Adult Beginner Practiced Banjo for 550 Hours
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- čas přidán 9. 09. 2024
- Here is everything I have learned after 550 hours of practice. Big thanks to my banjo instructor, Mike Leatherman. Will I achieve a professional level of skill in 2000 hours? Stay tuned.
My instructor:
Mike Leatherman
www.morganhill...
Also, big thanks to the banjo community for being so supportive - Eli Gilbert, Eddie Collins, Mike Hedding, the Banjo Addict, and Mack Plays Banjo.
Congratulations Mark. I remember getting started and what I put my wife through after dinners, playing Worried Man Blues for what seemed like forever. With no musical training I was lucky to find a teacher who would travel 2 hours on Wednesdays to visit his aging father and teach lessons. We started in a park, moved to my home and finally a music store gave him lesson time. I think you're doing fantastic and my only addition would be to get out and find some jams to play with. Some are better than others but you'll find the ones you like (and don't like) and meet lots of folks like yourself who just want to get together and make noise. Keep up the good work and keep posting as things progress.
I love your story. A tolerant wife definitely helps. How long have you been playing? How long were you playing before you started doing jam sessions?
The most impressive thing about this to me is that you had the discipline to practice things that slowly and precisely as a beginner. As someone who plays several instruments it's a very good habit and one that I struggle with. This channel is a very cool idea!
This is exceptional! Not only the dedication and effort that you e clearly put in but the clarity and quality. Keeping time is one of the harder skills to master and also the easiest to ignore. I find in my own practice without backup or a metronome to keep me honest, I’ll keep increasing the tempo. With an instrument like the banjo and the way we play it, it can be very easy to speed up and slow down in tunes.
Looking forward to seeing how you go from here!
@@jonsparrow1571 Thanks for your comment and thanks for tuning in.
Nice job. One tip is in regards your 2nd to 3rd fret slides on the 3rd string. Earl would typically bend the string up a quarter as he slides so you get a slightly sharper slurred sound rather than a flat slide as you appear to be doing. Check out Eli Gilbert’s video on the matter - will give you a more authentic scruggsy sound.
@@badface9955 I really appreciate your comment. Here’s why. When I was going through his “30 Days of Banjo” I remember him demonstrating the bend on the slide. At the time I told myself that the technique was too advanced for me, but that I would revisit it when I got better. Then I totally forgot about until I saw your comment. I think I’m good enough now to give it a go.
That’s so inspiring! As great as the music was, to me the greatest part was the joy in your face after each song. You have much to be proud of. Well done Sir and keep up the great work!!
@@rpmscottsman I smile because I’m constantly amazed that I’m actually playing songs. It something I just never thought I was capable of doing.
The more you play, the more you'll recognize similar licks from song to song and instantly start picking up new songs, great progress, keep it up, I been picking 45yrs and still learning new things every jam session!! 😁👍👍
@@dillinpicklesworth5698 this is inspiring. I look forward to being able to play by ear someday!
Great job Mark, you’ve really come a long way!! Keep going!
Very well done. I’m 120 hours in to this so far. I started off 3 years ago with Jim pankey but life got in the way and picked it back up and started all over again with Eli, I completed his 30 days and got myself a teacher and I’m really improving every day. Everyone who begins this journey must make time every day and never give up hope.
Love this channel and I will be following your brilliant journey from over in England.
@@kennethbarnes2297 Hello from California! Thanks for tuning in, Ken. Is 3-finger style popular in England? I was lucky to find a banjo instructor in the Bay Area (not exactly a hub for bluegrass). How hard was it to find a banjo instructor across the pond?
@@2000HoursofBanjo good evening from a rather dull Thursday here up north of England.
I would say not very popular. I only wanted to play the banjo because everyone I know plays guitar and I thought how bloody boring.
What drew me in was its unique sounds and the movie deliverance ( showing my age now ) I just fell in love with the instrument.
I forgot to add. It wasn’t that hard to find a local teacher but he’s like a jack of all trades so I doubt he can get me where I want to go but I will stay with him until I need a more experienced banjo teacher but I think I’m a long way off from that but it’s been fun journey so far.
At first playing slow was easy because I couldn’t play any faster. Now, I’m constantly trying to reign myself in from practicing too fast. It’s a struggle for certain.
The progression and improvement is real, nicely done. I'm 7 weeks into banjo 🪕 lessons and it's a struggle but I love the sound, even when I play it. My introduction to banjo class has touched on 2 finger, clawhammer and now 3 finger styles. I've signed up for the next 8 week course of Clawhammer. Onward.
At some point I would like to learn claw hammer, too. Are you going to try to learn multiple styles at the same time? Or are you sampling various styles to find out which one you want to pick?
I'm taking my banjo lessons through the venerable "Old Town School of Folk Music" in Chicago. They have structured their 8 week banjo introductory class as a multiple style approach so you are exposed to those different styles and then decide which style you'd like to dive into and develop further. I have enjoyed aspects of all 3 styles and ideally would like to become comfortable and capable of playing them. The Clawhammer sound and style appeals to me so I'm headed down that path, for now.
@@oldandintheway1955 That’s awesome. Keep us all posted on your progress!
I can't wait to reach that level of cleaness and timing. I'm 7 months in although I haven't been practicing much lately. It's been so darn hot in Rome right now it's driving me mad. I hope to recuperate in September. My biggest flaw is to rush into things instead of doing them slowly and precisely. I have to constantly remind and force myself to slow down
Wow, you're all the way from Rome?! There can't be many banjo players over there. I struggle with the same issue. Keep it up (when it cools down)!
