The banjo can be quite versatile beyond folk and bluegrass. I recommend listening to Bela Fleck to hear what the banjo sounds like in different genres.
@@WoodyPianoShackthere’s on guy that even did a lot of blog posts about “Chinese tuning” and will play traditional Chinese music on it, which makes sense as if you ever listen to traditional Chinese string instruments they have a banjo like sound.
Also, for your help with the F Barre chord: Try ensuring that your finger tip is not protruding very far about the bottom E string; lay your barring finger across the strings so it's somewhere between flat and sideways on; don't press to hard with your thumb on the back as this takes away the energy from your barring finger. Start off playing with just the barring finger until all the strings ring clear and then add chord fingers. I am sure you've tried all this a million times but once you have it, you have it. It's very important that it's the side of your barring finger applying the pressure and not the meaty bits underneath. I hope this helps.
hi pal, i'm probably using the fleshy part of it come to think of it. but i've kind of accepted that i'll never be able to play it, and am at peace with just avoiding it now. :)
Always love your videos. Always fun and always genuine. When time permits how about doing a live song writing challenge. You have two hours to write a song in particular style.
Banjo, guitar, synth, piano harp for that matter I just like your videos and I hope your are enjoying your new surroundings. I too moved some 16 years ago and while I miss the old location the new place is well lets say warmer. Keep it up.
Has anyone seen a random RUclips Ad that has a guy playing the same song in banjo and then several guitar versions? It's stuck in my head and I can't find it other than randomness with ads.
"Please DO NOT unsubscribe!" 😂 I don't know how much is comedy or just how much annoying that lamp shade was 😂 Thanks woody, really missed your goofiness, yet serious content, much needed in the music related RUclips community! And still watching, one thing you could add for comparison in a future video: the Ukulele!
you'll know I don't take myself all that seriously! it's just that I lose 20 subs whenever I publish a banjo video... :) uke? careful what you wish for....
The banjo players at the local Trad Folk Session assure me that more expensive banjos are much better at staying tuned. Better tension and bridge/nut seem to be the answer. I think they sound a lot nicer too, but not so much that I think you'd need an expensive one unless you were really serious. They tend to bring two banjos with them too- with different tunings. I will stick with the guitar, personally, but I do love the sound of a banjo.
Musicians usually have to upgrade as they progress - on most instruments. The more professional instruments can be bad for beginners due to excessive weight and any other special aspects that aid volume or tone at the expence of ease of use.
Thank you. Exactly the video I was looking for! And it's the only one. You forgot one thing though, banjo has finger picks and Note, classical guitar is far easier than steel string. I play flutes and chromatic accordion. Been trying to decide on a stringed instrument. Banjo and Spanish guitar are cool but making the chords and jumping so far for a note can be difficult.
The way you are playing the banjo is known as the Clawhammer style. It's traditional. The book I picked for beginning banjo teaches strumming with the thump. Imagine my confusion when I ran across video after video of people using the Clawhammer style and me going - what is that? What are they doing? Banjo isn't just in Bluegrass music as it showed up in a lot of the pop music of the 1920tys. I've yet to find any sheet music, but it did exist.
It took me about a month's time to get a few open chords right so that I wasn't muting strings on guitar. It takes a lifetime to master. Not sure if the banjo is the same.
John Borchers & Friends... There is no such thing as master IMO. Ideally you keep learning, with any instrument. At which point you're competent enough to do something useful is of course subjective. Well, perhaps, in your "lifetime to master" bit you are really saying the same as me, but more poetically. Banjo will be the same, except that some people learn the basics on certain instruments more quickly than others, and maybe there's less competition on banjo. Piano and guitar are definitely oversubscribed, so they get really tough jobs in bands. I'm smiling at you unlearning muting. I'm struggling with acoustic bass guitar right now, so I have to learn muting. Not having played any guitar makes it new and hard for me. But I've decided to press on, and not get too obsessed with perfect muting. I've worked very closely with musicians who play both instruments. What guitarists often miss when switching to banjo is the importance of a new posture and a much softer plectrum, if plectrum applies. There's ear training and a new mentality required too, of course, which is why so many guitarists still sound too much like guitarists when they first switch to banjo.
