Banjo Anyone?

[Quilly]

Really considering taking one on...should I go 4 or 5 string ?

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I have a nice goldtone cripple creek Irish tenor. I chose a 4 string banjo as I already play ukulele so the plan was to string it like a tenor uke (using Newtone loop-end unwound single strings: 0.008, 0.011, 0.014 &  0.018). The Irish tenor has a shorter neck than other 4 string tenors. I use it mainly for strumming chords rather than picking.

Whether to go  for 4 or 5 string will depend on the type of music you want to play on it. If I wasn't already a uke player I would have probably gone for a 6 string  banjo tuned like a guitar.

[Cicero]

Didn't think this was the place for a banjo string query... 🤔

[Staggering on]

5 string is played with finger picks and used for bluegrass and country (unless you're Bela Fleck) and there are three types of 4 string banjos-tenor(ragtime and old time Trad jazz),plectrum(longer neck and different tuning than a tenor but same music styles) and Irish banjo which is different again.

Most serious banjo players don't consider the 6 string banjo to be a "real banjo" but it is an easy switch for guitar players and sounds somewhat like a real banjo.None of the others have tunings that are the same as guitar or bass.

Your choice of instrument is determined by the music you want to play because each banjo type is made for a specific style, if you want to play bluegrass you will have to learn to play 5 string.

It's kind of like "I want to play bass".Double bass(orchestra, solo,jazz,folk,Bluegrass),acoustic bass guitar, electric,EUB.....and on and on...

I agree, this is an odd place for this topic but since I play bass and banjo(tenor) I'm OK with it. 

 

 

[pete.young]

6 hours ago, Staggering on said:

5 string is played with finger picks and used for bluegrass and country (unless you're Bela Fleck)

I agree, this is an odd place for this topic but since I play bass and banjo(tenor) I'm OK with it. 

 

There was a thread in 'Other Instruments' but it was a while ago. If anyone is obsessive-compulsive about it maybe the mods could move it.

Like the man says, it depends on what style of music you want to play. If there are any banjo players looking for a gig, I have a vacancy in the Ipswich area!

Five string isn't just used for bluegrass, there is also the Appalachian Old-TIme style (what Dolly Parton calls 'mountain music') which doesn't use either picks or a three-finger roll style. Like this:

 

[Barking Spiders]

No, leave the thread here. After all this forum is not just about bass but music in general. Anyway, I used to like bluegrass so took up the 5 string about 20 years ago. Though I no longer care for bluegrass I still like to keep my hand in and see if i can incorporate into experimental stuff. Mine is a Chinese made Ozark which cost £300 and it's pretty decent. If it's bluegrass you wanna play then you need the 5 string cos of the fifth which has the tuning peg half way down the neck.

[Staggering on]

2 hours ago, pete.young said:

There was a thread in 'Other Instruments' but it was a while ago. If anyone is obsessive-compulsive about it maybe the mods could move it.

Like the man says, it depends on what style of music you want to play. If there are any banjo players looking for a gig, I have a vacancy in the Ipswich area!

Five string isn't just used for bluegrass, there is also the Appalachian Old-TIme style (what Dolly Parton calls 'mountain music') which doesn't use either picks or a three-finger roll style. Like this:

 

 

I agree that it's not just for Bluegrass and that's why I also mentioned "country" in my post and I guess that clawhammer style (which I have always liked, not as hyper as a lot of Bluegrass) could be classed as "old country" or what used to be called "hillbilly" music or Dolly's "mountain music".Thanks for that video.

My main point was that there are many types of banjos and banjo music so talking  about "banjos"  is a very large subject.

I'm a bit of a tenor banjo nut and I'm curious about your search for a banjo player.What kind of music do you play?

 

Edited November 21, 2018 by Staggering on

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 2, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[leftybassman392]

Goldtone Orange Blossom Special here (It's a 5-string), which cost me around £900 if memory serves. Lefty of course (which partly explains the price). Haven't played it in anger for some time now (although I did do a sequence of beginner lessons for a friend about a year ago).

Word of warning: closed back designs are much heavier than they look: mine weighs in at nearly 6Kg (around 13lb). Open back types don't have the richness of tone but are an awful lot lighter - and correspondingly cheaper.

I keep meaning to go back to it but somehow it never happens. Ho hum.

[leftybassman392]

Follow-up:

There's a nice video here on the difference between 3-finger and clawhammer styles.

[bassace]

I’ve got a 6yd skip arriving on Friday to assist with our house move. I have a banjo that belonged to my grandfather but it’s time to give it the heave ho. Perfect pitch and all that.

[Staggering on]

28 minutes ago, bassace said:

I’ve got a 6yd skip arriving on Friday to assist with our house move. I have a banjo that belonged to my grandfather but it’s time to give it the heave ho. Perfect pitch and all that.

NO! How could you?

...now if it was an accordion or bagpipes....or maybe an oboe....

[pete.young]

6 hours ago, Staggering on said:

I'm a bit of a tenor banjo nut and I'm curious about your search for a banjo player.What kind of music do you play?

(By the way it took me a while to spot this - it would help if you type the new text under the 'Quote' box - Not a very intuitive part of the forum.)

I play in a band that specialises in the music of the Pogues. Somewhat confusingly , this mostly isn't tenor banjo: Jem Finer played a 5 string banjo , in a single note style to start with, although he was getting quite capable at the bluegrass style towards the end.

But the way things are, we'll take bluegrass, old-time, tenor, plectrum or even guitar banjo. I can even fill in the parts on my digital accordion if necessary but it doesn't look right.

[Staggering on]

40 minutes ago, pete.young said:

(By the way it took me a while to spot this - it would help if you type the new text under the 'Quote' box - Not a very intuitive part of the forum.)

I play in a band that specialises in the music of the Pogues. Somewhat confusingly , this mostly isn't tenor banjo: Jem Finer played a 5 string banjo , in a single note style to start with, although he was getting quite capable at the bluegrass style towards the end.

But the way things are, we'll take bluegrass, old-time, tenor, plectrum or even guitar banjo. I can even fill in the parts on my digital accordion if necessary but it doesn't look right.

My fault when I posted that reply, I think I've got it sorted this time.Maybe I can blame it on my excitement when someone actually wants to talk about banjos.Sorry about that.

It sounds like you have an interesting band, I've always liked the Pogues and I would love to hear your band, maybe even play a bit of banjo but I'm on the other side of the Atlantic(Canada).I have been to England three times in the last five years and was at the BC double bass bash in April this year but at this point it would be a very long trip for rehearsals and gigs.😀

Good luck finding a banjo player, it sounds like a fun gig.