Learning Black Banjo Syncopation Using Minstrel Banjo Materials

[Bob Winans]

I have just posted, as a blog under the title of this discussion thread, a piece originally prepared for the Black Banjo then & Now list.  Members here might also be interested in it.

Banjovially, Bob Winans

[Brian Welch]

It can be found here:
http://sites.google.com/a/wildblue.net/winansbanjo/learning-black-b...

[John Masciale]

Bob, This was a great article (as usual). Thanks for posting it.

[Bob Winans]

Thanks, Brian, for posting the link to the document on my website. For the copy that I posted here as a blog, I tried several times to get the jpegs of the notated versions of "Cold Frosty Morning" to stick, and thought I had succeeded. I probably should have just posted the link myself, but I thought it would be good to have the document here as well as elsewhere. The notation for the syncopated version of "CFM" is especially important because, though it is not in tablature, it shows where/how to use your thumb to get the syncopated rhythms. My website version of the document also has a quicker way of getting to the audio for the "CFM" versions.

Brian Welch said:

It can be found here:
http://sites.google.com/a/wildblue.net/winansbanjo/learning-black-b...

[John Masciale]

For those of you trying to play Bob's examples of Cold Frosty Morning, pay close attention to the fingering he provided. I played through them the first time around just sight reading the notes, and then looked at the way I was fingering the various notes. I found that I was very lazy, wanting to always use my thumb string for the a in his transcription (my d string). It has taken a number of times to play through it, but I am finally following Bob's fingering guide. It is a good stretch, and a worthwhile exercise.