Когда я начинал учиться играть на банджо (в стиле блюграсс), то прошёл не один месяц, прежде чем я услышал относительно ритмичное звучание! При этом я играл на гитаре более 30 лет, и надеялся быстро прогрессировать на банджо. Не тут-то было! Это совершенно отдельный, специфический инструмент, с несколькими различными техниками и большими возможностями. Если добавить, что кроме 5-струнного банджо есть тенор-банджо, плектрум-банджо, гитар-банджо, банджолеле, банджо-мандолина, баритон-банджо, cello-banjo, бас-банджо - это свой отдельный космос звучания, техник, репертуара и поклонников.
Dear Woody! Stop ridiculing yourself and get on with it....just you, not including your old tapes being silly. It is not working. You seem to be in a minor crisis and I enjoyed your old shows. You were being groovy and confident. Now pull yourself together and refocus your content. Don’t lose the subs you have worked so hard to get. Just return to being a natural and curious dude 😊😊😊 I’m on your side and we wish you the best. Stop trying so damn hard. Relax and forget the camera.... stop staring it down/ignore it. If it’s upside down then thats okay. Woody..we care ❤️❤️❤️🎹❤️❤️❤️ 👍🎧👍 The F barre position...dont panic. From my observation most good guitarists are born with fingers that stretch to the end of the street. Just do it your way 👍👍👍
Your take on the ergonomics on the banjo is EXACTLY why I am thinking of taking up the banjo. I want to play any genre music without the Clawhammer and Scruggs bluegrass sound. Anyone know the name of the style he's using minus all the effects because this is exactly how I want to play a melody on the banjo. ruclips.net/video/3EUndP_h0i0/видео.html
that's all good, i expected no less. for me, it's about my fondness for bluegrass and country music where banjo plays a big part. i also play sax, accordion and bass, was that a request? ;)
Why? Just for the look of the thing? There are many failed banjo players, who never really had their heart in the project, but you not even wanting the sound at all, that shakes me. When my guitarist wife took up banjo I advised her not to cheat with guitarist tricks if she wanted our music community to respect her. She bought an appropriate banjo and studied it hard on her own, and succeeded. I was able to give her gigs in my bands within a year. Returning to your statement: I spoke to a bass guitarist who had a banjo shaped bass made so he could accompany the real banjos in a banjo quartet.
The banjo can be quite versatile beyond folk and bluegrass. I recommend listening to Bela Fleck to hear what the banjo sounds like in different genres.
yeah, good call, thanks
@@WoodyPianoShackthere’s on guy that even did a lot of blog posts about “Chinese tuning” and will play traditional Chinese music on it, which makes sense as if you ever listen to traditional Chinese string instruments they have a banjo like sound.
I play the clawhammer style and threefinger picking style ont the banjo, and both are very fun and nice to play!
"To Twang or not to Twang - that is the question.' - Willy 'T-Bone' Shakespeare
Also, for your help with the F Barre chord: Try ensuring that your finger tip is not protruding very far about the bottom E string; lay your barring finger across the strings so it's somewhere between flat and sideways on; don't press to hard with your thumb on the back as this takes away the energy from your barring finger. Start off playing with just the barring finger until all the strings ring clear and then add chord fingers.
I am sure you've tried all this a million times but once you have it, you have it. It's very important that it's the side of your barring finger applying the pressure and not the meaty bits underneath.
I hope this helps.
hi pal, i'm probably using the fleshy part of it come to think of it. but i've kind of accepted that i'll never be able to play it, and am at peace with just avoiding it now. :)
My dude, I was sent by the algorithm, and this video just made me a brand new subscriber. Well done.
hey and thanks, can't believe the algo still sending people to this old vid!
@@WoodyPianoShack It just means you did something right. 😂
Great video, thanks for creating and sharing. This was actually quite helpful. :)
Excellently explained, well done!
The banjo is very genre specific, a guitar is more genre agnostic. The banjo is quirky instrument that has a split personality.
Ive been preferring my banjo lately. Claw hammer is so much fun,.
Excellent explanation to a question almost no one is asking. 😢
J/k. Much appreciated.
Always love your videos. Always fun and always genuine. When time permits how about doing a live song writing challenge. You have two hours to write a song in particular style.
thanks, much appreciated. i like the idea, not sure if I could execute it well tho!
