tablature and on my DVD Playing by Ear and Learning the Chords I focus on explaining the forest through the trees with regard to playing without tab and learning to play without sight reading. I feel strongly that my instruction in these areas could be very helpful to students.

6 – Please mention any other banjo related comments you would like to include.
Since I teach banjo a lot my comments relate to those learning to play and improving their banjo playing experience. My first thought would be to ask students to please put the tab book away for most of your practice time, just use the tab to quickly learn measures or multiple measure phrases and cycle them over and over. Then move on to the next measure or section and memorize songs by muscle memory and ear recognition. Build up your skills away from reading and reacting to tab.

I also feel it would make a huge difference for students to play through the chords to the song they want to learn with a simple roll or rolls before learning the song from tab. You should always know the chord structure of a tune before you learn a song. The chords are what guitar, mandolin and bass players learn first, why should banjo players be any different.

I see students at workshops frankly having a lot of difficulty with the fretting hand which I feel really boils down to lack of practice or focus on it. I recommend exercising your fretting hand a lot more. Use the metronome when practicing the fretting hand, not just when practicing rolls.  I have fretting hand exercises in lots of my instruction material including The Banjo Encyclopedia, “Bluegrass Banjo from A to Z”.

I recommend that you practice with a metronome if you are at all serious about learning the banjo; please…it’s your biggest ally. It’s not that big a deal to do but I can assure that it will make a big difference in everything you play.

Links

Resources

Apr 25 2013

New and improved Banjo Newsletter website!

Welcome to the new Banjonews.com

Now publishing more articles from the newsletter to the web site, and our banjo tabs, once only available in the newsletter’s print edition, from now on will be available online!  banjonewsletter-cover Banjo_Newsletter

Online tabs are available for purchase at 75¢ each. And if you’re a subscriber to the print newsletter, you’ll get full access to our online content, at no additional charge. Here is a FAQ page with more info for subscribers…

And don’t worry, we will continue to publish the print edition.

Our sound files are now playable directly through the site. Use the new jukebox at the top of the site to listen while you browse the site—the jukebox even keeps playing, uninterrupted, across different pages.

You can find sound files in the Tab and Audio section of the issue in which they were tabbed out (go to Back copies). Articles and their tabs will usually be accompanied with their related sound files, so you can listen while you read—and pick.

Visit the new Back Copies section to browse several years’ of BNL back copies, complete with playable sound files and tabs. We’re in the process of adding more articles all the time, so come back often.

Our classifieds are also now online. Reach more banjo fans than ever before – place an ad today!

Apr 1 2013

Bob Altschuler – Banjo Player

Bob’s distinctive bluegrass banjo style merges traditional bluegrass with blues, swing, and newgrass. Bob has taught banjo for over 30 years and is head of the beginner track at Banjo Camp North in Massachusetts (www.mugwumps.com) . Mel Bay’s “Banjo Sessions” online magazine at www.banjosessions.com and “Silver Strings” at www.angiesbanjo.com feature his many instructional articles, and his innovative picking has been heard on radio and television commercials. Bob has a workshop chapter in Gene Senyak’s 2008 book “Banjo Camp!” which also features Pete Seeger, Tony Trischka, Alan Munde, Bill Keith, Janet Davis and others. He performs and records with the Dyer Switch Band, www.dyerswitch.com and on Facebook.

Below are links to some of Bob’s performances on YouTube and his email address:

1 – Do you have advice or words of wisdom for banjo beginners?

Here are some basic suggestions for banjo beginners that I have found helpful over the years.

a) Find a good teacher you respect and like. Get recommendations about teachers from other students, look on line (Banjo Hangout and many other sites), ask at music stores and contact local bluegrass associations. A good instructor should be patient, knowledgeable, provide definite structure and direction and tailor lessons to your abilities and goals. Find an instructor with as many of these traits as you can, because good teachers inspire you to keep playing through the learning process. Some people can learn banjo without a teacher or with minimal lessons, but generally it’s much harder and takes a longer amount of time. Also, without the structure of lessons it’s easier to become frustrated and give up . bob-altshuler

b) Determine how much time you are willing to invest in practice each day, and play every day, even if you only have a short amount of time available. Practice at least 1/2 hour each day. Of course, this is subject to work, family and life in general, but setting aside time is essential to learning to play. Keep your banjo out on a stand so it’s right there to pick up and play. That way you don’t even have to find the banjo case and open it.

c) Develop good playing habits right from the start. It’s much harder to correct bad habits later on (hand position, timing, etc). Play slowly and with good timing. Speed will come later, and timing is extremely important. Learning to use a metronome really helps with timing.

d) Learn chords and backup early on because backup is as important as learning breaks. When you play with others you play lead about 20% of the time or less as a general rule. You play backup about 80% of the time. And, if you know the chord positions, you can play a basic break at a jam by playing rolls over the chords,

e) Play with others as soon as possible. Find jams and other banjo, guitar, fiddle, etc. people to play with, even if you just play chords and strum along at first. This will greatly accelerate your learning. If you can’t find a jam, start one. Find other players to help you get a jam going.

f) Supplement your learning with web-based instruction sites (many are free), books, DVDs, workshops and banjo camps. There is a large amount of self-directed banjo instruction available, and you should take advantage of it. Places to start include Peter Wernick’s site at www.drbanjo.com . and Banjo Hangout at www.banjohangout.com. Subscribe to Banjo Newsletter at www.banjonews.com.  It is a wonderful resource which has great beginner information and tabs.

g) Listen to banjo recordings to hear what bluegrass banjo should sound like. This will help keep your motivation up and is just fun to hear. Earl Scruggs, JD Crowe, Sammy Shelor, Sonny Osborne, Alan Munde, Jim Mills, Ralph Stanley and Greg Cahill are some of the masters to listen to.

