Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Discuss the Banjo lesson: Minor Mingle

#1

https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/minor-mingle-banjo

You can learn this minor mingle and have nothing to fear. Is that too far? Oh well, it’s funny. Let’s learn some minor chords and have fun doing it!

#2

measure 3 to 4 with the 1 to 2 slide. Is that a slide for real or a hammer on. there is an H above the slide. can you please clarify.

thank you so much!!! awesome lesson

jim

2 Likes
#3

Good question Jim. It can be either, in the demonstration Ben uses a slide because it’s often done that way in Foggy Mountain Breakdown. There’s no hard rule, whatever feels /sounds best to you.

1 Like
#4

Thanks! You can do it either way, but I have it as a hammer here. I think the hammer gets a slightly different sound but not enough to hardly notice.

#5

Thank you !!! taking my time with the lessons and working with a metronome. appreciate all of your feedback. not many pickers here in Chicago , LOL

1 Like
#6

Banjo Ben. You’re the man!Love this site and asking my wife for my birthday for the lifetime membership. One question I wanted to ask is if you’ve ever thought about adding any avett brothers (banjo) or mandolin orange wings (mandolin)

3 Likes
#7

Yeah, I’d love to but it’s copyrighted and I can’t legally teach a lot of that stuff…perhaps one day! I’d love to have you on for life!

2 Likes
#8

This might be a silly question, but is there a way, when I print out the tab that I can note which fingers go where with my left hand? Meaning, like in measure 4 & 5, how could I notate which two fingers should be where on the strings? I know in the past lesson you had the chord diagram with the numbers, but is there an easy way for me to do that on this TAB? I just find myself going into the chord changes and struggling with my hand positions and it would be helpful to have a guide. I don’t know if there is a free TAB creator that will allow me to do that or not on my own.

#9

I’m pretty sure that can be done in TablEdit, but it isn’t free.
Alternately, you could print it and then notate the fingerings with a ballpoint pen. It would take a few minutes, but not any longer than doing it in a program

4 Likes
#10

Actually, since I have the full version of Adobe Acrobat, I was able to clip the image, and then just paste it in the PDF and safe it.

Another question… when we do that roll in measure 2, 6, 11, & 12… when the 2-3 slide happens and then you hit the open string as soon as you end the slide, is it me or does this sound really dissonant? I don’t hear that in Ben’s video and I know he is doing the slide. Mine just sounds horrible and I know I am playing the correct strings and notes. I believe the 3rd fret on the G string is an A# and then the open B, is that correct or should it be like it is on the 16th measure when it is the open D string? It’s still dissonant, but it doesn’t sound as bad.

#11

Don’t worry; you’re doing it correctly. Because the 3rd fret on the 3rd string is a Bb note, and the open 2nd string is a B note, you get one of the most dissonant intervals in music (two notes a half step apart.) However, it’s much less noticeable once up to speed, and even less so if you were to bend the 3rd string as well, which is what our eventual goal is:


Also, make sure that your banjo is in tune well, because one or more strings slightly out of tune could also be causing extra dissonance.
5 Likes
#12

Thanks… yes, the first thing I did was check my tuning as I thought I was nuts.

I know from my saxophone jazz days, dissonance is a desired effect, but it just seemed odd in bluegrass. Listening to the video though it makes sense.

I do my cripple creak exactly like he said we are not to do (2 - 4). Guess I need to relearn it. :slight_smile: That’s going to be hard to unlearn that muscle memory that I have already built though.

3 Likes
#13

I tell you though, the A note before is just way off (+ 25 cents I guess on the tuner) yet the strings are all tuned. The strings I have on the banjo are not all that old either… I don’t know what the issue is… I cringe each time I play that set of notes… SMH.

#14

Have you checked the intonation? It’s possible that your bridge is a little out of place, causing fretted notes to be out of tune:
https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/banjo-setup-with-steve-huber-bridge-placement-banjo

1 Like
#15

Thanks… just checked, and it was off just a little. It’s strange that the intonation is worse off on fret three than it is on fret 12 for the 3rd string.

1 Like
#16

Okay, so I think I have the first 5 measures to some extent.

Measure 7 into 8 seems tricky. What is the mechanics that Ben is doing. Is it Index finger 1st fret 3rd string )for the last note on 7th measure), then hammer with your middle, and immediately shift the index to the 2nd string 1st fret and ring finger in the 1st string 2nd fret?

#17

Yep, that’s it, and you end up making the A minor chord shape :wink:

#18

hey @BanjoBen I just wanted to say I really like this song. It’s great for practicing hammer on’s and learning those minor chords. It’s fun to play and it sounds very cool. thanks for writing it!

2 Likes