Yesterday, I came across an online community of people who enjoy singing traditional songs and accompanying themselves on banjo with a simple pattern they had learned from an online source and a few self-published books. An hour later, trying to track down the materials they had used to get started,…
Mitchell “Mickey” Cochran loved traditional acoustic music. So much so that when he left a successful career as a graphic artist and web programmer, he started his own online music store, complete with free online lessons for many instruments, including 5-string banjo, mandolin, and Appalachian dulcimer. Years ago, I archived…
I now have more banjos that I can possibly justify, except by selling off a couple. The most recent addition is a Goodtime Artisan, chosen for all the wonderful playability and quality it shares with my bass-line Goodtime, and also because of upgrades, including a more traditional finish, planetary tuners,…
First of all you should know that I do not consider myself a “banjo player” per se. I am a songwriter/singer who occasionally uses guitar, banjo, bass, dulcimer, or piano to accompany himself and his friends. So if you invite me to bring my banjo to a party or gig,…
When I wrote an article about “short-scale” and travel banjos for the Riverboat Music site, it got me thinking that I would like to have a 5-string that was as portable as my Martin Backpacker travel guitar. My Backpacker is 35″ long and just over 9″ wide at its widest…
Originally posted September 18, 2015 So, I learned 5-string banjo in the 1960s, following the example of a variety of folk artists, especially Pete Seeger, who – despite being basically a frailer – had mastered several other techniques, and didn’t feel bad about adjusting his playing style to the song.…
Originally posted August 5 Just put a Grover compensated bridge on the Samick 5-string that I use backless. it has the tone I want and decent action, but playing “A” on the second fret of the third string was always “iffy,” usually quite sharp. Playing B on the fourth fret…
