Today, I had my first banjo lesson. I packed up my Banjo and headed down to Old Time Music in North Park to meet with my instructor (Janet Beazley). This music store is really nice. They have a selection of stringed instruments from guitars to violins to banjos and a lot of other ones in the front room. Through the back door are the classrooms and in the back is a large music room where they hold jam sessions.
I started my lesson. We started by attaching my strap to my banjo. It’s not as obvious as a guitar, so I needed a little help. Once attached, I was shown how to adjust it and position the banjo for proper playing. I really like the ability to not have to hold on to the banjo and can play it with just one hand. After hooking up the strap we fitted my fingers with picks. To play the banjo, bluegrass style, you use three picks. The thumb uses a plastic pick and the index and middle fingers have a metal pick. The picks are turned in, so the smooth sides face each other. This is the side that plucks the strings. So thumb plucks down and the other two pluck up.
They fit pretty tight, so I will have to adjust them once I get used to them. The metal picks can be adjusted with a pair of pliers. I am not sure about the plastic pic. I may have to look at a lot of sizes and brands to get the right fit.
We started with learning the proper hand position on the banjo. The trick is to have your last two fingers of your right hand anchored on the drum head, just above the bridge. Once those fingers are anchored, you curl your hand like your holding a small ball. This will put the fingers in the right position to pluck the strings. This will take a lot of getting used to and will become second nature as I practice more and more.
Janet showed me how to read the sheet music (called tablatures). This was actually pretty easy for me to get. I have had a little piano background when I was a kid and a ton of old knowledge just started flooding back. It’s amazing what the brain stores and recalls. I think I have a basic understanding of reading the sheet music. We started by practicing a forward roll, then a backwards roll and finally an alternating roll. Each of these rolls are pretty easy to play, once you have your hand in the right position. My exercise and practice will be to learn to play these rolls without looking at my hand and as I get better, speed up their playing.
One challenge I see I am going to have is to count the measures. Normally, I would count 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 but each string is labeled 1-5 and as I play each string, I am counting 1,2,3,4 or 5 in my head. I am doing this naturally without thinking and it’s getting in the way of counting the measures. I describe it as singing row-row-row-your-boat (in the round) with just yourself! 😉 Not an easy task and the brain is not wired properly for it. I will need to stop counting numbers for the strings so that I can focus on the measures. Hopefully, Janet will have some advice for me.
After the rolls, we practiced a few left hand chord positions. I find that my big fingers have trouble with touching two strings at once when I do this. Practice is going to help learn the proper positions. My wrist was sore just after one minute of trying to play a D7 cord. I now have a great appreciation for people who can play a string instrument. After practicing one or two more cords, she showed me a song. The song is called Banjo in the Hollow. It looks really hard to play, even though I know it’s an easy piece to play. It just looks overwhelming at first. I am sure with practice it will be very easy to play and play well.
This was the end of my first lesson. I am happy with my new instructor and will schedule my next session after I have some time to practice. Rather than schedule my appointments on a regular basis, I want to have a lesson and then practice until I feel good about playing what I learned or am totally lost and need more help 😉 This will prevent me from getting stressed out about trying to meet a deadline before my next lesson. After all, this is supposed to be FUN and not a chore. Unlike my experience as a child playing the piano, I want to make sure I am getting as much out of it as I am giving of my time. I think forcing people to play and play when they don’t want to is a mistake and you should want to learn to make it fun to do.
When I got home today, I decided to practice and see if I remembered anything ;-). I got out my trusty pliers and adjusted the picks so that they didn’t feel like they were cutting off my circulation. I need to find out how far past my fingertip they should extend so that I can adjust them properly. Also, I noticed that where they line up on my finger makes a huge difference in how easy it is to pluck the string. I need to experiment to get it right.
I practiced for about an hour playing rolls. I found some came easier than others and I had to really focus on keeping my hand anchored. It had a tendency to lift up, like I was drinking out of a tea cup or something! LOL. I experimented with the banjo position trying to get the instrument comfortable. Janet taught me that you should be able to stand up and sit down and have the banjo feel the same and support itself. I tried this a few times and actually tried playing sitting then standing up and found a few positions that worked well.
After an hour my hand (fingers specifically) were getting tired and Pekoe really was instant that I stop playing. She kept head-butting me and then stepping on my leg and leaning against the neck muting the strings. Boy what a critic she is becoming! I am not sure what I am going to do to keep her from bugging me. Anyway, the days lesson and practicing were fun and enjoyable. To quote Bogart: “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”