True, not many banjo players here. Not as few as one might believe, though. The real problem is the total lack of banjo/accessories retailers. Everything has to be bought online from abroad so you can't really try anything before buying it.
Sorry my english is not the best. i am 16 and ive been playing for 4 years taught myself to play and i'm now playing gigs everywhere, and i think back on how many opportunities i wouldn't have had if i had'nt started playing. Practice goes a long way, and also does playing with other people that are better than you. you learn a lot from playing songs with others even if you can't play a break you can still back them up, and its worth more than any practice ive ever done on my own. also on your wrist position, for it to be more comfortable and easier to play when you get to playing faster tunes, your wrist should be a little more parrallel to the banjo and make sure your picks are mostly hitting the strings square to get an even and fuller sound from your banjo. I met Junior Sisk 2 weeks ago and talked to his banjo player Tony Mabe and it is incredible how he can pick as a blind guy. He told me some of the most valuable tips i would have never really known about from the internet. If you ever want to hear about some of them just ask me. Practice makes almost perfect, but don't forget to add some soul to your playing. Great playing and ill follow your playing.
@@TuberTickler Thanks for the comment. Do you think maybe my shoulder strap is too long resulting in the banjo hanging too low? I was looking at old pictures of Earl Scruggs and JD Crowe as well as recent pictures of Colton Crawford (banjo player from “the Dead South” and it looks like they carry their banjo a bit higher which increases the bend in their elbow.
@@2000HoursofBanjo Really your strap height is based on preference, but it is better if you set your strap so it just barely helps support when you are sitting down so you get the same position when standing. I find if i carry it too high, like you said their elbow bends and its harder to get your fingers parrallel with the strings. Also ive seen your hand is on an angle, it would be better if you just pick it up like i said and put it straight I also have another tip. Never touch the bridge with your anchor fingers as this dulls out the sound of the banjo. If i could have said something to me 3 years ago, it would be not to touch the bridge. But good job on taking it slowly and keeping things managable and practicing on getting those pull offs cleanly at slow speeds, because i also suffered from this mistake because i learnt by myself slowly but surely lol. Anyways always try to better your playing and dont forget to have fun because thats all its about, have a great day!
What a great use of time. Love the sound of the banjo and wish my hands would allow me to pick one up. Great job and keep up the good work!
You know, you kinda hit the nail on the head with your comment. I found myself either watching tv or playing video games after work. At some point I questioned what getting better at a video game does for me. At that moment I decided to learn and instrument or another language…I’m not one to travel much, so music is what I decided. Downside, I’m not that good at video games anymore ;)
@@2000HoursofBanjo Haha! I play a few games every now and then, but have never cared to get good at them. But I have played the guitar and trombone. I've also learned how to do photography, astrophotography, small electronics, 3D printing, CNC milling (I built my own 30"x30" CNC from scratch), laser engraving, screen printing, vinyl decals, sublimation t-shirts, woodworking and probably a few other things I'm forgetting about.
And I did all of that while someone was bragging about their high score on some video game. ;-)
Your fretting is pretty good. Have u played any other chords instrument before? Im 2 weekes in doing about 1 hour daily. My right hand skills are getting better but Im concerned about my left hand. Good job!
@@romulorocha8704 Thanks! Banjo is my first instrument ever. At two weeks it’s too early to be worried about your technique. Just accept that it will be bad for a while and will evolve slowly into better and better technique. When I started my left hand technique was so bad it led to a stress injury. I have a video about it somewhere on my channel. I’ll look it up.
I describe my finger injury in this video. czcams.com/video/RJBcyRn67Sg/video.htmlsi=SZNqnTUvay8kAs5s
Nice to hear that Wayfaring Stranger with a little bit of that cool bounce to it! Awesome! Everything sounded really great, and we can only wonder what that 1100 video will be like :)
@@stvnnmnn it will sound a whole lot different with the Nechville banjo I get at 1000 hours ;)
Super great you are on your way ! Left hand perfect ! You gonna hate yourself 3Years from now when you take on up temp challenging tunes and realize you’re right hand not set very good ! Check out the masters J D /Sonny /Earl ! I wish you the best ! U have paid your beginner dues ! Thanks 🙏
@@geebee864 thanks for the comment. What do I need to do to improve my right hand technique?
@@2000HoursofBanjo rotating your right hand 🫱 not here ! Rotate to the right so thumb - index-middle finger picks are attacking the strings square ! Your picks in the video are hitting each string at an angle and soon there will be a sharp edge developing on the side of each pick then a scratching metal sound will annoy your ears 👂!
Ok on you tube watch this video ! BGU-Banjo Right Hand Technique ! Super instruction ! Good luck 🍀
@@geebee864 Thanks. I’m starting to see what you mean. I think my shoulder strap is too long, causing me to open up the angle at my elbow. I really appreciate your help.
Great job Mark, your hard work and dedication is paying off for sure and you are an inspiration to us here on this channel please keep it going if possible! What jam track or backing track are you using?
Thanks, Danny. I have no plans of stopping. I've been using an app called Strum Machine for my backing tracks. I really like it. It has a lot of cool features - it's pre-loaded with a lot of bluegrass tunes, you can set it to increase the tempo per repetition, you can select parts of the song to loop, and it's pretty cheap.
Great progress! at what speed/BPM are you playing foggy mountain breakdown? Im also learning banjo and sort of on the same level as you, so i like to try and keep up with your progress!
I think I had the tempo set at 50-55 half beats per minute for that song on this video.
@twistedsister1634 ok thanks Mark, have a blessed day!