Does Musical Ability Decrease With Age?

Posted on October 14, 2009 by Phill Gibson

This is a topic that’s been nagging at me for a while now. I’m 52, you see, and I’m starting to think about what it’s like to get old.

 The last thing I want to happen is to not be able to pick like I could when I was 20. And depending on several factors, this may or may not happen.

Those factors fall into two obvious categories: those you can do something about, and those that you can’t.

Those you can do something about would include:

  1. Getting enough practice. I think that’s the main, number 1, factor in any of this. All else being equal (and that’s an important ingredient), enough practice gets you to the point where you want to be. Not enough, and you’ll always be striving for the same objective, with little progress.
  2. Your schedule. Yes, if you’re past high school age, then most likely you’re busy all the time. It comes down to being a matter of setting your priorities. BTW, Banjos should not be your main priority in life; they aren’t in mine. But nevertheless, you’ll want to leave time for your musical pursuits.
  3. Physical well-being. This includes diet, exercise and staying as stress-free as we can.

Then, there are the things you are no control over – those things that as we age, we simply have to accept. These include:

  1. Physical deterioration. That sounds so awful, though. Maybe I should call it something else, but I can’t think of a nicer way to put it. As we get older, we get to the point of not being able to physically do the things we used to do, plain and simple.
  2. Mental deterioration. Another not-so-nice-sounding condition we find ourselves in. I can hear myself now, 30 rocking chair years down the road:

“Young whipper-snappers! Look at ’em!
Why when I was 20, I had to play the banjo barefoot!…
In the snow!”

But like the serenity prayer (Lord, help me have the courage to change the things I can, serenity to accept the things I cannot, and wisdom to know the difference), we need to be able to tell which is which.

I think about Sonny Osborne and the loss of ability to raise his left arm due to a long-term damaged tendon. What a difficult time that must have been. I had thought that this was a career-ending injury for Sonny, but I saw a photo of him playing recently (I believe it was recent); hopefully they found a way to correct whatever was wrong. I’m sure I’ll find out at NashCamp next week!

If it’s the case that Sonny did indeed get this corrected, then this turned out to be something that could be addressed, not something to simply be accepted.

I think as long as we keep ourselves reasonable healthy, then chances are great we’ll be able to play well into our golden years. Earl Scruggs is still going strong in his mid-80s now.

Let’s hope we’ll all be as blessed as he has been with good health in later years.

Posted in Banjoists and Others, Philosophical Ramblings | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Fence We All Straddle

Posted on October 11, 2009 by Phill Gibson

When it comes to ways to learn the banjo or mandolin, there are a couple of different paths we can follow. Each path uses the same set of tools and so can look very similar to the other, but the way we think about learning shows the difference in the two.

1 – Learning by exact duplication. Here, the way of thinking is to duplicate, as exactly as possible, what someone else has done. It’s usually set down in tablature, but you can also do this by simply rote memorization of someone as they are slowly picking the notes; a sort of live tablature, if you will. Far from being a second-rate way to learn an instrument, learning by exact duplication is an excellent way to introduce new techniques and licks into your repertoire. Besides, more often than not, we tend to develop our own licks and motifs when given an exact copy of some else’s work. Often, we don’t even realize it until, perhaps many years later, we reexamine the original tablature and are amazed to find we have modified it.

2 – Learning by improvisation. Quite often, people who have learned to play the piano strictly by standard music are amazed at someone who can play as new song ‘by ear’. Truth is, ‘by ear’ musicians are equally impressed that someone can actually play a piece they have never seen before simply from what’s written on a piece of paper. Learning by improvisation differs from learning by exact duplication in that it involves strictly your own techniques with material that is new. Learning to improvise is often seen as a higher, nobler pursuit in the grand scheme of musical learning. Perhaps that’s so, but remember that neither of these ways stands alone; they both need the other in order to be optimal.

Another way to think of this: learning by duplication is discovery; learning by improvisation is application. In other words, when we learn by duplication we are thinking “This is what it feels like to be able to make that sort of a sound”. Application, then, is when you think: ‘I want to make THIS sort of a sound, so from experience I realize than my fingers need to do THIS sort of a motion in order to get that sound.’

Posted in Beginning Banjo, Music in General | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bluegrass Owners Association Covenant

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Phill Gibson

No, this blog doesn’t have anything to do with an actual real estate entity. Read on for what it is about.

I know how covenants work within a homeowners association. The new homeowner signs the covenant, promising to abide by the restrictions placed on the neighborhood by the association. This can include such things as not parking your car on the street, keeping your grass in tip-top condition, not erecting anything gaudy, and the like.

