Any former banjo addicts?

[Jonmiller]

I am a banjo player-have worked since I was a kid ( I just turned 55) playing pizza houses and I still play alot of jobs on 4 string plectrum. In the 80's I picked up the 5 string as I love bluegrass also, I worked hard at it and I can play. I love a good banjo song, but in the past 2 years I just play my mandolin-Advantages of mandolin VS 5 Str. banjo let me count them...

Mando's do it all, no 5th string to think about how it fits into the key, no endless capoing or 5th string capos, no fiddle tunes to work on for hours trying trying to memorize-(I can now hear it a few times and if it sticks in my head, I can play it )(and I can read notation and not stuck with just tab). Mandolin can play any style of music and it fits right in-ethnic world, jazz, rock, Celtic, Old-time and bluegrass,-etc same mandolin, not 4 string for this or open back for that.
I can easily take my mando anywhere, it's light and small and a strap on my case carries over the shoulder, carries on a plane. I flew up to Seattle, played in the airport as I awaited my flight, I took a shuttle up state a few hundred miles as nobody sat near me, so I pulled it from the case and lightly played for almost an hour.
When I play it nobody yells "yeehaw!", and I can play in the house while my wife reads, she even says that she likes it.

[Jill McAuley]

I wouldn't call myself a former banjo addict - for the past 18 months tenor banjo was my primary focus, but moving from a house in the countryside where I could play banjo til the wee hours of the morning (and did so on a regular basis!) to an apartment in an urban area has seen me shift my attentions to the mandolin in the interests of keeping peace with my neighbors. Now of course I would consider myself well and truly addicted - two mandolins at present with a third on the way! I do still love my tenor banjo though....

Cheers,
Jill

[mandozilla]

I've never seriously attempted to learn the 5 string but I do own a b***o (sorry). Seriously, I love a well played 5 string...to me (I'm not trying to spark any discussion on this now!) BG isn't BG without one. A good b***o picker can add so much to the BG ensemble. ;)

There doesn't seem to be as many really accomplished 5 string pickers in my neck of the woods as there used to be (I'm talking 1960's, 70's, and 80's). Now, most of them seem only interested in playing instrumentals really loud and much too fast. :mad:

They can't back up vocals worth a darn, they can't vamp/chunk worth a darn, they don't know many BG songs, their kick-offs are weak and they have a hard time playing decent breaks. :crying:

And they're only too eager to slip right back into the blazing fast, ear shattering, b***o instrumentals and fiddle tunes. Don't get me wrong, I love instrumentals and up tempo picking but it's not all there is to BG. Forgive me for babbling but this is a sore spot with me. I've picked with some seriously good b***o pickers...Oh Brother Where Art They? :))

Oh and BTW, I can't stand 4 string b***o pizza parlor music...no offense to anyone...I'm sure some 4 stringers feel the same about BG music. :mandosmiley:

[pickinpete]

I hear you brother.... I was primarily a banjo guy for 6 years. about the time I started getting pretty good, meaning improvisation, I realized how rarely the banjo fits into non bluegrass situations. And started flatpickin the guitar, wich was ok...I've played guitar for 30 years on and off. When I started getting serious about flatpicking I started to listen to guys like tony rice and david grier. And then I started to notice how much time those guys spend with mandolin players.....and the sound of the mando got in my head...and then under my skin. That as they say was that. 8 years into the mando now and love it more everyday.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Jon,i've been playing Bluegrass Banjo for 46 years this year & still love the sound of it.However,due to my immersion in my Mandolin playing, it's taken a back seat these last 3 1/2 years. I find myself able to play certain tunes that i found difficult on Banjo,quite easily on the Mandolin. But to me,it's the 'difference' that's so great.I can play the same tunes but have them come out quite differently.Both Banjo & Mandolin are fabulous instruments each in it's own right - despite the
moanings of a few of the 'Banjo burners' on here. :grin: Nice, 'friendly' rivalry never hurt anyone,
Saska;)

[Bertram Henze]

I played tenor banjo for five years until I repented approx. 20 years ago. Seriously, it was a fun instrument but limited to special uses, no good for accompanying every song, no good at all to accompany dance tunes (you have to do melody or nothing).

Bertram

[jim_n_virginia]

I once thought about learning to play the banjo but after a lot of professional counseling I overcame the urge and bought a banjolin! :grin:

[farmerjones]

Banj'r was my first instrument sort of. I used book money to buy my first one back in the fall of 1980. I'm no Bela Fleck, so as it's been said, there's only so many places a banj'r will fit. I got a nice 40 pounder now. I'll get it out to round out a jam. Take one for the team as it were. :)

[JimRichter]

5 string banjo for 25 years (since age 15). Played banjo in a lot of bluegrass bands. Teach it at the local guitar shop. Placed a couple times in state picking contest. But, it's no passion any more--don't even own a banjo. Sold the last one to afford the octave mando I bought last year.

For as many knocks as banjo gets in the bluegrass community, it really is the king of bluegrass instruments.

