Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Help! Blue Ridge Cabin Home

#1

Hey y’all! Sorry I haven’t been around the message board a lot lately. Work and family life has me so consumed, and what little extra time I have has, thankfully, been going toward banjo. I got my first one on one lesson with Bill Evans in December and next week is lesson 2. Bill is a phenomenal teacher!

One of his homework assignments for me was to listen to as many Bluegrass Album Band tunes as possible. I naturally gravitated to Blueridge Cabin Home since I was already familiar with.

I need some help, though. The tab available on line is not very good. I’ve downloaded several and they’re all terribly lacking, so I decided to tackle it from scratch. This is JD’s 2nd banjo break near the end of the song. Toward the end of the break, he starts repeated hammer-ons on the 3rd string. I know I have it close, but I just can’t make it sound like JD. I feel like there’s some little something I’m missing. Any advice?

7 Likes
#2

I could be wrong about what he’s doing, but I usually like to pick all those 3rd string hammer-ons with my index finger. It gives you an ever so slightly more metallic, gnarly tone.

Another tricky thing is that when he does the “hammer” on the 4th string (0:06 and 0:12 in your vid), he picks every note by using his thumb twice. It feels weird if you usually don’t do that, but well worth the strong sound you get.

I think this is one of those licks that you have to practice in slow motion and then just full send when you do it. He’s not only hammering, but slightly bending that 3rd string, and that last pull-off is super snappy.

Also, if you have a willing friend or family member who can growl something like “Crowe, get it!” behind you while you play, it probably helps.

5 Likes
#3

Not sure if this helps. I tend to play a triple hammer-on followed by a pull off. I am pretty sure I learned that lick from Bill Evans.

1 Like
#4

Thank MM and Archie. It sounds like I have some deconstructing to do. I appreciate the guidance.

2 Likes
#5

I have a tab from Russell Sawler’s transcriptions. Can post a scan here if you want to see it.

1 Like
#6

I think I got it figured out thanks to this video I found from Russ Carson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhav2nSFdf0

There’s a perfect view of both of his hands during the part I’m struggling with. Don’t know why I didn’t think to check Youtube first.

@Michael_Mark, you were dead on with using the index finger instead of the thumb. That does drive the tone better. I’m also playing around with your advice on the 4th string hammer on. Doesn’t feel natural at all, but I can see what you mean about the drive. It looks like Russ plays with Thumb - Index, so I guess either way is acceptable. I’ll try to get proficient playing Thumb Thumb and see how it affects timing.

@Archie, you hit the nail on the head with your advice as well. Russ is, indeed, playing only 3 hammer ons with no other strings followed by a pull off. I was trying to force in a hammer on - pull off in place of just the pull off. That’s what was making it sound cluttered.

Thanks for all of the advice! It really helped!

4 Likes
#7

Off the top of my head I think I use TITI when playing that lick.

1 Like
#8

Well, I just had my second lesson with Bill Evans. @Michael_Mark, that lick came up we were talking about. It turns out, Bill had actually sat down with JD and picked his brain on a lot of his work, including that lick. Bill says JD played it like this:

image

It’s interesting, because I was listening to it again in the car yesterday and kept thinking “How is JD getting that much volume out of that second note on the D string?” I came home and tried to pick it Thumb - Index, but I just couldn’t make it sound right.

I have no idea how much practice it’s going to take to play this lick with these fingers at a decent speed, or if it is even ultimately worth it to try. I just thought I’d share.

4 Likes
#9

The main annoyance is that it throws off your timing at first, but once you get used to it, it’s a really great asset to have (and I think it forces you to think about economy of motion a little more). Double downstrokes on guitar/mando were the same way for me.

2 Likes
#10

So that’s how you play it?

2 Likes
#11

Yep, that’s how I do it 99% of the time.

2 Likes
#12

Kudos on doing it right! I got my work cut out for me. Nearly 40 years of unlearning to do.

3 Likes
#13

Haha thanks! My banjo RH is far from good though… I can’t play for hardly 30 minutes now without having to stop due to pain.

2 Likes
#14

That’s a guitar lick! It’s the second most important one according to @BanjoBen just in the key of D.

2 Likes
#15

Oh man! You’re too young for that!

2 Likes
#16

Oh yeah! I could totally see that.

1 Like
#17

I’m honestly not sure what causes it. It’s a painful amount of tension in my pinky that starts pretty soon after I start playing. I’m virtually unable to move my middle finger if I plant my ring, so switching to that doesn’t look like a very promising option. I have pretty long fingers and I think I need a fairly sharp wrist angle to make proper contact with the strings. Might have to have a qualified banjo nerd look at my right hand in person sometime.

2 Likes
#18

I had a problem similar to that years ago. I finally figured out I was pressing down on the head/bridge with my right hand really hard. I can’t even tell you why I was doing it. I’d never noticed it. Took me a few weeks of practice to ease up, and even now I have to remind myself to take it easy. That bridge ain’t going no where.

May not be so simple in your case, but it really helped me.

1 Like
#19

I used to plant down HARD on the head when I was a kid, so much so that my RH pinky joint can now bend further than my LH. I have the sense to not plant so hard anymore, but maybe I wore something out?

I also notice that most folks’ ring finger can stay fairly loose/normal when they only plant their pinky… mine immediately curls to where it’s almost touching my palm. I don’t know if it’s a habit or an anatomical thing that won’t change.

1 Like
#20

Following up. I’ve been studying Russ Carson playing this lick one of his videos on YouTube. As best I can figure, he’s actually playing it like this.

image

It’s entirely possible that I misunderstood Bill Evans explaining it to me. This way seems way more doable. I can almost play it at full speed. Got it fairly smooth at 90% speed so far.

2 Likes