The Medusa Fora

then just play the guitar parts on banjo in the octave that sounds right.

hows it going phil,
you told me the other day to come to this site,when i wanted to ask you something.just hope this is the right bit of the site that you ment.

i have a few questions on banjos.
i really want to learn how to play them.isit a easy instrument to teach yourself or would i need to get a tutor?
also what makes of banjos should i look to buy?

can you please help me out on this

cheers and all the best
Dave

Hi Dave

If you register with this site you can leave a private message for me in the PMs section. Sorry, I just assumed you were registered.

Although I gave a good impression of a gifted amateur as The Pogues temporary banjo player in 1985, I really know very little about them.

Basically, there are two main types

1 - Tenor Banjo, as played by Barney McKenna of the Dubliners and mainly used to play tunes (though there are exceptions.)

2 - 5 String Banjo, as played by Jem Finer, used mainly for picking, and used more for rhythm patterns (like the chords on "Thousands Are Sailing" and "If I Should Fall From Grace With God") than for tunes (though again there are again exceptions - "A Pair Of Brown Eyes" uses both styles!)

Both styles are quite fiendish for different reasons, but you are best deciding at the outset which you would first like to master.

Jem learned banjo by first tuning a guitar like a 5-string banjo and then adapting that to the banjo when he bought it. There's no hard and fast rule, but I'd say try starting with a tutor book - perhaps one of those that comes with a demo CD/cassette. It probably helps if you have played some string instrument, like a guitar, before, as the instructions will probably seem clearer then. If not, borrow a friend who knows a little bit.

Hope this helps. And good luck!

Buy as good a banjo as you can afford. You get what you pay for, as a rule.

Does anyone know a good way of amplifying a banjo?

Mick Molloy wrote:Does anyone know a good way of amplifying a banjo?

hit the strings harder

Haha I wish that was true but when I first tried that the strings came off the bridge so not the best option.

get a banjo with a resonator a resonator is a non electrical amplifiler i fiftted my tenor banjo with one makes a big diference. other then that if ure on stage just put a mike in front of ure banjo.


andy more question on the irish tenor banjo (gdae tuning) just ask me

Yeah? Why do you need to amplify it? The noise.. ehem tone. .of it is already deafning .
The best way to amplify it would be using a microphone, like McMullen said.

I've got a mandolin, which is pretty similer. The only difference is a mandolin has eight strings, which you play as four. Anyways, I'd suggest getting the most expensive one you can afford, as Mr. Chevron said. And as to teaching yourself, it's advisable to learn the basics from a tutor, then once you're comfortable with it, the teach yourself books are pretty good.

i'd recommend you get a really cheap one to make sure you really want to play it. if you're still into it after a year then get an expensive one.

I'd like to ask Phil's opinions on electric banjos.

Myself and a few associates are in the process of forming a skatepunk band (at the moment we're at the stage of sitting around with really crappy second-hand instruments playing Clash, Green Day and Avril Lavigne covers for kicks and giggles). Listening to the Pogues (and to a lesser extent the Popes) has inspired me to look beyond the standard formula and attempt to learn something different to add to the mix. I am seriously considering the banjo...

ShanesTeeth wrote:I'd like to ask Phil's opinions on electric banjos.

Go for it then. Ask. You have all of our blessings.

ShanesTeeth wrote:Myself and a few associates are in the process of forming a skatepunk band (at the moment we're at the stage of sitting around with really crappy second-hand instruments playing Clash, Green Day and Avril Lavigne covers for kicks and giggles).

Cool! You've got past that extremely difficult hurdle of "we're still sitting around in the basement smoking dope and watching Beavis & Butthead reruns."

Who said Teeth's band had a basement?

TheIrishRover wrote:Who said Teeth's band had a basement?

Fair point. Could be the garage. But either way, it seems the logical assumption. Surely "SkatePunkBand" == "Me and My Friends Smoking Dope in the (Basement|Garage)".