Hello, Pickers! These questions refer to my avatar, which I just changed to a bit of tab. I think you can see it just to the side of this post.
Stupid Tab Question #447: What’s the meaning of this diagonal line here?
Stupid Tab Question #448: What’s the point of putting that 0 over the 4? Surely I’m not expected to pinch the open D string and the B fretted at 4 here…??
Thanks!..Wayne B.
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Stupid Tab Question #447: What’s the meaning of this diagonal line here?
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I am guessing that would be a slide. In other words, strike the note at the 2nd fret and then slide to the 4th fret for the next note. The tabs Ben uses here will typically have an “sl” over a slide.
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Stupid Tab Question #448: What’s the point of putting that 0 over the 4? Surely I’m not expected to pinch the open D string and the B fretted at 4 here…??
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As you arrive to fret the note at the fourth fret (from question 447), you will simultaneously strike an open note on the highest pitch string. The value of that note will vary depending on the instrument and tuning.
One of the neatest things for helping with tabs is Tabledit software. The reader version is free. With it, you can “play” the tab, and slow it down to hear what is going on. Here is a link that will help with getting started with Tabledit:
https://banjoebenclark.com/forum/t/tabledit-viewer-basics/584/1
FWIW, you can also add an image or tab to a message, but I like that as an avatar. It’s an innovative use of it.
Thanks, Mike. When I hit the open string on top of the string I just slid to, it totally drowns out the slid-to note, I can’t hear it at all. Hmm…well, I’ll have a look at Tabledit, thanks!
Yup, second string is a slide from 2 to 4 fret and open first is same time as the 4th fret on the slide.
If you hit the slide cleanly, and a pick it a bit harder than the open note the two notes should ring more equally. This kind of right hand control is not easy for everyone to learn right off, and it is also some of what separates the the really good players from the rest of us.
Some of my practice always involves just this sort of thing…trying to get the volume of each note where I want it to be in relationship to the others around it. Myself I have trouble with controlling how hard my first finger hits any given string when I’m doing a forward roll (well…I have problems with a forward roll period…).
Hang in there…It all comes with time, patience, and a regular bit of effort.
Fiddlewood, howdy and welcome back! It’s nice to have a banjo player answering banjo questions 
It is a nice effect when you get it balanced. It adds more musical emotion than simply playing the second fret then the open string above it. Like Fiddlewood said, it takes some practice.
Hi Mike! glad to be back on here for a bit.
well…I’m definitely and banjo owner anyway…still working on the player thing…
Thanks,guys. I’ll work that into my practice over the next few days, report to follow.
The slide to the open string is kind of a style thing… me, myself and I, when I do that, I generally don’t hold the fretted note too long. That’s not to say it’s the right way, it’s just how it sounds good to me. I l fret the lower note, slide up, then close to simultaneously landing on the higher note, I play the open string and then release the fretted note. It would probably help if you had a recording of someone playing the piece your are working on so you could emulate it. Once you can hear the sound in your head, you’ll know it when your fingers are working towards doing the right thing.
Edit… For any who remember seeing an MP3 attached, you aren’t going crazy. I removed an example I put up because the timing of the slide was different than the one in the avatar. Sorry for any confusion.
Anyone have an example on banjo?
BTW codex10168, don’t let fiddlewood’s humility fool you. He’s a fine musician and plays many instruments well.