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Monthly Archives: December 2009
Sold: An Epiphone MB-200
I finally sold one of mine – a banjo, that is. It was an Epiphone MB-200 I had bought used a few years ago. At the time, I thought it was just a small step above a beginning banjo, so … Continue reading
Merry Christmas!
I’m perfectly glad to use the word CHRISTMAS; as our saviour, Jesus Christ is the central figure in Christmas, as well as in all of history. So here’s wishing you all a Merry Christmas! Now if we just … Continue reading
A Tribute to Jimmy Arnold
Unless you keep up with a lot of banjo players, you may not know Jimmy. After all, Jimmy Arnold is certainly not a household name. What did he ever do? The answer: in all my years of banjo playing, I’ve … Continue reading
A Taxonomy of Banjos
This is just a fun excursion into different types of banjos. Some of you know all of these variants already, but here they are for all to see: all the different types of banjos that I am aware of. I’ve … Continue reading
Melodics and Soul
If you are a banjoist, you’re probably aware of the melodic style of 5-string banjo playing, whereby you are playing primarily melody notes, as opposed to fewer melody notes surrounded by ‘filler’ notes, as in Scruggs style. This style of … Continue reading
Posted in Melodic Style, Philosophical Ramblings
Tagged Bill Keith, Bobby Thompson, chromatics, electric guitar, melodic, skill, soul, technical
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Protools for Dummies – a review
Yes, I love the Dummies series! (BTW, Bill Evans, who along with Sonny Osborne and Cindy Sinclair runs NashCamp, is the author of ‘Banjo for Dummies’; another excellent Dummies book). Just as with book editing software that I blogged on … Continue reading
Adobe InDesign CS4 – a review
What does this have to do with music, you ask? In and of itself, not a lot. However, I am writing a book or two on the banjo, and this has proven to be a significant choice – that of … Continue reading
Posted in Music in General, Reviews
Tagged Adobe, Banjo Book, Book Writing, Desktop Publishing, InDesign
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What to Listen for in Music – a review
What to Listen for in Music, by Aaron Copland. Aaron Copland was one of the first, and still one of the greatest, American composers of what we usually call classical music. For us bluegrass, old-time and folk musicians, it’s worth … Continue reading
Posted in Music in General, Reviews
Tagged Aaron Copland, Harmony, Melody, Rhythm, Tone Color, What to Listen for in Music
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Heilmeier's Catechism
Here’s something I read in the Huntsville Times recently that I’d like to share with you. It starts with Lisa Porter, the director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA – sounds a little like DARPA; the name of the … Continue reading
The Bluegrass Ensemble
The bluegrass ensemble isn’t a term you’ll find being used much, if any. But I think it well describes what it is when you are talking about the various instruments used in a typical bluegrass band. If you’ve been playing … Continue reading
Posted in Banjos & Bluegrass, Beginning Banjo
Tagged Banjo, Bull Fiddle, Chopping Chords, Dobro, Fiddle, Guitar, Mandolin, Off beat, On beat, Upright Bass, Violin
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