The bluegrass music community also has a covenant for you to sign. Didn’t know about it? If you play an instrument with other folks, then you are indeed a bluegrass music homeowner.

In actuality, all established forms of music have their own covenant for all participants to sign. Only trouble is, not everyone thinks they need to sign on, nor do newcomers generally know about them. And to make matters worse, everyone has their own version of the covenant, which can vary widely.

Confused?

Join the club (not the homeowners association, either). Let’s clear the air, then.

First off, it’s generally good to have a set of rules to go by when playing music. These are how we define our particular genre of music (bluegrass, for instance) as well as how we define and refine our own style within the genre. People like to have a distinctive sound; that’s what sets them apart from other bands playing in the same genre. Music labels also like that distinctiveness, as it helps them with their bottom line.

The rub comes when people think that all musicians within this genre should play according to their own style.

This is different from trying to find like-minded musicians to join your band, for instance. I used to play in a band that didn’t like ‘progressive’ banjo playing. I found out the hard way. Obviously I didn’t last long there, but that’s life in the bluegrass jungle.

Secondly, there’s nothing that says you can’t crossover. Mix a little jazz in with your bluegrass or old-time and see what happens. Some folks don’t appreciate this, and that’s their prerogative, just like anyone else having their own preferences in anything. Maybe crossover music no longer belongs under the bluegrass label, but that’s also okay – this process has been going on as long as music has existed. Bluegrass bands bring nothing new to the music table here.

But don’t think that just because these guys play a different style that they aren’t a valid (and even respectable) bunch of musicians.

Lastly, don’t confuse the covenant with jamming etiquette. Etiquette is just plain common sense and being courteous to your fellow musicians.

Posted in Banjos & Bluegrass, Banjos and Society | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Back to Basics – 3 Essential Chords

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Phill Gibson

We started this series of basic lessons last time with the 4 essential rolls. Today, we’ll look at the 3 most common beginning chords.

What is a chord, anyway?
Without going into a good deal of music theory, you can think of a chord as three or more different notes played together. Simpler chords, such as G major and C major, otherwise just called G and C chords, are composed of three different notes. The G major chord contains at least one each of G, B and D. The C major chord contains C, E and G notes. As chord get more complicated, such as, say, a D7 chord, they may have 4 or more notes to them. A D7 chord contains D, F#, A and C notes. We’ll be playing these three chords in just a moment.

You can also have chord fragments when you are playing a song. This is where you don’t use all available notes in a chord as you are playing. Often, you’ll use the bottom two or three strings on a banjo to make a chord fragment. Doing so is a mostly a matter of efficiency; fretting two or three strings is quicker than three or four, especially if you don’t need all the notes of the chord.

Chord-G

 

Open G
Talk about an easy chord! With you banjo in open G tuning, strum across all 5 strings. There! You’ve done it! That’s a G major chord. It’s also why they call it… open G tuning!

Here’s what the diagram to the left means. Each of the vertical lines represents a string on the banjo; the leftmost string is the highest one as you hold it. Above each string is the note that that string makes unfretted; since this is for a banjo in open G tuning, this means GDGBD for the notes of all five strings. Those little four-part diagonals on frets 3 and five? Those are simply inlays, as seen on a typical banjo; they help you orient your self on the fretboard of most any strinChord-D7ged instrument.

 

D7
There are several variations on the D7 chord. This is the easiest to do and only involves 2 fingers.

This D7 chord is seen in the diagram to the right. Notice that this one now involves using your fingers to fret the strings; the numbers in the black circles represent which left-hand finger to use to fret: 1 is the index finger, 2 is the middle and so forth.

 

 

 

Chord-CC
Still a fairly simple chord, but if you’re totally new to fretting a stringed instrument, then you’ll probably need to practice this C major chord a bit more, as it involves three fingers.

 

 

If you’re having a difficult time making some of these chords, here is a great technique that is designed to help you be able to make them quickly and easily. It’s a 4 step process:

1 – Put each of your fingers above the string it is to fret. Don’t place your fingers on the strings just yet, but have ALL of your fingers ready to do so and right above the string.

2 – Now go ahead and fret all strings AT ONCE. Right after this also pinch or strum; whatever your right hand should do to actually make the proper sound.

3 – Right after the proper sound has been made, lift your fingers only enough to bring the strings off the frets. Keep your fingers in contact with the strings, though, so as to mute them. You may recognize this step as vamping.

4 – Bring all of your fingers back up to the first position; just above the strings and ready to go again.

Practice this over and over, very slowly for quite a while until you get the hang of it. It’s a bit unusual feeling at first, but soon you’ll start to see how useful it can be to help you get those more difficult chords down quickly.

