For enthusiasts of early banjo
Gumbo Chaff
Anyone want to read through the Gumbo Chaff with me? It would be so awesome. Go straight through it. Mark....do I hear a nibble of interest? We can do "as is" versions, then interpretations.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tim Twiss on
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Okay, now these next two ( Zip Coon and Alabama Joe ) are written with 2 flats. That key would put us in the concert pitch of Bb. This is just not a good fit for the banjo. Now, one must think...switch to Briggs or Rice thinking? You have to think, where will the thumb string lay the best to make these phrases flow. I thought, think in the key of A. It results in reading it a 1/2 step lower. I never change the pitch or tuning of the instrument, but rather the mode of thinking. In other words, I actually lowered it by 1/2 step, and I think of E as the thumb string.
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Permalink Reply by Strumelia on
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Tim, since the thumb string doesn't really always have to be the same note as the tonic/key note, I tend to try locating a tune based on where the tonic note would be in my normal tuning (in Briggs tuning that would be second string 1st fret), then seeing if I can play the sharps and/or flats ok. If too awkward, I then try a high bass tuning to see if the sharps/flats are easier to play from that. I don't worry about what key it is, as long as I can be in a type of tuning so I can play the sharps or flats that are needed. I play my Hartel in Bb all the time, with Brian on fiddle in Bb as well. It's even easier on fretless, since we can move the bridge a couple inches up and down as well. :)
I move the tunes to my tonic note, not to my thumb string note. I move the tune to my banjo, less so moving the banjo to the tune. Not sure if I'm explaining it well enough, sorry. I definitely know less music theory than you do, and I kinda worked this out in a hands-on way through trial and error. That's why i cannot perhaps explain it in the proper music theory terminology. I suspect this is one reason there came to be many banjo tunings in old-time banjo playing.
Everything is very different when you are on a standard tuned fiddle or mandolin or a keyboard for example- all notes are available at your fingertips so there is no reason to change a tuning. But banjos (and cross-tuned fiddles) are tuned to a key and are expected to utilize drone or open strings, are not tuned in regular stepped 5ths. That means we have to take a different approach than other folks.
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The thumb string does always function as root or a 5th for the intended.
This stuff is always confusing. Here is a link, that might help.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_pitch
We should think of the banjo as a TRANSPOSING INSTRUMENT>
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OK I read that page about concert pitch, but fail to see how it really gets me where I need to go any better. Once I hear the tune, I just doodle around til I find it on the banjo. That said, I don't necessarily think that all tunes are suitable or satisfying for me to play on a banjo. I'm no Bela Fleck. lol!
Ah well, just another example of how we all might approach the challenge from different angles! :)
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Theory and intuition lead to the same place. Theory is just quicker.
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It's not that I 'can't let it go' Tim. It's that you make a blanket statement that 'Theory is just quicker' as though it applies to everyone. But it's just not always true for everyone- some of this depends on a person's background and personal methods and approaches to music that they've developed or learned or yes even patched together perhaps, over their lifetime. I do know it's not always true for me, so forgive me if I feel I must make that personal clarification. I certainly do agree with your statement that "Theory and intuition lead to the same place."- and often it's handy to use a combination of the two. :)
Oops- edit: I see you deleted your comment Tim...sorry if mine makes little sense now!
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I'm actually enjoying this a lot. It is sort of like test driving a car for Consumer Report and then writing a review. I'll give a full assessment at the end. I don't know that this stuff has been played? On our radar and comes up in discussions, but never the actual playing. I hope I am helping more than I am irritating our North Carolina friends.
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