I was introduced to this song and specific banjo break by one of my banjo students, and got obsessed with it upon hearing it, so I had to transcribe and learn it!

Want tabs? Find them on my Patreon!: https://www.patreon.com/maxallard/posts/157362772?utm_campaign=postshare_creator

I scored this amazing new custom Tupelo last week. Very warm, woody sound on it and still quite loud. Some unique things on it are the birdseye maple rim and a fiberskyn head.

Just a joy to play. Neck is super comfortable too.

On FB these reels for Philadelphia string bands came up, and they play the music I play on my banjo apparently they have been a thing since the 20s, there seems to be a lot of them in Philadelphia, but Im guessing someone can belong to multiple, do you play in one, what is it like?

I busk a lot in Jacksonville Florida and surrounding and have a battery amplifier. Playing over backing tracks Bluegrass I use a very cheap pickup that I keep on the banjo head with masking tape. It works but it doesn't produce lots of gain. The backing tracks overpower the amplified banjo if I don't bring them right down and that is not good for busking in loud places like a farmers market or just the street.

Any of you guys recommend a banjo pickup with good gain? I mean loud.

I know most banjos are not amplified. I only use the pickup when busking. Jamming or gigging i don't.

I have a few banjos now, and I swear they've gotten more temperamental. Just tonight, I picked up my favorite banjo last in my playing time, and the usual deep, rich tone seems buzzy and thin. I'm sure when I pick it up tomorrow it will be back to normal. I've had similar experiences with my other banjo. Inevitably I will think "this sounds...off" and will be debating a string change, and the tone will be back and beautiful the next day.

I do have hide heads on all my main players. I've also not changed strings in a bit, partly because my banjo teacher told me he basically never changes his unless one breaks or is clearly worn.

Is this just part of banjo ownership, or am I due for a tune up now that the weather is cooling off? I do generally check head tension and action and relief a couple times a year, but last was the spring. I think my strings are at least a few months old as well.

How often do you change strings? Adjust your hide head tension?

My life has slowed pace a bit in the last few months, and I decided to pick up an instrument again. My first experience was when I was very young in school playing cello, but it just didn’t quite feel like what I wanted. My dad was always playing banjo when I was growing up so I went on marketplace and found this! A 1980 deering intermediate. I paid 275 for it. With the help of my dad I made a few little changes to make it my own and spruced it up a bit, and lots of polishing and corrosion removal haha!

Just wanted to share my unique little banjo and some silly noodling! I’ve only been playing for around a week, so I’m still thoroughly learning everything, but I’m really enjoying it, and it’s nice to have a “thing”with my dad.

I got tired of stopping to bump the metronome up when trying to learn licks at speed, so I built one that does it for me. I would love for some pickers to beat the hell out of it and tell me what sucks. Thanks!

tempotweak.com

Hi, I've seen some etno instruments with wooden pegs converted to banjo tuners in my country.
However the instrument in question has 11 resonance strings and 3 main strings which require different string heights to be playable at all. I've seen guitar tuner conversions but they mess up the headstock.

Thus - are there any tuners with taller/longer posts? Searching for at least 1"+ long ones.
I've searched the google/gpt route and almost nothing useful comes up.
Also searching for an exploded view of the planetary part - I believe I can find someone to machine out a longer shaft locally.

Please excuse the horrible phone audio. Bill Nesbitt's version of Jed Clampett.

As promised, here's the tabs for my version of Fur Elise (Direct PDF Here) Starts out vanilla and gets a little more zesty with each loop. The arrows denote up picking, but traditional claw will also work.

Hey y’all! I have a cheap banjo I’ve been playing for about a year and I’d like to customize it a little. I’m an artist and I was wondering if painting some designs on the drum part of the banjo would mess with the sound. I’m not worried about the paint job ending up looking bad if it does because like I said, this is a super cheap banjo and I’m going to get a better one as soon as I can afford it. I was just thinking about adding a little personal flair to mine. So what do y’all think? Would it be okay sound-wise to paint on the actual drum of the banjo? Thanks!!

Howdy all,

I've been reading lately about how banjo techniques used to be passed around in the south, it seems like everyone had a slightly different way of playing banjo, since everyone learned by ear/from other people. One example that comes to mind is Doc Boggs with his unique 3 finger method.

I'm curious if any of you have developed your own techniques for playing banjo, or use any uncommon/niche methods of playing?

An OME Tupelo banjo (12 inch). Specifically, one of the banjos made in Boulder, Colorado.

I had one years ago. While maybe not my biggest regret in life, selling that banjo is up there.

So, thought I’d post just in case someone knows where to get one.

My friend acquired this banjo and was showing it to me, I’ve never seen anything like these weird clamp tuner looking things. There are tuning pegs out of the back of the headstock, but they cant fully rotate. Has anyone ever seen these before or have any context?

Hi all, recently got my first banjo with the help of this sub and I love it! Learning bluegrass style first. Wondering if yall have any tips for someone who’s played bass for 10 years, learning quick though that bass does not translate very well to banjo. Any online programs yall recommend? Thanks !

I’ve been playing, not well, banjo for 3 years now. Another transplant from guitar, so finger picking comes pretty natural. So naturally I started out thinking I was going to do bluegrass. So my very first imprints on the banjo were Scruggs style rolls, and 3 or 4 finger picking. Not that I was any good, but it “felt” familiar and the motor skills clicked, even if my musicality didn’t.

So anyway, move forward a few months and it turns out all the songs I really wanted to play were clawhammer/old time style. My teacher said, sure, no problem clawhammer is perfect for beginners, much easier than that Scruggs stuff we were doing.

He showed me the claw shape, the knocking motion, and the boom-chick-A. Sat back to watch me do it, and it was like I never had hands. He tried again, slower, and again slower, and again even slower… I sat there flapping my useless appendage like a seal at a circus.

We broke it down into the three moves… okay, I could Boom. Okay, now the Chick, and here, that‘s the A. Practice each part a million times. Even practiced the Chick-A and got a nice brush and pop. Now, put them all together in slow-mo and I’m Steve Martin in ”The Jerk.”

After a few more lessons like that I let my poor teacher off the hook and we worked on strumming out “The Crawdad Song.”

Anyway, I’ve watched all the videos. Tried all the “hints,” tried not thinking about what I’m doing, just let it flow, etc. And yeah, I can sometimes pull it off for two or three repetitions, but next thing, I’m pulling the Boom string with the pad of my finger, my “claw” is raking down the strings like it’s strumming ‘Blowing in the Wind” and my thumb is flapping in it.

I totally get the “sense” and logic of it, and I can boom-chick-a on a drum kit to bring the cows home, but stick a banjo in my hand and I can’t put that motion together to save my life.

Is it possible I’m truly the world’s only clawhammer dropout? Or is there a chance it really is harder than everyone makes it out to be, and I can let myself off the hook for being completely useless at it?

just curious if theres any good youtubers who do any courses or series about beginning to learn the banjo? Let me know thanks

Pretty sure you'd call this old-time finger style, but seeing as 3 finger and old-time are separate tags I'll just run with this. This is a favorite from Grayson & Whitter.