Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

F Chord, Hand Cramps & Revelation

OK, I’ve been working on the F chord shape for a long time now and yes, I can do it. But it’s not as smooth as I would like and it’s certainly not as quick as I would like.
I watched Ben’s video on Left hand technique & he spoke of rolling the wrist to keep fro muting stings with fat fingers. So I rolled and cramped and figured all I need is more practice. But tonight I noticed something interesting.
Instead of holding the banjo vertically, I tended to lean it back towards me so I could see the frets and see where I am putting my fingers. Makes sense, but what I didn’t realize it that it forced me to roll my wrist way too far to cleanly make the chord. When I straightened out the banjo, the roll required was less and it didn’t hurt nearly as much.
So going forward I will look at the frets and see where my fingers are going when I learn something new, but I better learn to “straighten up & fly right” as well !

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Haha! Yup, exactly! Even with a mandolin, this is true. And for that reason theres several things I can play much better while standing up because it’s way harder to tip it back to “see” what you’re doing while standing. Standing makes the instrument much more vertical, the finger fretting angles better, and I end up actually using those little reference dots on the binding edge if I need a visual ref. (On that note you should also try playing in the dark… ya never know when you might need to pick out by the campfire some evening!)

Standing playing w a banjo vs. standing playing w a mando is an entirely different weight on your shoulder experience though… :thinking: I’ve stood and picked mando for hours, no problem! Then I’ve stood just holding my son’s Deering for about 15 mins waiting for him to return, and oh boy, the shoulder tension! I’ve respect for all you banjo pickers… :grin:

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Hi Joe, This is quite common when learning banjo. We want to SEE where our fingers are so we don’t make mistakes. Problem is this is not the best angle to get a clear note. Your goal right now should b to stop looking at your fret hand and instead learn to feel and listen. Somehow you 've got to break the habit of twisting the neck to look a the fret board. Instead look to the marker dots on the side of the neck for guidance.

Post a video and let @BanjoBen see where your at.

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Thanks Archie. To be honest, it’s really only when I’m first learning something new that I look at the fretboard. The real problem is probably my posture. I tend to lean back in the chair so the banjo leans back with me. If I were to sit up straight, the banjo would be straight.
It’s just so darn relaxing to sit with a banjo and pluck away!
I have been relying more on the marker dots lately when I’m playing something I’m more familiar with. I’m also a bit lazy making the video because it takes me so long to get everything organized, the shot framed properly, then get back into position after hitting the “record” button. It sucks all the fun out of it some days!

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We all find ourselves introducing bad habits/practices into out playing. It great that we have @BanjoBen to point these out an help us fix them My first four years or so I acquired a lot of bad habits including tilting the banjo to look at the frets. It’s great that you have identified this problem early so you can begin to fix it.