What is your favorite lesson on BanjoBenClark.com?
Well, that usually depends on my mood and if I can find the printed PDF at the time. Right now, it’s “Intro to Melodics”. That may change by the time this is posted to the forum.
What’s your instrument of choice and what was your inspiration to learn how to play?
Hands down my instrument of choice is banjo. In recent years, I’ve come to enjoy that “twangy” sound, if you will, more and more. That along with nagging left wrist pain, one less string to keep track of, and a thinner neck made it a no brainer.
What’s your goal when playing and how long have you been playing?
My goal when playing is to always be anticipating what’s ahead one or two bars and to be focused on that. If you can do that all the way through the song, you’re in a very good place. Perhaps Louie Armstrong put it more simply when he said, “My advantage is that I can concentrate better than other musicians”.
What’s your favorite hobby?
I bought my banjo on the afternoon of July 23, 2017. That evening, I signed up as a Gold Pick Member, and I’ve loved every second of it. Shameless plug, Ben is the best, most easy to understand teacher I’ve ever seen at anything.
My favorite hobby is rough housin with my granddaughters. Talk about total opposites. Clementine is a complete tomboy who laughs when she takes a hard fall, while Olive is all about unicorns and playing with her LOL dolls. In addition to that, I like Italian cooking and reading. Joel Rosenburg, and Clive Cussler are a couple favorites. Other than that, it’s all about the music. It’s alway been that way and always will be.
And of course, I would be remiss to mention that I have been happily married to the lovely Terry for 32 years, and and have been a stumbling but devoted follower of Jesus most of my life.
How long have you been a Gold Pick member?
Since July 23, 2017.
What do you do for a living?
I am a Security Guard and a part time Medical Courier. Several years back, I retired from Wells Fargo Bank as an IT Tech. I also retired from the US Navy after losing the use of a foot.
What is your favorite place you’ve visited and why?
The coolest place I ever visited was Hamilton, Bermuda while in the Navy. I was blown away by how blue the water was and how far down you could see. I caught a huge Bermuda Chub off the fantail, and we rented mopeds and cruised all over the island. An amazing experience for an 18 year old country boy who had never seen much!
Glad to hear your enjoying life with your Grandkids.