Jim

[foggyvalley]

I have a banjo as well, bought it as a bridge to my classical guitar background. I enjoy playing it but confess I reach for my mandolin first:)

[Jonmiller]

I still own and play-I've got my Weymann tenor tuned Irish, a Gibson RB3 5 string and a Deering Calico and my faithful 36' Vegavox plectrum and love banjo-but the mandolin goes everwhere with me now-Temecula Bluegrass Festival this weekend, the banjo is staying home.

[Ted Eschliman]

Tenor banjo for me, and I use it to taunt my fiddle-playing 10 year-old daughter (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=41019371).

[Chuck Naill]

Oh, I like a banjo plenty. IMHO, you don't have to take sides. Play as many instruments that time, money, and talent will allow.

I prefer clawhammer and OT two finger thumb lead. I have a Civil War ear 13" banjo that usually surprises people because of it mellow tone.

I have photos on my web site.

chuck

[Santiago]

Hey, you're never a former addict, always a recovering addict. You never know when you might slip back into self- (and audience-) destructive behaviors.

[JeffD]

I have two tenor banjos I inherited from my Dad. He traded (fishing rods I think) for them in Alaska back in the 50s. They are not in very good shape. I have fooled around with them at various times but never serioulsy.

[Susan H.]

Jon, I still play my Stelling on occasion. But, like you, the mandolin is much easier to carry around, more genres of music can be played on it. And if I can hear the melody to a tune, I can probably figure it out. Not so on the banjo, which I've been playing at for 8 years. I haven't been playing mandolin for even two years and I play it better. If I had to choose I'd take my mandolin. I still love to hear good banjo, especially when I'm not the one playing, cause I know I will be mistakes. And you all are so right, BG is not BG if it ain't got a banjo in it. Mandolin fits in almost anywhere! :grin:

[Mike Snyder]

Great video Ted. Daughters are the good stuff. The jams hereabouts are getting mandolin heavy, so I've stated taking the Irish tenor. It's good, forces me to stick to the melody, but I end up playing mando anyway. All my buddies want to plunk on the 4 string.

[Eddie Sheehy]

I've tickled the Tenor Banjo strings on and off over the last 30 years. Most recently owned a Gretsch Tenor banjo with a MOTS fretboard. The instrument looked better than it sounded. I always found the fret stretch too much for my short fingers - though I've managed to get around a 24" zouk reasonably well. I bought a 50's Kay 5-string banjo about a year ago and learned a few tunes on a it, but suddenly Mandolin came roaring back into my life and I've had little time for anything else... Jon, when we get together let's play some banjer tunes...

[Kip]

I was just gifted a Silvertone- the local tech said it was from the 50's-60's. This will be my first attempt at it. I cleaned it up and the tech is doing a set up for me as I have no idea what it should feel like.

I don't see it replacing the mando but I look forward to goofing off with it!

[banjoboy]

I love banjo. I've been playing since 1979, and am hard pressed to think of a time when I wasn't in a band. It has been my ticket to some great times, great gigs, experiences, etc. However, within the last year, I developed focal dystonia in my right hand which is really affecting my playing. It's hard, and very depressing, when you can't get your fingers to do what you want them to, even if it's the most basic of banjo roles. So I continue playing, but am struggling.

Good news is that I discovered the mandolin. I've been fortunate to have played with some world class mandolin players and have really enjoyed there different styles. They are an inspiration to me. It is tough starting out fresh on a new instrument. Today, as I sit here, I'm waiting for my new Weber Yellowstone to arrive in the mail. I hope that it will inspire me to become a good enough player that maybe somebody will want me to play mandolin in their band someday.

[allenhopkins]

Play banjo (5-string, tenor) -- play mandolin (mandola, OM, mandocello) -- play guitar (6-string, 12-string, National slide, Dobro) -- play ukulele -- play harmonica -- play Autoharp -- play concertina -- play bass -- etc., etc.

It's all good! Get the sound you want when you need it; everything has its place in the big wonderful world. Gotta dig out that bowed psaltery sometime, or maybe the kalimba...

[Greenmando]

Oop's

[Greenmando]

Help for b**jo players HERE (http://doodoowah.com/BanjoPlayersAnon.htm)

I love the recent CD release by Steve Martin on b**jo songs, I can listen to it for hours, drool. There is some nice mando work as well

[mandozilla]

I've heard more than one person at a festival, jam or what have you exclaim: 'How can such sad music sound so happy?' :confused:

There are just some things a b***o (sorry) can do that nothing else can...Thank you Earl, Don, and all the other fine b****ists (sorry) down through the years. ;)

BTW, Know what the difference is between an onion and a b***o (sorry)? No one cries when a b***o (sorry) is cut up. :))

More mandolin content please. :grin:

:mandosmiley:

[fred d]

:disbelief: I sort of stoped some Banjo due to the weight and the stuffenist of a lot of bluegrassers. I now in addition to my less than pricee mandolins I started taking Jazz lessons on a open back 6 string banjo thing that mayby sometime in the future I might be ale to extend that knowledge towards the mandolin:whistling::popcorn:

[Ken Berner]

Not former, but present; I play clawhammer style banjo.