Banjos galore

I went along to the first of the workshops for the year on Saturday afternoon to find out something about banjos. Never owned one, probably never will.. but it seems a lot of people like them, and it turned out a lot of fun to try one out and receive a bit of advice, some practical help, and some beginners music charts to get started with.

Rick Sidgwick welcomed us to the scout hall, and pointed out the three banjos Peter had kindly supplied for a few of us who were coming along banjo-less. I picked up a 'New Windsor' model which was at least 60 years old. I chose it because I thought it was the quietest of the bunch and would be less embarrassing than the other two. Once a whole crowd of banjo players had gathered we got started with Peter Somerville explaining clawhammer banjo. Then the noise filled the hall as we all tried to get the technique right. With a bit of patience and one-on-one guidance the noise started to sound more musical as Peter worked his way around the circle.

Then we broke out into the beginners and not-so-beginners groups and spread out around the scout hall area to do some serious practice on the tab Peter supplied for 'Cripple Creek'. Our beginners group in the front yard even got some applause from passers-by. This was real 'immersion' for me and I was amazed to hear something vaguely musical starting to come haltingly from the instrument that I had never attempted to play before.

After a cuppa and biscuits we spent a while learning about choosing, care and feeding of banjos. Peter fielded plenty of questions, including a request to play a couple of pieces for us which he did. Then we all got to participate again with a different tuning for "I'll fly away". I was sorry to have to leave before the session finished, I hope we can get a summing up from Rick to finish out the blog entry (and a couple of pics). I thought it was great value for $25 to get 4 hours of fun and education. Hmmm maybe I could sign up for another session and become a yodelling banjo player...

Steve