For enthusiasts of early banjo
Shuffle Along - Morley (Classic visit)
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Comment by Mike Moss on February 7, 2012 at 3:07pm
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Hi folks! I really like Minstrel banjo but I'm primarily a Classic player... however when learning this one I noticed that the original owner of the sheet music had scrawled a drawing of a blackface Minstrel in one of the corners -- and his banjo seems to have a boucher scroll too! Have a look
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Comment by Rob Morrison on February 7, 2012 at 4:01pm
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Mike--
WOW!!!
Rob Morrison
P. S. Please come back again.
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Comment by Ian Bell on February 8, 2012 at 7:52am
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Great stuff - love the piano accompaniment. Perfect for our cakewalk around the breakfast table this morning!
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Comment by Nicholas A Bechtel on February 8, 2012 at 5:54pm
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Is that a Tenor Banjo?
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I'm glad you liked it! Thank you for your kind comments.
@Nicholas: This is a regular old 5-string banjo, strung with heavy gauge nylons, renaissance head and a Morley bridge; this style of playing is known as Classic banjo (often mistakenly called "classical" banjo); the author of this solo, Joe Morley, is the old man sitting in the middle of this picture. This was 1930s radio show called the Kentucky Minstrels; the other two banjoists are two other famous Classic banjo players of the time, Tarrant Bailey Jr. (left) and Dick Pepper (right).
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Thank you for the information. Very Cool. That sound is so haunting to me. I really like it. Have you ever heard of Perry Bechtel...haven't confirmed if he is related or not, but have my suspicions.
Probably a silly question,...but is that song Tabbed out some where, or am I going to have to learn it the good o'l fashioned way, which I prefer....I'm just slow. If so where might the sheet music be. Is the Classic Style Banjo hard to get down?
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Perry Bechtel played a 4-string, but there probably is some overlap with Classic since many Classic players migrated to plectrum playing during the dance band craze to make a living. "Old Joe" was a stalwart fingerstyle Classic player until his death as was Tarrant Bailey Jr. who also innovated in Classic fingerstyle banjo in his 1930's records by blending it in the context of the jazz band.
The song isn't tabbed out as far as I know (though Marc S has tabbed out a lot of Classic tunes) but you can find the sheet music on our site here http://classic-banjo.ning.com/ in the "library" section. The sheet music carries a lot of annotations so it isn't as difficult to read as it looks... I wrote a tutorial on reading CB notation on the Hangout (here).
Classic Style isn't all that difficult though "Shuffle Along" certainly isn't an easy solo to start with! (Dotted quavers all over the place). We do have lessons on the Ning site to get you started if you're interested.
BTW this also opens some interesting discussion points on Minstrelsy... although people tend to separate Classic and Minstrel style, there is a lot of overlap as there was a lot of Minstrel or Minstrel-influenced music in Classic banjo... plenty of cakewalks and walkarounds and such.
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Right on! Thank You well I love this sound as well, Far South Reel that feel to it.
I will check out the website. In addition to my Minstrel Banjo, I have a Deering Good time , open back. I have a fiber skin head on it, can I make some agjustments and get that same Classic Banjo sound out of it?
What tuning are you typically in?
Very Cool song!
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Frank Converse was way ahead of his time, Far South Reel is a brilliant composition with a great groove. If you like that mood you should check out some of Joe Morley's other C minor solos -- Georgia Walk Round and Boston Walk Round come to mind.
Yeah, a Goodtime should work just fine for Classic. My "Classic" banjo is actually a cheap korean masterclone I modded to get the sound. Since the Goodtime is lighter it will probably respond better to the nylons.
The secret to getting the "real" Classic Banjo sound is:
- Heavy gauge nylons (Chris Sands brand, you can buy them from Elderly) -- you can use Mediums to build up the calluses but you'll eventually want to use the Heavies
- Picking with bare fingers, no nails, and thick calluses -- you build up the calluses by picking on the Heavies. The picking technique also helps -- picking pretty hard, near the bridge, and with the hand in a tight fist.
- A thin maple bridge with no ebony cap -- I use a "Morley" bridge, but any plain old Grover bridge will do
- A renaissance or white frosted head -- you can use the fiberskyn but it will stifle your tone a little
The tuning most Classic banjo music is in is Standard tuning, also called "drop C" in bluegrass circles (gCGBD) unless the sheet music says "tune bass to D", in which case it's open G.
This is Chris Sands, he was Tarrant Bailey Jr's pupil:
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Awesome, another door just opened..Thanks Mike for your help. Instruction books for beginning method and songs...are those available?
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