Minstrel Medly

Comment by Bell Banjos on July 3, 2012 at 3:02pm

And HOW many months have you been playing?

Comment by Ryan Gray on July 3, 2012 at 3:40pm

since.........ummm since February i think haha

Comment by Strumelia on July 3, 2012 at 5:24pm

Just terrific. I think everyone should play that one 'new' low note towards the end there from now on...sounds like a keeper to me. lol

Comment by Ryan Gray on July 3, 2012 at 5:32pm

Haha. Thanks! It was the third take and I really did not want to do it all over again lol

Comment by Carl Anderton on July 3, 2012 at 6:30pm

I didn't think the clawhammer influence blurred the true stroke sound,.  I've heard people play bum-ditty all the way through and call it minstrel style.  One thing, we talked a lot at the Gathering about how we need to slow down a lot of our stuff, I know it feels good to crank on the speed, and you sound good, but some of this stuff, especially the vocal tunes, needs to be slowed down from our modern frantic tempos.

Comment by Strumelia on July 3, 2012 at 7:20pm

Amen on the modern frantic tempos observation, carl.   I complain about this regularly in old-time circles.  It especially is a shame when beautiful haunting modal tunes are played at frantic 'festival speed'.  So many fiddle tunes are played so fast in old-time group sessions nowadays that the only really good thing about them is that they are over with sooner.   lol

Many a good old song has been ruined because the singer can't keep up with the fast instruments. At higher speeds, rushing through the lyrics can be a real problem, to the point where the listeners can't even understand the words much less savor the implications of the song's message.

Comment by Ryan Gray on July 3, 2012 at 7:42pm

Thanks for the advice Carl! I haven't played in so long that I guess I really wanted to burn off some excess fingernail on some of em haha.  I also agree with strumelia 110%. I will have to hold back my horses on my next gig so the audience can understand Terry Bell and his son :) By the way Carl and Stumelia, its an honor to have you guys comment on my video. You two are great masters and I hope to achieve the level of skill you both have. Thanks much!

Comment by Strumelia on July 3, 2012 at 7:54pm

Well Carl is a master for sure, but you are mixing me up with somebody else- heck I can barely play Juba so far!!  lol!

Comment by Ronald D Haines on July 3, 2012 at 10:18pm

my teacher gave me this advice , "Don't play a song faster than you would sing it"

I some times enjoy just slowin it down and becoming more of a listeneras I play.

I' get a lot of requests about my playing...but I usually just play anyway !!

Comment by Andy Chase on July 4, 2012 at 7:38am

Sounded pretty solid to me!  And nothing sounded particularly "clawhammery" to these ears; a lot of those tunes just happen to be pretty straightforward rhythm-wise, and results in that bum-ditty sound when played faster.   I've been trying to make myself slow down too... too often I find myself trying to speed a song up as soon as I memorize the fingerings, but I think some of them don't actually need to be sped up all that much.

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