Friday, March 14, 2008

Banjo Decisions

So I got my dad's banjo and I am starting to lean towards frailing now. I'm thinking that my musical ability doesn't fit with my musical ambitions. When I look at the Scruggs (Bluegrass) style of banjo picking, it seems like a long road of practicing rolls and learning how to fit licks and rolls together in a kind of seemingly magical way to then play a song. Combine that with the speed that Bluegrass guys play and you have the recipe for years and years of practice before you can play any kind of recognizable song. Of course there are those guys out there that have a natural musical aptitude to make that kind of practice pay eventually. Unfortunately I have to be realistic and I've realized that my goal of playing for my friends and family may mean trying to get in faster at the ground level. Of course I haven't made the effort to start to learn how to frail yet, so I may run into more trouble. Either way, my commitment to practicing every day should pay off some time, if not immediately. In the end I imagine that I will eventually learn a little bit of both Scruggs style and frailing. Here is a video of a guy my dad's friend referred me to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo0cy0REMY8

No comments: