Old Time Banjo
Tommy Jordan
http://www.tommyjordan.com/banjo.htm
SKAK 2008 Week Two
Old time banjo is a very
traditional way of playing the banjo, and incorporates many many
different regional styles. Clawhammer/frailing, drop-thumb,
one finger, two finder, up picking, down picking,
round peak, Galax, etc. We’ll focus on
traditional clawhammer or frailing
technique with some drop thumb thrown in.
The Open-Back Banjo
Bridge
Bridge
material affects tone. Hard maple with
ebony top is preferred
Bridge shape
affects intonation (offset B, moon shaped…)
(Snuffy Smith or Gary Sosbee
$15-$30) NOT GROVER
Head
The
Head material greatly affects the tone of the banjo.
Skin head is
traditional – plunky tone, hard to maintain
Fiberskin – plunky tone but
coated plastic
Plastic –
bright tone (not preferred)
Tone Rings
Metal
tone rings produce a brighter, louder tone
Wooden
tone rings produce a rounder, quieter, more plunky tone
Strings
Medium gauge
preferred: – 0.010 or 0.011 on top (e.g. D’Addario
J61)
Also
Phosphor bronze on 4th string is good. D’Addario and GHS
make these sets
Picks/Fingernail
Fingernail
makes ALL the difference in tone
Can use
finger pick upside down – plastic preferred but metal ok. Hard to get used to but provides consistent
tone.
Fake fingernail? Maybe. “Hard as
nails” hardener doesn’t work
Tuning
Old time banjo players use
several different tunings and usually retune to play in various keys. The most
popular tunings are in G, G-modal (also called “mountain modal”) and
double-C. With a capo, these tunings
allow you to play most, if not all, old time tunes in the keys of G, G-modal,
A, A-modal and D.
G: g
D G B D A: Capo 2
and return high g to a
G-modal: g D G C D A-modal: Capo 2 and return high g to a
Double-C: g C G C D Double-D: Capo 2 and return high g to a
Playing the Banjo
Emphasize the major parts of the
melody and use rhythm and thumb to imply the complete melody
The Basic Clawhammer
Strum - Bum Dit-ty Bum Dit-ty Bum Dit-ty
-
Emphasize the melody note (‘bum’)
-
de-emphasize the rhythm strum (“dit”)
-
Let the high g string sound out
(“-ty”)
Getting the Melody
In general, it is very difficult
to play the entire melody of a tune note for note in clawhammer
style. You can get more notes with a
combination of left and right hand techniques, including
Left hand
Hammer-ons
Pull-offs
Slides
Right
hand
Drop Thumb
Chords
Tunes
