Author Archives: Phill Gibson

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About Phill Gibson

I’m from Huntsville, Alabama where I work as a Hospice Chaplain and part-time banjo instructor. My former careers were in Research Biology and Software/Systems Engineering. My wife Miiko and I worship at Rivertree Downtown. I’ve been playing various instruments since my teen years. I started mandolin and dulcimer at about age 17 and banjo at 20. I love just about all kinds of music. In terms of banjo styles, I play and teach Scruggs, melodic, clawhammer, and 2-finger styles. I’m also very keen on theology, being a Trail Care Partner with the Land Trust of North Alabama, photography, urban planning, astronomy, ATM (amateur telescope making), birding, and about 30 other distracting hobbies to a (mercifully) lesser extent.

Setting Bluegrass Standards

Posted on June 9, 2009 by Phill Gibson

Not everyone can set standards for how we do things in this world. If we all did, then there would by definition no longer be any standards. Both famous and not-so-famous people have contributed in creating most of the standards … Continue reading →

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Some of My Musical Influences – Intro

Posted on June 6, 2009 by Phill Gibson

Among other series of blogs I’ve been thinking of writing has been one about already well-known musicians who have been influential on my own musical development. Some are obvious bluegrass musicians (Bill Monroe, Frank Wakefield, among others), some banjo pickers … Continue reading →

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Originality in Music

Posted on June 5, 2009 by Phill Gibson

“Originality is nothing but judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed from one another.” – Voltaire So it goes with music, too. We start out learning ‘Cripple Creek’ on the banjo, for instance, then advance to learning other songs by … Continue reading →

Posted in Banjos and Society, Philosophical Ramblings | Leave a comment

When the Going Gets Tough

Posted on June 2, 2009 by Phill Gibson

I’ve often had students come to me and say they’ve hit a wall in terms of their practice. They keep trying, but it just seems like they are not making any progress. First, I always try to eliminate a few … Continue reading →

Posted in Tips & Techniques | Leave a comment

A Bit of Banjo History – Part 2

Posted on May 30, 2009 by Phill Gibson

I did a brief article to summarize the history of the  Banjo a while back – here is the last in this series. The years between about 1910 and 1945 saw a sea-change in society and culture, begun in the … Continue reading →

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Growing Older & Laying Off Less

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Phill Gibson

When I was younger, there were a couple of periods of time that spanned longer than I care to remember. Times when I didn’t practice the banjo. No guitar, mandolin, dulcimer or drums, either. I didn’t even think much about them, other than … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophical Ramblings | Leave a comment

The Blog is Back up!

Posted on May 24, 2009 by Phill Gibson

After being down for a few days, this blog is back up and upgraded to the latest version of WordPress as well!

Posted in Maintenance Stuff | Leave a comment

Notes on Reno Style, 2009-05

Posted on May 24, 2009 by Phill Gibson

I’ve not written on my own progress with Reno style lately and I should. I found a nice series of informative articles on playing Reno style in Banjo Newsletter by Jason Skinner, the last of which just completed in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reno & Single-String Style | Leave a comment

A Fitting Quote on Teaching

Posted on May 16, 2009 by Phill Gibson

I was reading a book on SQL Server the other day and found this quote on teaching that I thought was worth sharing: In life, we encounter two classes of masters, those who share their mastery solely through their work and … Continue reading →

Posted in Music in General | Leave a comment

Going to 16th Avenue

Posted on May 12, 2009 by Phill Gibson

I’m going to visit 16th Avenue in Nashville soon. I need to get some repairs done to several of my instruments: 1. Fret work on my Stelling Red Fox. 2. Fix a separated neck (no truss rod) on my very … Continue reading →

Posted in Banjos in General | 2 Comments