Minstrel Banjo

For enthusiasts of early banjo

From Rice, 1858. For anyone counting this is a timing nightmare.

Views: 130

Comment by Chris Prieto on November 11, 2015 at 5:25pm

sounding mighty fine, love this tune

Comment by Paul Draper on November 11, 2015 at 8:07pm
Thanks Chris. It's a weird one, ain't it? Btw I saw your vids by chance on YouTube. Sound good - you should post them here!
Comment by Chris Prieto on November 12, 2015 at 11:34am

haha thanks. video taping myself has been fun. i notice i tend to do random weird things when i play that i never noticed before.

Comment by Strumelia on November 12, 2015 at 12:13pm

Nice tone and touch, Paul.

This one is reeeally messing with my rhythm feng shui.   I can only shiver if I imagine playing it for a dance, or playing it with an unsuspecting guitar player.  Even tapping my foot to it is vaguely disturbing ..lol.

The thing is that its timing irregularites are very much like what someone typically does when they are not adept at writing either tab or standard notation- I knew an actual high school music teacher who would write fiddle tunes down in SMN this exact way, and he couldn't understand what was wrong even when you explained it to him, thought people were being too anal...it was sooo weird.  But I cannot imagine Rice would have suffered from this...surely this crooked rhythm was intentional.  ?  (one would hope)

Comment by Strumelia on November 12, 2015 at 12:19pm

i notice i tend to do random weird things when i play that i never noticed before.

Like what, Chris?  ...changing your socks?  balancing your checkbook?  speaking in tongues?    heheh

Comment by Chris Prieto on November 12, 2015 at 12:27pm

I rock side to side, sometimes quite a bit. somewhat involuntary. I also have what I have dubbed "concentration lips" if I am somewhat still learning it while I play. My teacher told me funky lip movements are integral part of learning. I tend to look at fourth fret often as if it is not going to be there one day haha however changing my socks would be quite the feat :D

Comment by Al Smitley on November 12, 2015 at 12:33pm

"Concentration lips"!  I found (to my dismay) something similar in a posting Tim did of us called "Tuesday in Hartland", where I was opening my mouth slightly, and making myself look (even) older as though I'm trying to adjust my dentures or something!

Comment by Paul Draper on November 12, 2015 at 1:08pm
Funny - I do that lip thing too! Also I have a weird tightening of the neck muscles. Not at all pleasant to watch... Strumelia- Vida and I tried counting this out until it drove us crazy. I listened carefully to Tim's playing, and Joe Ayers', and tried to keep time. If you count without listening to the music, you kinda end up at the right place at the end. I think...
Comment by Chris Prieto on November 12, 2015 at 3:42pm

I think my teacher is on to something tho because i don't do it when I play mary blane which I've played very many, many times being the first tune I learned after juba

@Al & Paul ~ It's funny I never noticed in either videos as I'm generally busy enjoying the tunage. I know I have watched those videos from that session with Tim and Al many times. Never do to give it up so, white cat/black cat and the baccus/where did you come from are a weekly affair for me.

Comment by Al Smitley on November 12, 2015 at 3:51pm

Well, then, I shouldn't have pointed it out.  I feel most comfortable playing in my living room, by myself.  When Tim comes over, one level of comfort is gone.  If we're playing in front of people, yet another layer is gone.  When he came over with his camera, I suspiciously asked, "What's that for?", but I really meant, "What in the heck do have in mind with that thing!?!", because I knew I'll end up on YouTube.

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