So that’s it for the basics of chords. Yes, there are plenty of other chords, many using four fingers and some that require a good deal of practice in order to execute. We’ll save them for another day. Just know that you can get a lot of mileage out of just these basic chords so concentrate on them until you have them down pat.

Posted in Beginning Banjo | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Back to Basics – Intro and 4 Essential Rolls

Posted on October 2, 2009 by Phill Gibson

Here’s another series of blogs I’ve started! This one is on beginning 5-string banjo techniques.

Sometimes, it is hard to sort out all the required details from the extras when you’re just getting started in something complex; learning to play the banjo, for example. What I want to do with this series of blogs is to distill the essential techniques and present them here. If you’re the kind who likes to just get the bare theory on something and then start tinkering with your own version, then this is ideal for you. If you know them already, just think of them as a good checklist to compare your progress against. If you don’t know some of them, then use this as an opportunity to “fill in the blanks”!

Today, I’ll start where I usually start new students – the 4 essential rolls. I assume you know how to read tablature only – not standard sheet music. Tab is pretty easy to pick up, fortunately. I also assume you can tune your banjo to open G tuning (GDGBD, from top string to bottom). Before we get started with the actual techniques, though, a couple of things to note.

I’m only limiting these to 4 to keep down the mental clutter. As you might suspect, there are literally hundreds of string and picking finger combinations that you could practice and use in actual songs, and that someone, somewhere no doubt already has. These 4 are chosen because they are some of the most common, as witnessed by their preponderance of use by most everyone. Almost all banjo instruction books cover them as well.

As you practice these, it is important that you always keep your ring and/or little fingers firmly resting on the banjo drum head. This is a very important requirement, as you’ll not be able to make much right-hand progress if you don’t. Some folks use just one finger firmly planted on the drum head  – that’s okay as well, but you should use both if you can. If you’re Greg Liszt, then yes, you may use just one finger! (Dr. Greg Liszt is a banjo player with Crooked Still and Bruce Springsteen who plays with 4 fingers! Something I’ll be blogging on one day soon!)

I’ll also be adding some more rolls to this series a few lessons later. And as always, if you hit some rough spots and need a hand, don’t hesitate to seek out a banjo teacher!

So, the first roll to consider is the forward roll:

 Forward Roll

Notice I have written in which right-hand finger to pick with with either a T (thumb), I (index finger) or M (middle finger). You’ll be picking down with the thumb, and up with the index and middle fingers.

Next is the backward roll. You can see if you look close enough, that this is simply the reverse of the forward roll:

 Backward Roll

Now for one of the most used rolls of all: the alternating thumb roll:

Alternating Thumb Roll

The alternating thumb roll is a bit more intricate than the first two. Keep with it though; it’s worth whatever effort you put into getting it down cold.

And last for today, the reverse roll. Study this one a bit and you’ll see why it is commonly called the reverse roll: it’s a sort of combination of the forward and backward rolls:

 Reverse Roll

With each of these rolls, practice them many hundreds of times. 500 or a thousand times for each roll over the course of a few weeks before moving on to new material will work wonders for your right hand techniques! I know that’s asking a lot of most folk’s time, but it’s well worth it. (I did that when I was first learning, so it’s not like I’m asking you to do something I’ve not taken the trouble to do myself.  🙂

That’s it for today. Next in this series will be some basic chords!

Posted in Beginning Banjo | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

T.V.O.T.F.C

Posted on September 29, 2009 by Phill Gibson

It stands for the Tennessee Valley Old-Time Fiddlers Convention – the grandaddy of mid-south fiddle contests, as they have advertised it for forty-something years. I went to the second ever TVOTFC years ago, with my grandmother and mother one cool October night as a youth, although I had no idea I would be going one day to pick and jam with fellow musicians.

So the big event starts this coming Friday night and goes on through Saturday. Visit http://www.athens.edu/fiddlers/ for all the details. This year, Bobby Osborne and Buddy Spicher will be performing.

Come on out and join the fun if you’re in the neighborhood!

Posted in Venues | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

When can you say that you're a banjo player?

Posted on September 27, 2009 by Phill Gibson

That question surely pops up in every beginning banjo player’s mind. It’s very natural to want to see progress happening as we practice and improve.

I think I started thinking of myself as a banjo player on two different levels. Starting with the last one first, it was when I had learned Cripple Creek, The Ballad of Jed Clampett and Foggy Mountain Breakdown. I learned them all pretty close to each other, so there is no ambiguity in my mind as to when it actually happened. Not a particular day, but definitely a certain two or three week period that late spring of 1977.

