Tab...again

[Tim Twiss]

I just now got a look at Weidlich's version of Sandy Boy. It is odd that he re-wrote it and changed things that were so cool, unique and (hold your breath) delightfully Minstrelish about it. If anybody can read tab and notation, you'll see what I mean.....displacing where the down beat falls. So....everybody that reads the tab thinks that is how the tune goes. Jeez....

[Strumelia]

I was getting ready to try and play that tune from Weidlich's book, since the tune is already familiar to me in old-time version.   So I'm very glad you mentioned this.

Which tutor(s) has Sandy Boy that you recommend?  I'll be sure to print those tutor versions out and look into the differences between them and W's tab book.

What would be ultra cool is if somebody with the ability did 3 videos- one playing SB in typical old-time/clawhammer style, one playing it Weidlich's tab way, and one playing it straight from the tutor.  Perhaps all three in the same key on the same banjo, so we could get a clear sense of their differences.  Kind of an academic experiement, but a useful one I'd think.

[Trapdoor2]

Yah, it is unfortunate that Mr. Weidlich chose to 'straighten out' some of this stuff. I bought all of his books and then shelved them...preferring to TAB from the originals myself.

I suspect this "straightening out" of many tunes is part of the "folk process". These odd rhythms and pauses just don't work and play well in the folk tradition, certainly not with clawhammer players wanting to fill every measure with as many notes as possible. ;-)

There are lyrics to Sandy Boy and although I don't know them, I can well imagine that the funkiness of the Rice version derives from the vocals...which are not limited by metrognomes; phrases are extended, notes are held for effect, etc. Trying to notate a banjo version of something like that would be a nightmare...and a 'solo banjo' form would naturally transmorgify itself into the OT banjo version we encounter today.

I don't play several EB tunes simply because they are "uncomfortable" in their odd rhythms; "Sandy Boy" is one of them (I do play a CH version). Of course, others I find a hoot (like Injin Rubber Overcoat) but those tend to have an obvious groove.

To me, this is all tied together (Clawhammer & Stroke). I don't see them as seperate styles as much as evolutionary offshoots which are again crossing paths. I have been unconsiously inserting Stroke movements into my CH style for the past several years and I hear the same thing in other folks who have been 'messing about' with the Stroke style. I think it is a positive thing...but I don't want to lose sight of the 'straight Stroke' path either...shouldn't be a problem for me, I'm seriously tied to the type of banjo that is currently in my lap. Hand me a CH banjo and I have serious difficulty coaxing out a stroke tune. Hand me a EB and those same tunes just hop out. 

[Bell Banjos]

I second Trapdoor's motion !!!!!  (metrognomes haha)