So… I was already a gold pick member, here to add mandolin to my fleet of guitars and basses (the electric Fender kind of basses, not the cool upright ones), and injured my left hand while doing farm chores requiring surgery to repair a torn ligament. Post-surgery, sitting there with one hand, running out of things to do with only my right hand on the mandolin, guitar, etc… I realized (or rather talked myself into it due to extreme boredom) I should get myself a banjo since there was so much right-hand work I could be doing during the two months of having a cast and metal wire in my wrist bones of my left hand. I’m now nearly 7 weeks into my prescribed eight weeks with a cast, and have been playing an RK R35 with my right hand for the past five of those weeks. Now, I really can’t wait to get my cast off to add my left hand into the mix. Having only a right hand to use has no doubt helped my rolls progress faster than if I was distracting myself with my left hand. Thanks, Ben, for the “roll-studies” videos and such. It’s been a huge help to my mental state being able to move forward with something during this time instead of just sitting around wishing I was playing. Steve Bird - from just down the road in Deer Lodge, TN.
A one-handed banjo player
Great way to turn lemons into lemonade. That’s a fantastic thought you talked yourself into!
I hate that you got hurt, but what a cool thing to do with your situation. Very inspiring!
Sorry to hear of your misfortune. It was a fall, a bunch of broken bones and a shoulder displacement that got me playing banjo. I was off work after the fall waiting to get my plaster off after 6 months. I was bored and browsing YouTube when I found a video clip of Murphy Henry playing Banjo in the Hollow. I rushed into town and bought my first banjo. An Asian bottle top which lasted two weeks before the 5th string pip broke. I took it back to the shop, got a refund and bought a better banjo.
Sorry, to hear about your troubles…
But it reminds me of an Aggie joke.
Seems that an Aggie saw a man with one arm shopping at a second hand store.
The Aggie told him “I don’t think you’re going to find what you’re looking for.”