Mr Bethancourt and I have corresponded over creative anachronism in the past. Thanks JoLynn.
I think when he played in studio sessions, Tommy Tedesco used to tune his 4-string banjo D-G-B-E. Knocked back the learning curve to pretty much nothing.
Joan, I read an interview with Tommy Tedesco where he said he tuned all his stringed instruments like a guitar. He has been recorded playing nearly every stringed instrument he has ever found, so I believe you are absolutely correct!
My friend and musical collaborator, Bob Lopardo, has a six-stringed banjo that is tuned like a guitar so he can have all the convenience of playing guitar, while never really having to worry about tuning!
Was that a side swipe at the noble banjo Jack? I will confess that the thought of trying to tune this thing to a digital signal is ridiculous, but there are niceties to be observed here...
You know, I could use a good pornographer.
Use me any way you like dear lady - but my wife has the veto!
Yes, Huy, it is a long-standing joke about the banjo!
I happen to love the instrument, so I say it fully tongue-in-cheek!
Yes, Huy, it is a long-standing joke about the banjo!
I happen to love the instrument, so I say it fully tongue-in-cheek!
Echo... Echo...
Definition of perfect pitch - banjo down a mineshaft without touching the sides?
I don't want Bethancourt after me - he's armed.
Now, there's a new one for me - never thought I'd hear both "Banjo" and "pornographer" in the same thread!
Banjos and pornographers occupy the same subset of their fields (to use a statisticians phraseology).
Huw, you can tune the instrument as it suits you, but GDAE makes for some neat two finger chords to get started on, not to mention that it's convenient for playing fiddle tunes and cribbing from mando/bouzouki material. By way of illustration:
http://www.mandolincafe.com/two.html
If the action's unplayable but you're worried about adjusting it yourself, it might be a good idea to take it to your local music shop and ask the crusty behind the counter to get it adjusted for you.
(I should explain to our friends from overseas that most British music shops are staffed by clones of a grizzled throwback from a long gone decade. Well. they're either clones or it's one guy who moves really fast between shops.)
One thing you might try first though is getting a replacement bridge and sanding its feet down to see if that lowers the strings to an acceptable level.
Footnote: A friend's just pointed out that if it's a second hand instrument the action has probably been tweaked as far as it will go without folding up like the Titanic anyway, so lowering the bridge may be your only option.
Ahhh but did the Titanic actually fold..?
It's never been adjusted, it was bought as an educational resource 20 years ago and no kid was ever uncool enough to touch it, it is Korean however. Not always a good sign.
Thanks Peter (one of my local music shops is run by Rod Argent!).
One of my other locals is run, or at least staffed, by an infinite number of identical, spotty white boys who think they are (sorry, is) black. It might be worth taking them a banjo just to see what happens.
Sanding the feet sounds like a clever wheeze, if I go too far I can always score another from ebay, or put felt pads under the existing one - which might calm down the volume a little.
Hmmm...
If you put an infinite number of spotty white boys in a music shop, they'll eventually, accidentally come up with the complete works of Miles Davis (fact).
I'm sure you're right (the complete works of Miles plus a scale model of the Forth Bridge made entirely out of guitar strings, I suspect) but the scary thing is that evolution being what it is they would eventually find a way to reproduce, I would advise against the experiment.
Agh! ParthenoGenesis (I'll follow you if you'll follow me...).
Actually they couldn't reproduce - there's an infinite number. Infinity +1 is just infinity, so they'd be in a stable state.
Nightmarish thought though!
Banjos have..feet? Well, no wonder!
But think of the possibilities, Huw. If they could replicate Miles, then surely one of them could fix your banjo. Else dissolve it in a infinite lava streams of pustulence. Either way you get a result!
Anyway, how will you find time to learn the banjo? Surely you're fully occupied with playing your pornograph?
The needle sticks in the groove. The dog keeps staring at the horn. You can only crank the handle so many times. I ought to be at 33 1/3, I'm closer to 45, I sound like I'm 78.
The banjo looks good from here.
BRAVO! You get the standing ovation of the night, Huw!
You're gonna play tunes on this cos chords'll make your ears bleed. So you need to tune in fifths - GDAE or CGDA depending on scale-lenth, or else your left hand'll be up and down the neck all the time. Tuned in fifths you've got 2 octaves from the first position. With a high action, staying away from the "dusty end" is also a good idea. Learn your tunes by ear or get a book of mandolin tab - there are plenty out there. Let me know if you're coming to Leeds, I'll arange to go on holiday!
Huw,
Technicalities, schmechicalities...just make music. In the end, that's what it's all about. And, if you neighbors complain, just tell them you considered the tuba!
I've always wanted a tuba!
Trent Park for the first picnic of the summer. The banjo is staying home!
I guess you've seen "Deliverance", then...
Uncannily appropriate as it turns out JoLynn...
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