Hey @Captain_Wingnut. Wow. What an intro. At camp, I asked @BanjoBen to take the group through a quick How To on the site. There are many cool features and @Mark_Rocka is IT savvy and knows the site.
Introduce yourself!
6 Likes
Hey All. Ive been on the site for the last 6month but am new to the forum(2weeks) I started strumming chords on a guitar when i was 8years old(8 years ago). my dream was always to own a banjo but only got a bigginer banjo last august for my birthday. i started playing about 7 month ago and have loved it ever since. at the biggining of covid19, i quit my personal teacher and went all out Banjo Ben and have loved it ever since. im not super good, but have proggressed a ton on both guitar and Banjo. i am also quite decent on piano and whistles and have played accordion halfheartedly 
12 Likes
Howdy! My name is Joshua and Iām thrilled to be a new Gold Pick member. My musical journey started in 6th grade when I started playing trumpet in band at school. At 17, I traded my trumpet for a guitar and that has been my instrument of choice ever since. Shortly after that, I inherited my great-grandfatherās fiddle. In college I started playing bluegrass with a few friends. We still play together from time to time. Nowadays, I play guitar, bass guitar, and sing in my local church. I have always been interested in the banjo, but I really assumed doing the rolls would be too difficult for me. Here about 3 weeks ago, somebody at my church gave me a cheap banjo and I was pleasantly surprised I was able to learn a few songs and now Iām hooked!
Banjo Ben has been on my radar since about 2015. The Purple Hulls (Benās 2 sisters) played a Saturday morning concert at our church and of course I bought a few CDs. So when I decided to learn the banjo I knew where to turn! My goals here on the site include getting proficient on the banjo, as well as progressing on the guitar. Someday, I want to be able to teach my 3 kids to play instruments and be better than me!
12 Likes
Man I love seeing all of these new faces on the Forum! Welcome Joshua and Justus! So glad to have you here. Looking forward to seeing yāall around the board.
6 Likes
Im sure Iāll ramble, so forgive me up front.
Iāve been a long time lurker of Ben on YouTube (even when Ben showed up in a video with āTavin Dillardā). I emailed him some questions many years ago and his response impressed me as a solid, down-to-earth guy. I wished I would have joined the gold pick lifetime when it first came out (because it was a lot cheaper then and Iād be playing well by now haha) but stayed a silver pick until a month ago when my wife said āwe have the money, just do it.ā Iād hemmed and hawed for years wishingā¦
Musically, I played trombone from 5th thru 10th grade. Added the clarinet 6th grade (cause my parents couldnāt afford another instrument but my mom still had her clarinet.) I took lessons on the organ for about a year but complained of āarthritisā in my fingers because they hurt when I played haha. Iāve loved the sound of the banjo since I was little. In about 2009 I bought a Gold Tone Cripple Creek 100R banjo. I tried the Murphy method via DVD but couldnāt get the hang of it to sound right so here I am, hopeful to āget itā someday.
I grew up on a small farm in the Great Lakes region, also called the ānorth coast.ā In the mid to late 80s, I went to college to study engineering not far from Benās stomping grounds in East TX and even went to his hometown movie theater on occasion. Later I became a missionary bush pilot and served 7 years in the beautiful country of Bolivia in South America. I got real sick so we came back to the USA and we settled near Kalamazoo, MI, as I worked as an engineer for an electric utility for 12 years. 3 years ago my family and I moved to serve at a Bible school in the state of Wyoming. I am the director of technology/IT and work maintenance on appliances, boilers, furnaces, ac units, etc. We have about 160 students. We do a lot of one on one mentoring with students and it is a joy as many of them prepare for a lifetime of service in ministry.
Iām so glad to be learning here as I never could find any local banjo instructors in MI, and nothing is local here in rural WY other than cattle, cowboys, and coyotes. Even though I learned some from the Murphy method, Iām working my way thru the beginner lessons; some is review, some is reinforcement, and some is plain new for me. I am doing the roll studies right now.
Banjo players seem unique in their interests and mine are too. My interests are many and diverse such as ham radio (I even use Morse code at times), motorcycle riding (street and off-road), shooting sports and reloading, flying airplanes and ultralights, flying radio controlled airplanes, helicopters, and have a Drone license and fly drones.
Thatās the not so ābriefā howdy-do. Again, Iām glad to be here and learning and I look forward to getting to know you all.
