[Dixielandjazz] Additional Important Info Regarding Banjos

[Bill Gunter]

To my pickin' and grinnin' listmates,

Another comment on the use of capos in playing stringed instruments.

The following chords, when play on an "un-capo'd" guitar (A, C, D, E, G and 
a few variants - 7's, minors, etc) have a number of open strings (strings 
which are not stopped by flabby fingers on the fingerboard).  This "open 
string configuration" makes for a rich ringing sound when the chord is 
struck.

Chords which have all six strings stopped (F, F#, G#, A#, Bb, B, C# D# and 
so on) don't ring as much due to the damping effect of all that skin on the 
fingerboard.

This damping effect is great when one wants guitar chords to be 'choppy' 
(whatever that means) but folk singers who want them thangs to really twang 
and ring tend to prefer the open string configuration.

If a folk singer wants to change a key and still keep that "open string 
ring" going, he/she will use a capo.  By the way, the main reason a folk 
singer would want to change keys is to make sure the range of the song is 
compatible with his vocal range.

If you didn't understand any of the above, don't worry, I'm also guilty of 
not understanding a lot of things myself.  And I'm sure I'll hear from some 
who'll want to question some of the points I tried to make above.

Cheers,

Bill "Haul it out and twang it!" Gunter
jazzboard at hotmail.com