Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Banjo Beginner in my 40's

#1

Howdy All-
I picked up the banjo this Christmas with grand aspirations about what I will be able to do with it. Initially, I started my journey with some free resources on Youtube from Eli Gilbert before stumbling across this site. My plan of attack is to make sure that my banjo is in my hands 7 days a week with no excuses.

While I have been recording myself each week to be able to reflect on my progress, the distance between the speeds with which I am currently able to play cleanly and what I hear on most recordings seems to be insurmountable. Onward.

I am curious how much warm up folks are doing. I find that my hands don’t quite work well until I have been rolling for about 5-10 minutes.

I am currently working on Cumberland Gap but have only been able to get it to around 80bpm.

Yeehaw, Gig’em, and Happy Pickin

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#2

Hi @stephen.lair Stephen welcome to @BanjoBen 's Forum. Let me say right off the bat you made a wise choice becoming a gold pick member.

I didn’t pick up the banjo until I was 61 I am now 78 so you should have no problems learning to play. In the beginning I used to play marathon sessions of between 8 & 12 hours. It was an obsession but as the years pass I’ve cut down my hour drastically.

My advice to you is forget speed for now focus on melody and timing. Learn the fundaments, you’ll find them in the Beginners Learning Track. Work through those lessons at your own pace and you will soon be able to tackle lesson from the Intermediate and Advanced section.

Personally I don’t set aside a warm up these days. In the beginning I would spend an hour or two just practicing roll patterns. Until I could play them on autopilot.

When you are ready. Post a video in the Video Swap area and Ben will give you feedback

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#3

Welcome and I second what Archie said. Starting in your 40’s is not unusually late. It sounds like you are doing great. Have fun with it!

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#4

Welcome to the forum @stephen.lair. Regarding your question about proper warm-up, Ben’s lesson on practicing might be beneficial to you…

https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/the-ideal-practice-session-beginner

I was in my 40’s when I started playing, also. I’ll never be as good as I want to be, but I suck a lot less than I did when I started about 6.5 years ago! Enjoy the journey!

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#5

Hey Stephen (@stephen.lair),
Katy, Ben’s sister and the banjo player for the Purple Hulls, mentioned at one of Ben’s camps that she’s been known to do jumping jacks as part of her banjo warmup. Just getting her blood flowing helps. Also, speed comes after internalizing a song very accurately at a slow pace. That includes moving away from viewing tab and getting your fingers linked to the sounds you hear. Then push the speed keeping the accuracy along the way. I’m an older guy, and another technique I often use is to learn slow songs. :grin:

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