Ramblin' Hobo, to me, personifies the unique (and sometimes strange) percussive, melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic qualities of old time banjo. Playing the banjo can be a grand adventure in self expression and artistic freedom. This song lends itself perfectly to the type of individual interpretation that makes playing the banjo so much fun. It's like a puzzle whose pieces can be rearranged to form different pictures. . . There I go ramblin' again.
Showing posts with label The Banjo Lesson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Banjo Lesson. Show all posts
Friday, November 25, 2011
Ramblin Rooster Rick
I was ramblin' through some old Mp3 files on my computer and found this solo banjo piece from our first CD Blind Dog Thumpin' on the Porch (2000). It's called Ramblin' Hobo. I learned it from the playing of Doc Watson and his father-in-law Gaither Carlton. This "little ditty" is a cool tune in an odd F tuning (fCFCD). It's easy to get into this tuning from double C, just drop the two G strings down to F.
Ramblin' Hobo, to me, personifies the unique (and sometimes strange) percussive, melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic qualities of old time banjo. Playing the banjo can be a grand adventure in self expression and artistic freedom. This song lends itself perfectly to the type of individual interpretation that makes playing the banjo so much fun. It's like a puzzle whose pieces can be rearranged to form different pictures. . . There I go ramblin' again.
Ramblin' Hobo, to me, personifies the unique (and sometimes strange) percussive, melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic qualities of old time banjo. Playing the banjo can be a grand adventure in self expression and artistic freedom. This song lends itself perfectly to the type of individual interpretation that makes playing the banjo so much fun. It's like a puzzle whose pieces can be rearranged to form different pictures. . . There I go ramblin' again.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The Banjo Lesson
Yesterday I gave a beginning clawhammer banjo lesson. It reminded me of the paradoxes involved in learning to play a musical instrument. Teaching someone how to play a musical instrument is like teaching someone how to ride a bike or drive a car—you have to take something that you do without thought, analyze it, simplify it, break it down into steps, and then help the student reassemble it and develop the muscle memory and confidence that will allow them to perform the task without thinking about it. The beginning student learns the skill by consciously and deliberately reconstructing the process, but it's important to move away from the mindful approach as soon as possible so that technical execution doesn't get in the way of musical expression. A beginning musician has only one approach available to them, that is an intuitive approach. The experienced musician works to acquire knowledge and highly developed fine motor skills only to strive to get back to the intuitive approach of the beginner. So, grasshopper, the circle is complete, the teacher becomes the student.The Banjo Lesson, 1893. Oil on canvas, by Henry Ossawa Tanner currently on display at the Hampton University Museum.
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