Beginning the 5-string Banjo

Me at Bovisands, Plymouth, England

Hi, my name is Roy and I play the 5-string banjo. Those of you who have read my blog before will know that I followed an historical timeline and traced the musical events in my life. I have now decided to change the format and write the blog in two parts. In the first part I will share what is happening now, my current experience as a fairly new banjo player, the music I am learning and the bluegrass music I love. The second part will return to the autobiographical timeline theme.  I hope this will make a more interesting read!

My Banjos and my Teacher

As I am approaching the age of 70 and have been playing the banjo for about 5 years, some would say that I started a little late in life. Anyway progress is being made, albeit slowly, and it is bringing me happiness and contentment. What more could I ask for?

My first banjo was an open back Lyons and Healy which I never actually learnt how to play. When I became a little more serious about learning I bought a Recording King. It was a beautiful instrument and sounded really good. Now I play a Japanese Maya 5-string custom made banjo. I do not know how old the latter is, nor have any other information about it. A musician in the town where I live sadly died and his widow offered it to me. It sounded better than the Recording King and so I decided to buy it.

My first banjo, a Lyons and Healy circa 1900

The Recording King

Two photographs  of the Maya Banjo

Many people have asked me how to play this unusual musical instrument. This is a difficult question because different people learn in different ways, there is no easy answer and no magic formula. I can only pass on my experience of what worked for me.

Firstly, I bought two beginners tutorial books (they come with CDs and/or DVDs).

Beginning the Banjo books by Ross Nickerson

Then, I taught myself the following:

(i)  a simple roll (a finger picking sequence which is repeated ad infinitum)
(ii)  the rudiments of banjo tablature
(iii)  a simple tune

Assuming you have come through that process unscathed and still want to be a banjo player then I recommend finding a teacher. I was lucky as I discovered a bluegrass banjo player (Martin Blake) living in Hereford, not far from me. Martin is a master of the finger picking blues guitar and the 3 finger picking bluegrass banjo. If you read banjo or guitar tablature you will find a wealth of excellent bluegrass and blues guitar material all free of charge on his website. Martin plays the banjo in the talented British bluegrass band called the Grass Snakes.

Grass Snakes photograph courtesy of Martin Blake

I am currently learning the following tunes/songs:

Steam Powered Aereoplane
Cherokee Shuffle
Fisher's Hornpipe

The link above will take you to a fantastic version of Steam Powered Aereoplane by the Grass Snakes. Martin has kindly posted the banjo tablature for this song on banjohangout for those who would like to have a go at playing it.

The Autobiographical Bit

In 1973 I graduated and I obtained a job in Darlington, County Durham as a computer programmer. Frankie and I moved to the north from Essex. After a brief period in a bed and breakfast and a short period in a flat we were able to rent a house. In London we had a room, in Braintree a flat and now a house, with a garden! We were moving up in the world and quickly settled into our new life.

Darlington Town Centre photograph courtesy of Alamy

It was not long before we had an addition to our family; a beautiful daughter called Natasha Carey, named after Natasha in Tolstoy's War and Peace (a Russian name was fairly unusual at the time) and Carey from Joni Michell's Blue album.

Baby Natasha

After 3 years Natasha had a beautiful sister called Laura Polly. Laura was named after the character who played Laura in the television western Little House on the Prairie. Polly was the name of Laura's great grandmother.

Little House on the Prairie photo courtesy of spinoff.comicbookresources.com

Natasha and Laura

Our time in Darlington was not long. An opportunity arose for me to lecture in Information Technology in London so we were on the move again.

Essex University and the Weeley Festival

1970 was an exciting and pivotal year in my life. I was accepted by Essex University to study for a degree in Computer Science, Frankie and I moved to Braintree in Essex and last but not least Frankie and I got married.

Braintree photograph courtesy of Essexweddings.com

Having previously dropped out of university I was determined not to make the same mistakes. I considered myself fortunate to have this new chance and resolved to apply myself to my studies. So determined was I that I sold my guitar to remove any distractions. It turned out that I never touched a musical instrument from that day until about 2010. My children had no idea that I once played the guitar.

Essex University photograph courtesy of the Guardian

In August 1971 there was a pop festival on our doorstep at Weeley, a village outside of Clacton-on Sea, Essex. This was supposed to be a small event for 5000 people but when the Isle of Wight festival for that year was cancelled everyone switched to Weeley. The crowd was estimated at between 110,000 and 150,000!

