Tim Twiss's Blog (111)

What would YOU do??

If you get a piece of fiddle music in F? Which note do you reference as the thumb string?

I revisited this one from the Rice book of 1858. It is so deceptive...try it and see where the beat falls. It seems to turn back around on you, depending upon where you place the beat. One of the coolest and overlooked songs.

The price was finally right...down from those crazy hundreds on ebay. Got the "Little Yellow" book for $75.00. I know we access them free, but I guess the chance to have and hold one of my own was irresistible. This is one I plan to reissue in standard notation anyway to avoid all the dialogue and page turning.

...you think early banjo players re-enacted? Ditched their way cool tensioned banjos, got a funky old gourds, and sat around in Revolutionary era clothing??

Fascinating, just the pure sound of these unique banjos we have. No two are alike.....exactly. So many small variables make the instruments distinct, and couple that with the many touches and styles we have all developed...totally unique fingerprint for each person. This is part of what I enjoy about this.

No doubt, this song is a keeper. Played it today at it worked well.

Dan Gibson...this is an official "thank you" for the inspiration on "Wake Up In The Morning". I have officially stolen your idea. I love AEBG....!!!

Anybody else sing "The Man On The Flying Trapeeze"?

I found it in the Dobson Book....going to add it in this weekend. Got that Al...ha ha.

Concert key of "G".

The tune is from 1867.

...I will be sitting on the porch of a historical building playing all day on Saturday. You know...low profile blah blah. It will be a great opportunity to really test the repertoire, and see how long I can play before repeating myself. Using...all the verses to tunes like Johnny Boker, Gwine Ober de Mountain. Limit Jim Crow to about 6. I have no idea what it will be like, but I have my lyrics.

Okay, here we go. It becomes a strange possession once I start. good sign....first tune went down well on one take and the setting sounds good. man, I've been waiting for this book! See ya at the end.

Who would have thought??..."May Polka" has been the hardest song ever for me to record. ( Green Converse book ).

I threw a lot of songs up...basically letting you in on a practice. Good for us....to see how well we can play tunes on any given day. Not too polished, but we enjoy playing, and have some gigs coming up. We are especially enjoying these early and slightly obscure tunes. How do you approach one that is not recorded much yet???? Look at the music and try things I guess. Anyway, any comments or observations are welcome.

The Lester Levy Collection website got a facelift....check the site out for tons of sheet music. This is great source material. The pages are easy to flip through if you want to glance at a multi-page song.

http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/

47 % today....perfect for skin banjos.

I wish we had that Facebook feature here....it would be a cool way to acknowledge a post without adding comments. Maybe it's in there somewhere...?

I just put up a tab for a tune to share that I discovered this morning. It should be played fast, but I found the melody and the way it layed on the banjo to be completely mezmerising and engaging when played slowly and loosely. Although I recorded it this morning, I feel like am just starting to tap into it...being able to play it different each time by altering the phrases. A very free and creative feeling

Funny....doesn't feel like 707, does it?

"There are but two really fundamental principals or movements governing the action of the right hand in this (banjo) style."

The Hammer

The Combination

Trust this man. He published this statement in 1886.

3-29-13

One of my hobbies...passions...( okay, obsessions ) is finding new banjo material. I try to do it from the perspective of the original Early banjo players, using sources available to them and integrating it according to the examples left behind in the tutors.

I have a fresh source and I would like to share how i seek out material and then arrange it.

I am using Kerr's Merry melodies for the the violin. It is well known that much of the original Minstrel banjo is…

Is it just me, or is this search function totally worthless? We have so much good stuff on this site, but it seems difficult to retreive it.