11 Likes
Welcome @jay_dub! Iām in Wyoming (Sheridan), and also a ham as are my wife and 2 kids (24 and 27). My ringtone for each family member is their name in Morse code, lol! We all shoot as well, and Iāve always wanted to get my pilot license but my wife was not too keen on that idea!
4 Likes
Welcome aboard @Jay_Dub and glad to see your intro! Iām a banjo student too having just started a couple of years ago here with Banjo Ben, and we have a few other things in common too; trombone, engineering, not able to find local banjo instruction, etc. While it never actually took place, I did vicariously pilot ultra-lights and helicopters, and have at least touched the controls while in flight (ha). Thanks for participating and hope to see you around the forum!
5 Likes
Hi,
Iām Jamie from Ashland City Tennessee. Iāve been lurking on the forum for quite some time now and this is my first post. I am a beginner banjo player and I am also learning how to play a viola. I have been playing the banjo for about 16 months now and my viola for about four. I love to listen to bluegrass, gospel, and classical music.
I was in the July 9th Cabin Camp where I played the banjo and my Gold Tone banjola. The banjola is like a banjo. It has the body of an A frame mandola connected to a banjo neck. It has a really beautiful sound and I use it for playing Bach using my Bach for Banjo book. I have learned the A part of two minuets so far. I play it a lot more than my banjo now.
The viola is a lot of fun to learn and play also. I donāt have a teacher for it and have mostly been learning on my own through YouTube and several books that I have. It is a bit difficult as there is way more information for violins than violas. All of the music written for the viola is in the alto clef. Learning the alto clef is a lot of fun for me along with music theory. I really liked Mr. Gās course on music theory on Benās site and wanted to learn more about it. I am half way through Alfredās book on music theory, alto clef edition, and plan to start a course on Udemy on it soon.
I am also a ham radio operator. I am not very active with it now. I was learning Morse code and then that got sidetracked two years ago when I was divorced. I mostly experiment with HF digital modes with it now. I would really love to start learning Morse code again but lately I have been spending more time on my music hobby.
I am looking forward to meeting and learning with you all.
Jamie.
9 Likes
Hey Jamey, welcome to the forum!! Hope you enjoy the site!! 
2 Likes
Hi Everyone,
My name is Monmoth - I am a British guitarist who first developed an interest in flatpicking way back in 2004.
I wonāt tell you all about myself, as within my short membership here Iām guessing some regulars will already feel like theyāve already heard my life story from the many long and cumbersome comments Iāve made on this forum. I am rarely short of an opinionā¦
Iāve know about and admired Benās playing and this site for years. - I was always been reluctant to join before mainly as I have a talent for not spending my free time or money well. That Iād foolishly treat the site a like a gym membership, which I wouldnāt trust myself to use wisely. But I eventually subscribed and have not regretted my decision - though others may disagreeā¦
The unusual times weāre all experiencing have given me plenty of time to reignite a passionate interest to improve my Bluegrass playing. I simply hope to get better and to understand what I already know more intimately. To learn as much as I can in short. Benās resources here offer endless opportunities for me to improve and I hope to make the most of whatās on offer. I have not found anything that has disappointed me, believe me Iād tell you all
So thank you for your time in reading this - and I thank everyone else whose already familiar with my comments and lack of brevity!
All the best and happy learning!
6 Likes
Fun to see the new intros! Iāll be at the October camp which will be my first camp, canāt wait. I look forward to meeting folks in person. For those hams out there, Iāve not been active lately, but I hope to
pick it back up a little bit over the winter when the days are shorter and the projects of ranch life slow down. Iām K7RKB.
2 Likes
Wow!! Man, we have tons in common! I need to come out and see you! Shoot me an email so I can have your contact info: https://banjobenclark.com/contact
Great to meet you and have you on the forum!
Thank you for your assets to the forum, and welcome!
1 Like
Hope itās not too late, to tag along, and not be such a recluse,
so who am I my name is Jesse, and I live in the northern Idaho Mountains, Iām learning banjo, and mandolin.
My favorite Bluegrass band is the purple hulls, and the dillards.
I am a fourth generation farmer, and my favorite crops are corn, potatoes, and pork.
I also enjoy forestry work as we own woods, I love antiques, and the old world way of doing things.
I hope one day to start a bluegrass gospel band.
13 Likes
Great to have you, Jesse!
1 Like