Posters courtesy of ukrockfestivals.com

The line up was impressive and music was performed day and night. The cost of the entire weekend was £1.50 in advance or £2 on the door. I got to see T Rex, Rod Stewart and The Faces, Barclay James Harvest and Lindisfarne. The link is to my favouite Lindisfarne track of the time "Lady Eleanor". I recall little of the other acts. A combination of little sleep, practically no food and too much alcohol must have taken its toll. The facilities on site were primitive, to say the least, but the festival was worthwhile for the wonderful music and camaraderie among the crowd. I was pleased to get home on the Sunday for a long soak in the bath and a proper toilet!

After obtaining a job in a record store Frankie was very happy in her new life. Her record store discount meant new sounds were always turning up at our flat. She was able to obtain import records from America so I put in an order for "Will the Circle be Unbroken" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The day it arrived I could not stop playing it. In 1972 it must have been one of the first copies to reach the UK. 

"Will The Circle Be Unbroken" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is a collaboration with many famous Country players, including Mother Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Merle Travis, Pete "Oswald" Kirby, Norman Blake, Jimmy Martin and others. It also introduced fiddler Vassar Clements. A track which epitomises this album is Nashville Blues, I remember thinking this is the music I love and I'll always love.

Frankie and I both enjoyed the American singer/songwriters of the time such as: Carol King, Janis Joplin, James Taylor, Randy Newman, Joni Michel (OK she's Canadian). We also loved The Byrds with their smooth harmonies. Here is James Taylor in 2009 performing You've Got a Friend. He has lost his hair (like me!) but he has not lost his voice, nor the affection of his fans.

Living in Essex we could get to London and back in a day and we made a few trips to see groups when time and money permitted. Frankie loved Johnny Winter and we saw him perform at the Albert Hall. I loved blues and delta music in the acoustic style so this was a bit of a departure from the norm for me but well worthwhile. Once Johnny started up a rock and roll medley of "Jumpin Jack Flash", "Great Balls of Fire" and "Johnny B Goode" the audience went crazy, and it was dancing in the isles time. So lets sample a little of Jonny's artistry with Jumpin Jack Flash.

In 1973 I graduated from Essex University and we moved again; but more of that in my next post.

Mostly Guitarists

In the mid 60's I was privileged to see Doc Watson perform live. It was his first European tour and I attended his session at the Cecil Sharp Folk House in London. The audience was small - only about thirty or so enthusiasts - as I recall. Doc was led on stage by his guide, I knew Doc was blind but this entrance still came as a surprise. Doc sat down, talked to us between numbers, and treated us to a feast of  bluegrass/old time music with all those melodic, high speed, flat picking guitar licks he was so famous for.

Doc Watson courtesy of mayapedia.me

Well what music to choose from this great guitarist? It was Autumn 1965 when I saw him at Cecil Sharp and I am sure he played "Black Mountain Rag". Follow the link to hear it performed by Doc at the Newport Folk Festival two years earlier.

In 1967 I left the kitchen for the office. As a Commis Chef I worked long hours, six days a week, for £13. As an Office Assistant I worked 9am to 5pm, five days a week, and was paid £25. Today it is probably different but in my day conditions and pay in the catering industry were very poor.

Me making puff pastry

You would think that with all this extra time on my hands I would have improved on my guitar playing but it didn't work out like that. The guitarists I admired and followed all played in the finger picking style. I tried to teach myself the technique but never mastered it. In England we had Davy Graham, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Ralph McTell and The Incredible String Band, to name but a few. It's hard to pick a song to represent this eclectic lot so I have selected everyone's favorite "The Streets of London" recorded By Ralph McTell in 1969.

Incredible String Band's album "Layers of the Onion" (1969)
Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia

There were of course many American guitarists and groups I admired and followed. I was intrigued by the music of the New Lost City Ramblers led by Mike Seeger. Their good musicianship and understanding of popular US songs of the 20's and 30's led to very authentic recreations. The songs were also spiced with good humour and wit.

Others artists I followed were Stefen Grossman, Leo Kotte and other emerging performers, while continuing to be faithful to the established stars like Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and many others. As an example of Stefan's excellent finger picking style I have chosen "Mississippi Blues"

Stefen Grossman courtesy of chordmelodyguitarmusic.com 

My girlfriend, Frankie, did not share my interest in folk music preferring pop, rock and in particular progressive rock. This got me listening to many bands I might have otherwise ignored. We both enjoyed Led Zepplin, Genesis, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Procol Harum (who we got to know personally) and many others. My musical interests were broadening thanks to Frankie but my deep love for Bluegrass and Celtic music never wained.