@@WoodyPianoShack I'm sure you could. It'd be a fun stream. Hopefully we'll see it in the future :)
Thank you for sharing this vid mate !!
Banjo, guitar, synth, piano harp for that matter I just like your videos and I hope your are enjoying your new surroundings. I too moved some 16 years ago and while I miss the old location the new place is well lets say warmer. Keep it up.
thank you tony, yes we are very happy in the new town, and so far so good, no snow!
Has anyone seen a random RUclips Ad that has a guy playing the same song in banjo and then several guitar versions? It's stuck in my head and I can't find it other than randomness with ads.
So much fun to watch!
Thanks man
Happiness is the sound a banjo makes when thrown into a skip and crashing into an accordion.
A gentleman is a man that can play the banjo , but chooses not too ! ;)
i once left my banjo on the back seat of my car, when I was gone somebody smashed the window and threw in another one.
ToastandJam... So that's where the dent on my accordion came from!
"Please DO NOT unsubscribe!" 😂
I don't know how much is comedy or just how much annoying that lamp shade was 😂
Thanks woody, really missed your goofiness, yet serious content, much needed in the music related RUclips community!
And still watching, one thing you could add for comparison in a future video: the Ukulele!
you'll know I don't take myself all that seriously! it's just that I lose 20 subs whenever I publish a banjo video... :) uke? careful what you wish for....
There are those 6 string Guitar Banjos which have a nice crisp sound
You can tune a guitar to open tuning as well. FACGCE is pretty nice.
My dyslexia made me read something else that looked a lot like FACGCE but more offensive
The banjo players at the local Trad Folk Session assure me that more expensive banjos are much better at staying tuned. Better tension and bridge/nut seem to be the answer. I think they sound a lot nicer too, but not so much that I think you'd need an expensive one unless you were really serious. They tend to bring two banjos with them too- with different tunings.
I will stick with the guitar, personally, but I do love the sound of a banjo.
yeah, probably right, slso, it's hard to know how tight to tune the drum head, that affects the stability too but too much and you¨ll pop it!
Musicians usually have to upgrade as they progress - on most instruments. The more professional instruments can be bad for beginners due to excessive weight and any other special aspects that aid volume or tone at the expence of ease of use.
Well if the drummer does'nt turn up, at least you have a drum built into your Banjo!
never thought of that! just need an extra hand!
Thank you. Exactly the video I was looking for! And it's the only one. You forgot one thing though, banjo has finger picks and Note, classical guitar is far easier than steel string. I play flutes and chromatic accordion. Been trying to decide on a stringed instrument. Banjo and Spanish guitar are cool but making the chords and jumping so far for a note can be difficult.
The way you are playing the banjo is known as the Clawhammer style. It's traditional. The book I picked for beginning banjo teaches strumming with the thump. Imagine my confusion when I ran across video after video of people using the Clawhammer style and me going - what is that? What are they doing? Banjo isn't just in Bluegrass music as it showed up in a lot of the pop music of the 1920tys. I've yet to find any sheet music, but it did exist.
It took me about a month's time to get a few open chords right so that I wasn't muting strings on guitar. It takes a lifetime to master. Not sure if the banjo is the same.
doesn't feel as cramped to me.
John Borchers & Friends... There is no such thing as master IMO. Ideally you keep learning, with any instrument. At which point you're competent enough to do something useful is of course subjective. Well, perhaps, in your "lifetime to master" bit you are really saying the same as me, but more poetically.
Banjo will be the same, except that some people learn the basics on certain instruments more quickly than others, and maybe there's less competition on banjo. Piano and guitar are definitely oversubscribed, so they get really tough jobs in bands.
I'm smiling at you unlearning muting. I'm struggling with acoustic bass guitar right now, so I have to learn muting. Not having played any guitar makes it new and hard for me. But I've decided to press on, and not get too obsessed with perfect muting.
I've worked very closely with musicians who play both instruments. What guitarists often miss when switching to banjo is the importance of a new posture and a much softer plectrum, if plectrum applies. There's ear training and a new mentality required too, of course, which is why so many guitarists still sound too much like guitarists when they first switch to banjo.
I prefer playing the Lute, thank you.