2 – How many weeks, months or years did you practice before you performed in public? What was your first public performance?

I took lessons for several years and started to pick informally at parties, jams and with friends after I had been learning for a few years. Playing with and in front of other people really helped me learn faster. Luckily, I had several friends who had guitars and who were willing to pick with me while I was a beginner.

I had been playing banjo for about three or four years when we formed the band “Shagbark Hickory.” This four piece group included friends who played guitar and bass and a very talented 15 year old singer /guitarist we met at a party (we were 25 years old at the time). We played at friends’ houses and parties and practiced for about six months, and then around 1975 took the plunge and played our first paying performance.

It was at a tavern in Albany, NY, and luckily for us the audience seemed to really like us and was very supportive (they had quite a bit to drink before we began to play). Things took off from there, and we played a lot of places over the years. We morphed from a four-piece acoustic bluegrass band to a five-piece electric/acoustic bluegrass/country rock band and then back again. The band drifted apart in the early 1990′s. I’ve had the good fortune to have been playing and recording with the Dyer Switch Band since 1996.

3 – What type of banjo do you play? What banjo did you start out with?

I play old Gibsons and a Nechville Nextar. I love the tradition and sound of the old Gibsons, and I also get to play a high-tech Nechville. For me this is the best of the old and new. I have also performed with Ome, Stelling and Cox banjos.

My first banjo was a Harmony, with a plastic rim and resonator. It was a good beginner banjo and sounded fine. I traded in the Harmony for an Aria, and then got my first really good banjo in 1980 when I bought a 1977 Stelling Starflower.

4 – Who are a few of your favorite banjo players?

Earl Scruggs, Alan Munde, Tony Trischka and Greg Cahill are some of my favorites.

5 – What are some of the commercials that have featured your picking?

They were commercials for Saratoga Race Track, a chain of stores in shopping malls and car dealerships. It was fun to record them and to see how studio recording works.

6 — Do you have suggestions for how a beginner should organize a one hour practice session?

Here are a few preliminary thoughts about practice.

  • Committing to a regular practice schedule will help you learn faster and retain more. One hour a day is optimal.   Depending on your schedule, you can split daily practice time into a few shorter sessions.
  • Use a metronome as much as possible. Ask your teacher how to use it or go online to banjo sites for information. When I went to the studio to record on the first Dyer Switch Band CD, I discovered that my timing on some songs needed cleaning up. I started to use a metronome more and still practice with it periodically, especially before going to record.
  • Make sure your banjo is in tune and set up correctly for optimal sound and ease of playing. If the action is too high or the bridge is in the wrong place, the banjo will work against you. Inexpensive beginner banjos can sound fine if set up to bring out their best potential.
  • Repetition is key to learning banjo. Focus on one thing at a time and repeat it until you are comfortable.  Repeat breaks until you have them memorized and don’t need the tab any more.
  • Having goals will help with practice. Some examples are learning to play a tune from tab, memorizing tunes without the tab, playing evenly with a metronome and learning a new roll or lick.
  • Playing along with recordings or videos helps. Also, the slow and intermediate jam DVDs by Peter Wernick are very useful. I’ve had many students practice along with these, and they gained basic jamming and improvisation skills.

To organize a one hour practice session, I follow these general guidelines (adjust them for less or more time)

  • For the first 15 minutes, play exercises, rolls and licks using a metronome. Licks and rolls are modular units that will show up later in different combinations in many breaks to songs. When you practice and learn them they will be familiar later on and songs become easier to learn.
  • For the second 15 minutes, work on new tunes. Learning them in sections is useful, so you can concentrate on smaller chunks until you have the whole break memorized. Use a metronome.
  • For the third 15 minutes, practice tunes you already know. I have a list of tunes I practice periodically so I don’t forget them.
  • For the last 15 minutes, there are several possibilities. Work on specific problem areas (part of a tune, a technique, timing, etc), experiment on the fingerboard and see what comes out (pick out a simple melody, try to make up some rolls or licks), play along with a recording or DVD, or write breaks for specific chord progressions. I write chord progressions on tab paper and ask students to write breaks by stringing together licks from tunes they know and then adding melody notes where they can. I’ve had some students make up breaks I liked so much that I’ve used them for performances.

7 – Please mention any other banjo related comments you would like to include:

Two last thoughts-

  • The banjo is a magical instrument. How does all that great sound come out with only five strings and just three different notes in G tuning?
  • Persistence pays off! It takes a long time and a lot of practice to become proficient in bluegrass banjo, but it is well worth doing.
Nov 21 2012

Tribute to Dave Hum

I only recently learned about Dave Hum and Dave and his music will always be a joy and inspiration for me. Below are some links, etc. about Dave. If you know of others I can add to my blog, please let me know – BanjoDan 

Oct 27 2012

Video game music composed on a banjo: The man behind FTL’s soundtrack

Video game music composed on a banjo: The man behind FTL’s soundtrack

FTL: Faster Than Light has enjoyed critical success after release, and the team’s over-achieving Kickstarter campaign proved there was a market for a space Roguelike. The Kickstarter funding allowed Subset Games to increase the game’s production values, and you can hear where the money went in the game’s soundtrack. The music helps to create a sense of place, and the soundtrack’s composer, Ben Prunty, recently tweeted that the soundtrack has also found commercial success. I decided to catch up with the overnight success to talk about where the music came from, how he composes, and why it’s important that everyone you know is aware that you create music. If you’ve ever wanted to create music for video games, Prunty has some tips for that as well.