Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

I can’t believe my hands

#1

Guys!

I can’t believe I was able to play this arrangement. I usually find basic versions of fiddle tunes to play on guitar. I shy away from intermediate versions because I don’t feel confident with them yet . In fact, all the tunes in my repertoire are of basic versions. I feel very confident with basic versions and I do my best to get a good tone and sustainable long notes and etc. Even though they are basic versions, I do my best to make them sound as good as possible.

Anyways, I found this intermediate version of Cherokee Shuffle, and to my surprise it was easy to learn. I’ve been working on it for a week. Today I was working at playing the full song together, because I usually break songs up into pieces, and BAM! I was able to do it. Although, I’m still going to work on this specific tune because I barely got it under my fingers.

It’s so fun to play! I can sit there for hours just looping this arrangement. I’m just so full with joy because I never thought that I would be able to play like this. That’s the best way that I can describe it: Joy. It feels like something more , but ‘joy’ seems to be the best word to use.

I wanted to share this moment with you guys because I know some of you might relate. It’s a feeling of accomplishment and that maybe I AM doing something right hahah! It’s also a confidence booster too because now I feel like I can take on other intermediate versions of tunes.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to read this post. And also thanks too @BanjoBen and @Jake for making this possible. You guys have definitely played a big part in my guitar-playing development. Thank you thank you thank you , from the bottom of my heart.

.

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#2

Hi @raymondbyron66 That sounded really great I think it’s time you started to stretch yourself and get on that intermediate learning path

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#3

Sweet tones. Lovely recording.

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#4

That sounds great. I could listen to you all day! I know what you mean about the euphoria of learning a piece well. Not only the beauty of picking cleanly, but the great sounding arrangement as well. Keep on Pickin’ !

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#5

Thanks a lot for listening to my recording guys! It’s really encouraging :pray: you guys are encouraging! It’s my honor to share this with you guys .

And @Archie, yes I still need to pay my electricity bill hahah! (Inside joke)

@Deere_Crossing thanks so much! You’re making me blush here lol that’s the best thing anyone has ever said about my playing :pray:

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#6

Man, that was great! Timing was spot on and the picking was nice and clean.

The song ended and my 2 year old son said “YAY! More Daddy!” :smile:

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#7

@Mark_Rocka awe you guys are way too nice!
They say that kids are as honest as they come , so if he liked it then I’m definitely on the right track ! Thanks a bunch to both of you :pray: ( :

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#8

To my ears, no flaw. Your playing is truly awesome, raymond!

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#9

Great job!.. And thanks so much for sharing, it’s an inspiration!

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#10

That was great! Clean tone, good timing, high video quality… I too know exactly how it feels to finally learn that one song that is like, awesome, and you just want to keeo playing it. Congratulations!

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#11

Thank you so much @jmonickaraj1 , @jw11 and @Dragonslayer For the compliments . Most of my friends don’t play any instruments , so I knew I can come here and share this moment with you guys , so you guys are inspirational as well.

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#12

Very nice! You let the notes ring out for full value. Well done!

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#13

@Mike_R that’s something that I’ve been working on. They say that Norman Balked called it “squeezing the juice out of a note”, or something like that . Thanks for noticing :grinning:

#14

Mine neither. Another reason this forum is so awesome, I can make friends who play instruments

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#15

Aw mate, I know the feeling well. I’ll be working on a tune and all of sudden it actually sounds like the tune. Wait, what? Am I doing that? I’m amazed that my hands are producing that sound and I’ll play it over and over, just like you said. Can’t get enough of it.

And you’re right about it being a confidence booster. “Success Breeds Motivation” I always say. I can tell you that you’ll realize that you can, and you will want to, tackle more advanced tunes. I can also tell you that when you nail those down, that feeling of joy is intensified. So… you know, go for it.

Oh, and nice job by the way, sounds great.

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#16

Proud of you, @raymondbyron66!

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