But the first time – a different way of thinking about the question – was before I had ever touched or owned my old Lark 5-string. It was during chapel at Freed-Hardeman University (Freed-Hardeman College back then) when Pickin’ Apples got up to present a bit of bluegrass entertainment that fateful day. I remember well hearing Tim Alexander play Flint Hill Special. I thought to myself: ‘That’s it – that what I’m going to learn to play!’ And I also remember not knowing much at all about the details of a banjo, but I did know and own one thing very important: that I would do however much practicing it took to learn it.

Nowadays, as I teach banjo and mandolin to students, I see the same eager approach to learning in most students. They also want to see progress just as I did; a sort of payment for services (i.e, practice) rendered. So to that end, I usually start saying someone is an official banjo player after they can go through their first song without an error or a break in rhythm.

And that’s a big, happy day for someone!

Posted in Beginning Banjo | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Thinking Like a Banjo

Posted on September 25, 2009 by Phill Gibson

You can lean the basics of your style of banjo playing, be it Scruggs, clawhammer, tenor, etc. and know how to play it, but your knowledge is still at a rather superficial level until you learn that intangible quality of thinking in terms of your instrument. That’s the essence of your musical talents and the ultimate endpoint to which we strive.

What does it mean to think in terms of your instrument? By that I mean having a firm notion of what you think sounds good on banjos in general, plus learning the characteristics of what sounds good on your instrument, knowing what you excel at, and being able to combine these characteristics into a unique third entity that is neither you nor the banjo; it’s what you both stylistically produce together.

We approach this formidable task by simple practice. We start by learning the basics, via emulation first. Then, as we progress and expand our level of learning, through our own individual creativity.

Will learning the basics of playing by rote hold you back from truly understanding your instrument and from creativity? I don’t think so. After all, that’s how everyone learns when they are a beginner. But if you stop at that point, you’ll not advance much farther. The trick here is in recognizing that to simply learn by rote is a very easy stopping point. Many folks do indeed stop here – and that’s okay, if that is your goal. To be a back porch picker is a noble goal in my book; that’s what most banjoists are. But to strive for something more, you’ll have to understand more than the relatively simpler tasks of learning by imitation. Start thinking about how you would develop your own style if you’re at this point.

Posted in Philosophical Ramblings | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Practice Banjo & Bluegrass Jam Session at The Coffee Tree Books & Brew

Posted on September 18, 2009 by Phill Gibson

As usual, this is on the third Saturday of each month; Septembers jam will be on the 19th. It’s from 4:00 – 5:00 pm at The Coffee Tree Books & Brew across Bailey Cove Road from Grissom High School in Huntsville, Alabama.

Here’s a map in a new browser page.

It’s geared towards anyone wanting to learn better jamming skills. It’s primarily for my bluegrass banjo and mandolin students, but anyone is welcome and encouraged to bring an instrument: guitars, mandolins acoustic basses, dobros, harmonicas and fiddles are most welcome! Also, you don’t need to be a student of mine to attend.

As we practice at home and in formal lessons, it’s easy to get accustomed to playing in a vacuum. And yet so much of the learning experience in music is accomplished with the direct interaction only found in a live jam session!

The purpose of these jams sessions will be:
•To give you more hands-on experience with playing in a live, yet stress-free, setting. No one’s going to throw tomatoes!
•To introduce students to a wider variety of bluegrass, folk, jazz, etc. songs for possibly learning in the future.
•Lastly, it’s a great way to meet other students!

So, join us – it’s for everyone, whether you bring a banjo, guitar or other instrument to play or just want to watch and learn!

 Contact me at Phill@PhillGibson.com if you have any questions.

Posted in Beginning Banjo, Venues | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Name – Skill Correlation

Posted on September 17, 2009 by Phill Gibson

I’ve often wondered; is there any relationship between people that have names easily identified with a certain skill and their propensity to take up that skill, or at least to have a greater than usual interest in that skill?

You see why I’ve wondered; my last name is Gibson, just like many a highly-regarded (albeit overpriced, some would say) guitar, mandolin and banjo. (By the way, I play a Stelling Red Fox, but wouldn’t mind switching to a Gibson Granada someday.) And no, I’m not related to anyone at Gibson; not to my knowledge, at least.

At least one well-known person, the pianist Alicia Keys, changed her last name just for this association.

What about some other name – skill associations? Some are pretty obvious, like last names Carpenter, Justice, Farmer, Mason, etc.

Here are some other interesting ones I can think of off the top of my head:

Fender – guitars
Ludwig – drums
Kennedy – politics
Rockefeller – finance
Carnegie – finance, philanthropy
Ford – automotive

I googled this Name-Skill Association topic, but didn’t find anything of relevance.

Posted in Music in General, Philosophical Ramblings | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment