https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/the-old-spinning-wheel-guitar-intermediate
I love pickin’ tunes out of the C position on guitar. This one reminds me of Wildwood Flower & it’s one of the funnest I’ve worked on in a while!
Discuss the Guitar lesson: The Old Spinning Wheel
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I suppose this is a timeless tune! Beautiful and relaxing!
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I love the harmonics in the guitar solo. Can’t wait to learn this one. A couple years ago I got to hear Bryan Sutton and David Grier perform duo style in my city, and I’ll always remember this was their opening tune. I thought it was so pretty. I’m going to get working on this!
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I LOVE the harmonics too, although I use them more w/ minors. And I like to use the thumb pick like tommy emmanuel. octaves. Hey banjo Ben, do you have any advise on timing? Do I just keep playing? or is there a shortcut?
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No real shortcuts to anything worthy, but I have to know more about how you’re using the word timing. Can you give an example?
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On beat. Sorry I answered so late.
@zandersontpd44
Hi Zachary,
Still a bit cryptic to know for sure what you mean.
Are you asking “How to stay on/with the beat when playing” ?
There is a learning curve involved. It takes a combination of being familiar enough with the material to control how you play it, and a “feel” for the tempo/beat. Once you have those you can learn to listen at the same time while you play, & match your playing to what you are playing along with.
Some folks pick this up quicker than others, but most anyone can do it with some determination & practice. As for short cuts…not really…it takes time.
It will help to use a metronome, rhythm track, or other steady thing to play with though. As with most things musical, slower playing leads to faster learning. in this case.
Keep in mind, you will normally be playing down-strokes with your pick on the down beats of the tune/song.
One thing you might try is isolating your picking hand by setting a tempo (on metronome) and ONLY picking a string along with it (no neck work) until you get comfortable playing a down-stroke on each “click” and and upstroke in between each “click”. Start this exercise at a slow tempo and concentrate on relaxing, clean striking of the string, and playing in time.
hope this helps
Dave
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Thankyou so much, Dave.
I enjoy this site so much. I’m 14 y/o boy and started playing guitar three years ago. I’ve been a member for a good while now (My picking sounded a lot like Banjo ben’s, though I think “me” is finally coming out lol [at least that’s wat somebody told me]). Thankyou again, Dave, for the advise. I really appreciate it. Keep teaching. God bless your day.
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You’re welcome! Glad to see you made use of the forum.
Amen
Not the worst fate that could befall…
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@BanjoBen, I just finished learning this - what do you think?
I really can get the harmonics to ring better when the video’s off. Every time I played it without the video, they sounded much better, but when the video was on they came out muted. I’ll keep working on them.
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Libby, This is one of my favourite tunes on the banjo. It sounds equally great on geetar. You always play well and I know what you mean about on camera that happens to us all. 
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Super! 
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Well I think that’s stupendous and it brought a huge smile to my face!
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Thank you!! I love playing it.
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We listening
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I love this song so much and have enjoyed playing it for the past 2 years since @BanjoBen released this lesson. I recently finished working up a full contest-style arrangement of it and thought y’all might like to see! Thanks Ben for teaching me the melody and for jumpstarting me!
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Great job! I love the harmonics.
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That was awesome Libby. I love this tune I learned it from a Murphy Henry video way back and I haven’t played it in a long while. You have inspired me to open my banjo case and brush off the cobwebs. Lets see if I can improve on this old recording I made eight years ago.
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