Wednesday, January 30, 2013

The next level


I have enjoyed learning how to play the banjo. I feel like between my fun riot of an instructor and the group of people who jam together weekly, I have made social connections while I am learning something new. As far as I'm concerned, that's what this life thing is all about. 

I've thought about how I ended up playing old time music, and it's one of those funny things. A friend from the dog park just happens to play fiddle in this kind of music. My goal for learning to play the banjo was to be able to play as part of a group of people sitting around and playing. I don't need to solo and as yet can't quite swing singing and playing at the same time. It's a good fit.

After a little over a year of playing, I can tell that my beginner banjo is just that, a beginner banjo. When the third string is pressed over the second fret, it's supposed to be an "A" tone. Play that string open and it's supposed to be a G. My banjo cannot be tuned to do this. Tune to the G and the A is flat (or sharp, I can't remember, but it sounds funny). Go the other way, and the G is weird. I use both a lot, so this is a bit of a problem. 

Enter dad's Christmas gift money. Looks like it's time to buy a new banjo, so I've been looking around and I think I have found what I want. With dad's gift and some of the craft show bucks, I can throw in a some money and get a new plunker. The above picture is what I'm thinking of - isn't it nice? You're thinking, a banjo is a banjo is a banjo. Here's what I like about this one. It's an open back banjo. There's no resonator like in bluegrass banjos, so it sounds more old timey. It's got what they call a scoop neck, so the first part of the neck up from the pan is a little lower than the rest of the neck. This makes it sound plunky, too. Finally, look at the neck. It is largely unadorned, which I like. It's got a little shooting star motif by the fifth peg, but otherwise nothin'. Some banjos are almost gaudy in the neck inlays, IMO, and it doesn't affect the sound. 

A friend is looking around to see if there are any vintage banjos for sale right now that might also be what I want. Apparently some of these old instruments (100 yrs or so) can sound really nice and they are in good shape. If he doesn't find anything in the next couple of weeks, I'm going to order this one. 

5 comments:

  1. It's a beaut! And you've come such a long way and show such promise that you definitely deserve it! How hard is it to find old instruments in good condition? I would bet they would be pricey.

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    1. There are quite a few brick and mortar shops that list vintage instruments on their websites, so it's not too hard. I think that if one is old and in great condition, it's valuable, so I suppose there's a sweet spot where it's been well loved, but is still in good shape. I'm tending toward the new one, but the friend is looking, so I'll give him some time to see if he finds a contender.

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  2. I agree with Susan. Your need of a new/different banjo certainly does show that you've already come a long way. Being able to play an instrument has always seemed to me to be a great way of expressing yourself. You go, Girl! (I have absolutely NO talent in that department!)

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    1. Thanks! Mama Pea, I can say with confidence that I don't really have much talent, it's just been desire and practice in this. I never played an instrument as a kid, and as my dad says, "we played the radio" in our house. I highly recommend trying new stuff like this!!

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  3. I'm so glad you're having fun with this! Moving up to a better instrument is a real indicator of how much your playing has improved. Reid is progressing rapidly after 2 months of lessons and I love listening to him practice. We got an amazing deal on a Washburn showroom model with a resonator. He's leaning toward bluegrass so it's good fit.

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Hi, sorry to make the humans do an extra step.