I do love the banjo 🪕 very unique sound
Yes
Believe it or not the are many different banjos, and even within the same types they can have very different tones.
Когда я начинал учиться играть на банджо (в стиле блюграсс), то прошёл не один месяц, прежде чем я услышал относительно ритмичное звучание! При этом я играл на гитаре более 30 лет, и надеялся быстро прогрессировать на банджо.
Не тут-то было! Это совершенно отдельный, специфический инструмент, с несколькими различными техниками и большими возможностями.
Если добавить, что кроме 5-струнного банджо есть тенор-банджо, плектрум-банджо, гитар-банджо, банджолеле, банджо-мандолина, баритон-банджо, cello-banjo, бас-банджо - это свой отдельный космос звучания, техник, репертуара и поклонников.
I don't have a banjo yet, but i will get one, whatever it takes!
Did you ever end up getting one?
@@dannydecker2255 No, still want to learn it eventually though :(
Bluegrass Shack😆
Dear Woody!
Stop ridiculing yourself and get on with it....just you, not including your old tapes being silly. It is not working.
You seem to be in a minor crisis and I enjoyed your old shows. You were being groovy and confident. Now pull yourself together and refocus your content.
Don’t lose the subs you have worked so hard to get. Just return to being a natural and curious dude 😊😊😊
I’m on your side and we wish you the best. Stop trying so damn hard. Relax and forget the camera.... stop staring it down/ignore it. If it’s upside down then thats okay. Woody..we care ❤️❤️❤️🎹❤️❤️❤️ 👍🎧👍
The F barre position...dont panic. From my observation most good guitarists are born with fingers that stretch to the end of the street. Just do it your way
👍👍👍
hi Hartley, some sound advice here for sure I think, thanks for taking the time to share your feedback, will take it onboard. have a good one, cheers!
Most banjo players go without ever changing the open g tuning as well.
This guy seems like a fun person to share cannabis with.
now that is a peculiar compliment but i'll take it!
I use a banjo for doom metal
Dont say insults to your self you are a beautiful man
ahh, thanks!
Content crisis, hope you're back soon.
Nice
10x harder to learn banjo than guitar
With cheap guitars and Banjos don't stay in tune because of the build quality sometimes
very valid point, shame i don't have an expensive one to compare with.
@@WoodyPianoShack I know from experiencing it.
Woody Banjo Shack
Your take on the ergonomics on the banjo is EXACTLY why I am thinking of taking up the banjo. I want to play any genre music without the Clawhammer and Scruggs bluegrass sound. Anyone know the name of the style he's using minus all the effects because this is exactly how I want to play a melody on the banjo. ruclips.net/video/3EUndP_h0i0/видео.html
that's a finger picking style, still play mine every day on the porch in the summer!
@@WoodyPianoShack What is he doing different where it doesn't have that Scruggs bluegrass banjo roll sound?
@@deltafour1212 using fingers instead of banjo picks perhaps
You haven't gotten a single dislike as of this comment. I'd say that people like these kinds of videos
oh, i think it's just that youtube hides the dislikes since a few months ago!
Cheerio yourself sir haha
Please tell me that was scripted. 😂 we’re still watching Woody 👍
scripted, what's that?
I could appreciate you buying sax, accordeon or bass... But this banjo trash really disturbs me! Meh....
that's all good, i expected no less. for me, it's about my fondness for bluegrass and country music where banjo plays a big part. i also play sax, accordion and bass, was that a request? ;)
@@WoodyPianoShack welcome
was dreadful : (
oh, sorry! well thanks for watching anyway :)
They make guitars with a banjo sound, what I really want is a banjo with a guitar sound
Why? Just for the look of the thing? There are many failed banjo players, who never really had their heart in the project, but you not even wanting the sound at all, that shakes me.
When my guitarist wife took up banjo I advised her not to cheat with guitarist tricks if she wanted our music community to respect her. She bought an appropriate banjo and studied it hard on her own, and succeeded. I was able to give her gigs in my bands within a year.
Returning to your statement: I spoke to a bass guitarist who had a banjo shaped bass made so he could accompany the real banjos in a banjo quartet.
I find it funny that in the past white people use to make fun of black people for playing the banjo but now they play the banjo