[Dixielandjazz] How to Play 6-String Banjo??

[Bigbuttbnd@aol.com]

There is a simple solution to the question "How To Play The 6-string Banjo?"

--don't....


Rocky Ball
Banjo (4 string) Atlanta

p.s. --really, now... don't. If you know how to play a guitar, buy a banjo 
and tune the strings like the top 4 strings of the guitar.  Then play it. 
EVERY 6-string banjo I've heard, even in the hands of master guitarists, 
sounded BAD. The 4-string banjo has so many overtones associated with it, 
even when tuned PERFECTLY (as if that were possible) drives EVERY electronic 
tuner crazy. And that's just playing one string at a time! When you get all 4 
vibrating against the drum head you've got a compromise, at best. When you 
get SIX strings all vibrating at once you have the only musical instrument 
capable of playing EVERY available note at once without striking or plucking 
every available note. 

One other thing about playing (any tuning) banjo (4 or 6 strings) is that the 
TECHNIQUE used in the right hand is DIFFERENT on banjo than on guitar.

These days many guitar players have considerable experience on ELECTRIC 
guitars. Electric guitars have considerable volume and sustain associated 
with the pickup and not the right hand playing technique. Virtually all 
banjos have poor volume (compared to trumpet, trombone, tuba, drums, etc.) 
and no sustain (NONE. NADA. ZERO.) so the banjo player must develop the 
capability to play LOUD when necessary and SOFT when necessary... and the 
loud part can be a lot of work. Banjo players accomplish this by playing HARD 
(lots of wrist work) while trying to hang on to a very HARD pick. That's is 
foreign to an electric guitarist who normally would use a delicate pick, move 
the right hand as little as possible and depend on the volume dial on the amp 
for loudness.

That hard pick and heavy wrist action immediately takes away the guitarist's 
finesse and single-string technique. To get it back he must switch to a 
softer pick and then he loses the volume and the 4-string chord action, 
instead developing the wonderful "thwacka-thwacka " sound we've all come to 
love where the soft pick smacks the head twice on every stroke!

The banjo should RING on every stroke and every single-string note should 
RING (like a bell)... but to get that ringing sound the action has to be 
higher (than most guitarists will put up with) and the left hand fingers have 
to press the fretboard like a vise. The viselike grip makes the fingertips 
HURT (which eventually leads to heavy callouses - which eventually lead to an 
even better ring!) and that initial pain makes the guitarist abandon the 
concept and settle for the 6-string thwacka sound.

Don't do it. Send it back!

Rocky