My First Banjo

One weekend, on a return visit to Plymouth, I spotted a 5 string banjo in a junk shop window. I forget the price but it was affordable and I bought it. I had this romantic notion that it was played by a sailor who came ashore in Plymouth and being down on his luck had to sell it. I knew nothing about banjos and soon discovered it was in a sorry state and unplayable. I had it repaired in London.  It was an open back Lyons and Healy made in Chicago USA circa 1900.

 Banjos in a junk shop courtesy of aldenswan.com

Now I had  the little problem of how to play it. Learning the 5 string banjo in England in the 1960's was a difficult task. There was practically no tutorial books, no internet of course and therefore no on-line lessons. Almost all English music tutors only knew how to teach you the chords, to enable you to strum the 4 string banjo to play traditional jazz, and that is not what I wanted. The only tutorial books I could find were by Pete Seeger.

My first banjo tutorials

They were interesting but did not help me make any progress in playing in the Scruggs finger picking style I desired. As a result the banjo was confined to the attic of every house I lived in for the next 40 years or more!

One of the folk clubs I frequented in London was The Peanuts Club. It was run by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).  The club was in a room, with a bar, above a public house in Liverpool Street London. There was no entry charge, everyone who could play or sing or both performed. Some, like me, were not very good, others were excellent. One night I backed a lady singer and the organiser "paid" me with a pint of beer - I felt I had arrived in show business!

It was at the Peanuts Club that I first heard the 5 string banjo played in the bluegrass style. The banjo player was called Pete Stanley and he performed together with a guitarist called Wizz Jones.

Wizz and Pete in the early 60's courtesy of wizzjones.com

Oh how I wished I could play the banjo like that. I considered approaching Pete for lessons but then realised I would not be able to afford tuition. Their first album was "Sixteen tons of Bluegrass" released in 1966 on Columbia Records. The album cover is shown below.

If you are wondering what American Bluegrass played by two Englishmen in the mid 1960's sounded like follow the link.

I recall one evening Pete and Wizz did a very good version of "Frankie and Jonny" (hear them performing it 35 Years later).

Off to London

In 1963 I moved to London to attend University and study Chemistry. I found the big city intoxicating. There were so many distractions and stimulants. As a result I neglected my studies and dropped out of the course at the end of the first year. I was heartbroken at the time because I felt I had let my parents down, but, as is often the case in life, the forced change in direction was to turn out for the better. With no grant money coming in I had to get a job.  Like so many College drop outs before me I started work as a barman. Eventually I drifted into the kitchen as a cook which gave me great satisfaction.

On the music front I immersed myself in Folk Music. I had a guitar and could strum 3 chords. With the help of a capo I found that I could play in most keys. I could not sing but there were plenty in my social group that could so that solved that difficulty.

One folk musician I admired at the time was Bob Dylan. "The Times they are A-Changin" was the first Dylan album I owned and it was played over and over.  Check out this early version of the title tune from Bob in 1963.

In 1966 Bob Dylan came to London and performed at the Royal Albert Hall. I attended the concert sitting up in the "Gods" (the highest tier in the Albert Hall and the cheapest seats). In the first set Dylan was alone on stage and performed all the acoustic material I had heard on the above album and some new songs. The audience loved the set. Bob was well received.  The reaction to the second half could not be more different. Bob appeared with an electric guitar and a backing group the "Hawks". There was booing and heckling. In 1966 electric guitars and folk music was just one step too far for many English folkies and about a quarter of the audience walked out. The rest of us listened with interest. I left the Hall feeling Dylan was making a mistake - how wrong I was.

It seems to me that folk music, and left wing politics go hand in hand. In London most of my friends were socialists and pacifists and with the energy of youth we dreamt of a better society. When I read that a group of pacifists were on hunger strike in Hyde Park London protesting about the war in Vietnam I decided to see them break their fast. It was a Sunday morning at Speakers Corner London.

There were a dozen or so sympathisers present including the folk singer Joan Baez who was presumably in England to perform a concert or two. She was another artist I admired and I was also able to see her perform at the Royal Albert Hall

Joan Baez

Check out Joan's version of "Rosemary, Lily and the Jack of Hearts"