Hey John! My pleasure. So sorry to hear you lost your job. These are tough times, and I will always provide some of my content for free. If you promise to keep playing the banjo, I promise to keep the content flowing! Here's to better futures! Tom
Thank you for this video. Beginner Banjo just a couple weeks in and Never played any instrument in my 63 years, proper left hand placement and control has been my biggest issue, specially with what I would consider, Fat Fingers.... Watched your video and then went and practiced. I'd say a 75% improvement in my fretting! Now I just need the muscle memory to kick in..... any tips on that?...... I know.... Practice, Practice, Practice..... And I am, several times a day. Again, thanks for the lesson! New Subscriber!
How do you keep the neck up without a strap? I'm trying all the different grips you mentioned but if I don't "deathgrip" fret the neck drops into my hand and I lose that mechanical advantage. Are you pressing into the body with your picking hand?
Lilly, great question! I did a video on this fairly recently. “How to hold a banjo” or something like that. On my phone or I’d toss you a link. In short, my striking hand captures the instrument as you mention. If you’re supporting the banjo with your fretting hand, something needs to be fixed or you’ll feel limitations early.
Hey Kevin! No, the banjo is not on a stand, and I'm not using a strap of any kind. I "weld" the banjo to me with my striking arm with a light, but consistent pressure on what I call the "fulcrum"...the rim of the pot. Hope that helps!
Both! It starts on Monday and goes for 7 days live. It stays on Patreon as an archived camp, so you can run it anytime at your leisure! Hope you’ll join us!
This does not work for people with small hands, need more info for that . Ok never mind I figured it out, I was holding my banjo (Elizabeth) up with my fretting hand and not my clawhammer hand and for arm rest, I did that and got it . Now I get it when they say something like heavy right hand and light left hand (something like that) .
Now if you could just give me a good head smack and repeat this maybe it will stick. Thanks even though I’ve been trying at this for a couple of years I need to keep hearing this.
Thank you .... online instructors rarely cover the fretting hand, so it is nice to see some tips.
Thank you so much for keeping the great stuff coming, Tom! I lost my job and can't afford the Patreon anymore but I'm glad you're still my teacher ;)
Hey John! My pleasure. So sorry to hear you lost your job. These are tough times, and I will always provide some of my content for free. If you promise to keep playing the banjo, I promise to keep the content flowing! Here's to better futures! Tom
instaBlaster
Paul Rudd Teaches Banjo Politeness!!! Thank You Good Sir!!!
Dude, your merch is really cool.
Hahaha! Thanks, Zach!
Great content and methods. Thanks.
Thanks, Ed!
Thank you for this video. Beginner Banjo just a couple weeks in and Never played any instrument in my 63 years, proper left hand placement and control has been my biggest issue, specially with what I would consider, Fat Fingers.... Watched your video and then went and practiced. I'd say a 75% improvement in my fretting! Now I just need the muscle memory to kick in..... any tips on that?...... I know.... Practice, Practice, Practice..... And I am, several times a day. Again, thanks for the lesson! New Subscriber!
I loved the thumbnail photo. Maybe in your case it is a picknail photo though...
Hahahah! Haven't heard from you in awhile, KK Icons. Glad you're posting again! Best,
Tom
How do you keep the neck up without a strap? I'm trying all the different grips you mentioned but if I don't "deathgrip" fret the neck drops into my hand and I lose that mechanical advantage. Are you pressing into the body with your picking hand?
Lilly, great question! I did a video on this fairly recently. “How to hold a banjo” or something like that. On my phone or I’d toss you a link. In short, my striking hand captures the instrument as you mention. If you’re supporting the banjo with your fretting hand, something needs to be fixed or you’ll feel limitations early.
Hey Kevin! No, the banjo is not on a stand, and I'm not using a strap of any kind. I "weld" the banjo to me with my striking arm with a light, but consistent pressure on what I call the "fulcrum"...the rim of the pot. Hope that helps!
Ha ha! Is the fretless bootcamp only live, or will it be archived for patreon subscribers?
Both! It starts on Monday and goes for 7 days live. It stays on Patreon as an archived camp, so you can run it anytime at your leisure! Hope you’ll join us!
This does not work for people with small hands, need more info for that . Ok never mind I figured it out, I was holding my banjo (Elizabeth) up with my fretting hand and not my clawhammer hand and for arm rest, I did that and got it . Now I get it when they say something like heavy right hand and light left hand (something like that) .
Now if you could just give me a good head smack and repeat this maybe it will stick. Thanks even though I’ve been trying at this for a couple of years I need to keep hearing this.