Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

What kind of songs do you want to learn....?

#9

@Woodshed I agree…versatility I think is the key to any instrument. If you can play a WIDE variety of songs that make you more valuable in the long run. The first time I heard “Thunderstruck” by Steven N Seagulls, i was blown away how cool that actually sounded.
I have seen them play soooo many songs on YouTube, those guys are major talented. The “hillbilly look” with the Rock N Roll sound. Its funny, when you tell people you are learning to play an instrument and then you tell them its a banjo, OMG…:astonished: you can just see the wheels turning in their heads trying to figure out how to get out of this conversation…:crazy_face:…lol

@Ragamuffin ill check into him also.

@Archie Actually some of the tef files I downloaded you need to have fingerpicks. Now there are a couple of songs I been “flirting” with at a really slow speed is “Pipeline” by the Chantays, and “Wipeout” by The Safaris. Out of the 2, “Wipeout” is probably the easiest of them(even though the songs regular BPMs are really fast also). “Pipeline” has some single string triplets that, i have no idea how to play them at low speed let alone the songs regular BPMs.:sweat:
but its fun to experiment with different things on the banjo. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, that’s what is all boils down to.

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#10

Hey @_Tye_Stick, have you heard of the band Iron Horse? Not sure which rock songs you fancy, but they did a tribute album to Metallica. Here’s a video of them performing Enter Sandman.

I’ve learned Sweet Home Alabama on banjo using the three finger style. Have you learned any rocks songs, or did you just recently stumble on these files you mentioned?

#11

Van Halen’s “Eruption”: https://youtu.be/Hx4ZkF17xXA

#12

@5stringpreacher .Ill have to check them out also, im not tooo particular, i rather like the 60,70s type music, and some of the 80’s stuff.

just been playing around with some really easy songs. I am still learning to play, so I try to stay with songs I know I can stay with. I did learn to play an easy version of “The Pink Panther” at a lower speed until I get all figured out, its kind of cool to play. Sweet Home Alabama would be a cool one to learn also. So there are so many, so I just go through the ones I would like to possibly learn and just listen to them for a while its either a “no” or “possibly”…If you want to look at some of the listings here is the site…banjotom2.org. Once you find a song, click on it and then scroll to the bottom of the page and you can go from there.

#13

@Ragamuffin thats a great “southern” version. I would love to see him actually play it, instead of just hearing the song, But i can tell that its pretty intense. Thanks for sharing.

#14

@5stringpreacher that was an awesome video. Heavy metal with Bluegrass feel. A great rendition. Their vocals are pretty tight also. Thanks for sharing that one also.

#15

Happy banjo dude YouTube channel has lessons on all kinds of songs like this, radiohead, John Denver, some pop. I’m not sure the extent of his stuff, but it’s worth checking out

#16

That’s where I learned Sweet Home Alabama. It was a lot easier than I thought @_Tye_Stick. I also picked up his rendition of Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver.

#18

@Dragonslayer i actually signed up with “HBD” and I did get some of his material and downloaded a bunch of his songs, but all he really does is play it slowly than at tempo, never really shows you fingerings(it just NEVER really worked for me) or teaches as @BanjoBen does. I know HBD does have the Pdfs and I have some of them, I do like his songs of choice of songs and I am not implying that he is not good at teachings, but I never really learned much. Its funny, all of the teachers out there they will teach you something different, and they are all very very good at their craft. I want to learn to play thats “easy” for ME to learn. I should be living in Missouri…The “show me” state, thats how i learn.

#19

Don Wayne Reno (Don’s son) played w/ Hayseed Dixie.…might be worth giving them a listen…

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hayseed+dixie

#20

Yeah, I noticed from the video of his that I watched that he was that kind of teacher. @5stringpreacher, I also learned country roads from him, which is why Mr. Denver was who I mentioned in reference to his channel

#21

@fiddle_wood well, definitely a different kind of song. Explicit lyrics for sure. I liked it though. They do a good rendition of “Fat Bottom Girs” by Queen, I also listened to.
@Dragonslayer, He’s got some good learning books I purchased, and I’m sure ill go back and look at them from time to time. I do like “Country Roads” song. That’ll be on my playlist for sure.
But the teaching @BanjoBen has been outstanding. I have learned a bunch of information and I’m only in the beginning stages. I can’t wait to see what I will learn as I progress through the teachings.

#22

Aye but if you had watched the video closely he was using a flat pick.

#23

The link should have just gone to a search page full of songs by the band…I figured that would give you a choice on what to listen to, if anything.

#24

@fiddle_wood i did see all the listings, i just decided to listen to the one in the link and Fat Bottom Girls.

#25

I want to learn both kinds of music, “country and western!” Actually, I’m most interested in fiddle tunes and Scruggs. I’m looking forward to the time when Ben gets the copy-write issues sorted out. I’m not opposed to string versions of the rock classics. But that depends on what you consider a rock classic. A lot of the 70’s country rock had some banjo in it, it isn’t a stretch to make it more bluegrassy. Another way to look at it is to look at the classic tunes that were converted into rock tunes - Gallows Pole, Going Down the Road, Dark Hollow, House of the Rising Sun, etc. Then there are the outlaw country tunes that are amenable to bluegrass. There are a million of them. Turns out those musicians were just taking their inspiration from previous musicians. The recent lesson with Tony Wray showed how bluesy a banjo can sound. I’d like to work on that. My problem is that Ben keeps adding more lessons faster than I can learn them.

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#26

@The_Mole. I agree with you, and those are some of the songs i would like to learn. Especially “House of the Rising sun”. Im not looking at quitting my day job(as soon as i find one) and going on the road. I am not opposed to learning whatever song i can. I love a lot of the Bluegrass songs that i hear. I just want to be versatile when it comes to playing. I do have a few guitar buddies and i would love to be able to play some songs with them. But like you i have to get through the lessons before stepping into the “BIG” world of rock/pop songs. It is fun and exciting and who knows what the future may hold.

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#27

@_Tye_Stick, I have this songbook and I like some of the songs in it.

https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Banjo-Favorites-Harold-Streeter-ebook/dp/B0182F8G1Y/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1543166892&sr=8-4&keywords=banjo+songbook+easy

I tried to play some of them early on, but realized I needed more experience - hence why I am here.
When I started on my Banjo journey, I did not want to play Bluegrass. My grandparents took me to festivals when I was young, but I never really listened to it other than that. I like a lot of alternative music and there are a lot of songs now coming out with some banjo. The problem is the banjo portion is relatively short. So, you cannot play an entire song, OR you play a short melody and then play a lot of backup. That is when I started looking at songs I could learn and play the entire song. That brought me back to Bluegrass where the banjo is often the main instrument. As I listened to various bands, I discovered The Steeldrivers. They are now my favorite band and I hope to be able to play their songs someday. Until then, I will follow Ben’s lessons so I continue to get better. Good luck in your journey.

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#28

@JoeB Try going here…www.banjotom2.org there are a whole lot of different type of songs on here. Some rock/pop, bluegrass, ect…You can download the Tef & pdf files. There also some “premium” ones there that you have to pay for. I bought like 10 songs for $5.00. I have a bunch of them saved on my laptop for future playing.

And that is me also. The more I look at some of the ones I downloaded the more I want to learn the lessons here, its a great motivator to get better and be more versatile. I try to listen to Bluegrass music as much as I can when I’m home just editing some photos or as long as my Sirius Radio is still on while I’m driving. I will still be on “Old Rocker” from back in the day till the day I die.

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#29

A good problem to have …

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