Gone Native: I'm learning the Banjo

[Covenant]

For the people who know me well here (maybe one or two, alas!) I've been banished off to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, a short drive from the Appalachian Trail that ones are wont to trek upon. What I feared would be a descent into the land of Deliverance was denied me because Deliverance was filmed in a different state entirely. I am, however, still in the middle of a godforsaken hillscape that has not yet learned to kneel before man like my pliant but harsh homeland of the Illinois North.

That said, I've always been a big fan of blues and bluegrass and my family isn't so far off the boat from Ireland that we've lost our taste for folk music, so the Banjo is something I've heard but I've never seen. Like some kind of unwanted family member that you send a card to and forget. Plus my dad is a Nebraskan with a love for Pete Seeger so I've been surrounded by the barbarian twang without knowing it. Since moving here I've seen the beasts in person, watched people play them, and realized, "You know that's actually a thing people do. People actually play banjos." I was reminded of the fact that while I am an animator and game designer (now) I almost went off into puppetry so I could follow Henson's footsteps. Kermit also used a banjo. The pact was made.

I've never played an instrument before, but music is something that is oh so very human, and I felt like I'd be an idiot to ignore a good chance to learn a wonderful lifelong talent from people who've developed the musical styles I enjoy. Plus it was nearly my birthday and I'm notoriously hard to buy for so about a week or a week and a half ago I got a box from my fiancee with a banjo in it, financed by her and both of our families, who now feel much relieved not to have to shop for me.

Who here knows how to play this thing?

[Broomstick]

I've twanged a couple in my day, but have more experience with the guitar myself.

Regardless, don't be intimidated. Sure, initially it may seem more like noise than music but keep at it. Shorter but more frequent practice sessions are better for the beginner than attempts at longer sessions. Your muscles need to be conditioned to the motions, and build up strength and endurance. You don't take up running as a hobby by attempting a marathon the first day, you work up to it, and likewise learning to play an instrument you start with brief and simple and work your way up to greater things.

I believe there are inexpensive electronic tuners available these days, you may wish to use one as it is much simpler, and much less frustrating, than learning to tune solely by ear (which I had to do, as I predate most modern electronic toys). Don't be afraid to use whatever aids are available. The easier it is to get results the more you will play and the more you play the greater your skills will become.

Enjoy! Music is a wonderful and potentially life-long hobby. As a bonus, learning to play even at a basic level will give you greater appreciation for the experts.

[Covenant]

So far I'm not intimidated. I'm having fun learning things at my own pace, not bothering with the left hand right now. When I took a martial art in college I took the one I thought I was the least suited for and then treated it as an opportunity to learn without any preconceptions of ability, and that's how I'm treating this too. I know I have zero musical ability, since I've never played anything before, so I'm happy to putter along and it already sounds pretty good just with some right hand rolls.

I figure if I keep a good attitude, treat my frustration as an opportunity for improvement, I'll have success.

I was rather vocally informed by my fiancee, however, that I require lessons. I think she threatened to throw me out of my own house if I refused to consider it. I'm fairly certain that the problem wasn't my playing so much as my casual disregard for the possible formation of bad habits. In either case, I think my future marriage will be safer if I learn what I'm doing.

I've got some tuning apps on my phone and ipad that are pretty good, and they're certainly close enough that it sounds like the music I can listen to. That's one of the uses for this fancy phone that I was given that I can actually see the value of. I'm actually surprised how simple it is to make it sound like a banjo, so I'm pumped. I have no major aspirations like "I want to be in a band" or "I want to play X song like X artist" or anything, I just want to get good for my own fun and I enjoy the sound of it. I'm probably lucky that way, and it's one of the benefits of coming from a non-musical family. I'm surprised its the two Chicago locals who play this instrument though. I believe Yosemite Bear was learning too, or at least talked about it.

[Broomstick]

It's a pity you aren't in Chicago - the Old Town School of Folk Music has long had inexpensive lessons in many folk instruments, including banjo. That is, in fact, where I took guitar lessons many years ago.

A basic class or two can get you off on the right foot. As an alternative, you can probably find a ton of "how-to" videos on YouTube these days, although you'll have to weed out the crap. It's best not to learn bad habits, and unlearning them is frustrating at best, but your form doesn't have to be perfect, either.

[Covenant]

Maybe in two years when my fiancee is done and we move back to take advantage of family, friends, and local connections when starting her career (and restarting mine!) but for the moment I'm out here. There's a guy nearby who teaches old time clawhammer styles and that'd be fun, plus he did bluegrass at some point so he'd be able to tell me how to do my picks even if he's not interested in teaching it. Right now I'm having fun, but baffled as to where to actually stick my hand. My middle finger is too long or my ring finger is too short, or something.

I'm also less willing than the average person to angle my wrist, because I've got some stress-related arm, wrist, and hand pain time to time from typing and doing art and being tense. I try to avoid making my wrist do a variety of angles, I can't even do normal pushups anymore because of the pain it causes, so I just keep everything straight and it works. Knuckle pushups are a good alternative and they look manly too. So for my Banjer I want to keep my wrist as straight as possible.

[Broomstick]

Then take the clawhammer lessons. They will be a good foundation, and there's no reason you can't learn other techniques later.

[LaCroix]

I'm playing the banjo, a bit. Bluegrass is quite an easy thing to learn, as long as you have a good study help, may it be a teacher, youtube or a book (Banjo for Dummies is actually quite good). If you've got problems with aligning your picking fingers, it is certainly a problem with banjo/hand position. I got the same wrist problem and found it works rather well if you have the bango to the right of your belly, the neck tilted away from you (much like a gun held ready). Thus, you can have your picking hand pretty relaxed and thus, fast. It also makes fingering the chords much easier as the angle becomes shallower.

An armrest on your bango will help tremendously, too.

Clawhammer is something I can't really wrap my head around to get good in it, but it is quite fun to play. If you got a teacher around (here in Austria, I might as well be the only one playing it - the next teachers are in other countries...), try yourself in it. I, for one just can't hit the strings consistently - it might as well be my banjo being to small for my hands, but without teacher, I might never know...