Learn to play the banjo

...I have my banjo, and I enjoy picking at it, but I think I felt a touch overwhelmed. I’m trying to teach myself here (banjo teachers are few and far between in this neck of the woods!), and trying to learn from books et al hasn’t been too successful.

However… I’m back at it now, and someone recommended ‘The Murphy Method’ DVDs to get me started. Very much like having a teacher (admittedly one who never listens to me) and much more motivating. It took me while to find someone who sold them for a decent price on this side of the pond, but I lucked out.

Baby steps and practise. I’ll try to update this goal a little more regularly from now on. If I think people are paying attention, that’ll be another motivator!

Well, I’ve finally ordered a 5-string banjo, and this weekend my bass and amp go up on eBay.

I originally wanted to learn to play the banjo, then I was distracted by visions of ‘rock-godness’ and went out and bought a bass and marshall amp. I had a number of lessons, but I soon decided that I wasn’t enjoying playing it at all, and practising was a real chore.

I found that as the bass is a rhythm instrument, just learning a tune was a tricky business. I don’t doubt that it’s fun to play along with favourite songs once you have the basics down, but sitting and learning scales etc, and just getting those basics right is a very hard slog- at least it was for me. I’m sure that the banjo has that aspect too, but as a beginner you learn pieces like cripple creek as you go, so at least there are songs there.

I hope by returning to my original goal, I’ll be more inclined to the practicing- 30 mins or so a day should do for a start I reckon. It’s all about putting the hours in!