Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Back to basics

#1

Hi Folks,

Ben is such an incredible instrumentalist. I have been playing banjo for many years, yet I humbled myself and went back to square 1. I have been going through the beginner banjo lessons and MAN have I been doing things wrong for years. Holding the banjo for one, how I have been wearing my strap in relation to the banjo and my body. Even how to change strings.

My point-- go back and review the fundamentals, no matter how long you have been playing any instrument and you are bound to find how to do things better than what you have been doing.

Thanks

DLS

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#2

I wanted to learn a new instrument so I decided on the mandolin. I didn’t know much about bluegrass music, other than when I heard it, I liked it. I thought it would be easier for me to learn because I had a music background in mostly piano and some guitar. So I jumped right in to try to learn on more of an intermediate level and realized how much there was to learn that I would miss out on.

So to make my story short, I too have gone back to basics and started from the beginning and have and am still learning so much from banjo Ben’s lessons that I would have missed.

#3

I gotta admit, I’ve been doing the same thing. While it seems to slow my progress, it actually improves my playing.
And the things that didn’t make sense then make a lot of sense now!

“Just shut up and do it. You’ll thank me later.”
—(overheard more times than I care to mention)

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#4

Been playing for many years here and I still work on basic things (slowed down) the majority of the time.

clean notes, timing, dexterity, smoothness, dynamics, there’s always something that can be done better…

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#5

Oh I get the “shut up and do it, you’ll thank me later” quote!! My Jujitsu instructor and also my boss tell me that often, and you know what---- I DO THANK THEM LATER!!! they save me time and headache!!