This blog post was inspired by my online conversation with my old friend Patrick Dinneen. This is exactly why I’m doing this; to get folks talking about the four-string banjo again. Please feel free to jump into the conversation at your earliest convenience (but please do so in the permanent form of a blog reply, not with a temporary Facebook reply)!
It is my resolute opinion that we must master the “classics” before taking the banjo in new directions. You can bet that today’s cutting-edge classical pianists have more than a passing interest in Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, etc.; why can’t we apply that logic to the four-string banjo? Shouldn’t we all attempt to copy and credit Harry Reser, Eddie Peabody, Perry Bechtel, et.al., thereby adding “standard repertoire importance” to their music? They set the standard for how our instrument was played back in the day; we do the banjo a historical disservice by not bowing to their greatness and paying respectful tribute to them.
Add to this list the lesser-known Emile Grimshaw; he represents the banjo style that came before the others. If we want to add in another legitimate influence—and modernize the banjo by 20 years in the process—add Django Reinhardt to the list; he was originally a banjoist after all, and his signature guitar style is very playable on both the tenor and plectrum. To me, he represents what might have been had the banjo not lost so much favor in the 1930s.
I started playing at the tail end of the “Pizza Parlor Revival,” that last great heyday for the banjo. I didn’t know who any of those guys were; “ignorance is bliss” could have been my mantra (except I was ignorant of the concept!). As an adult, I now realize that that era was inspired by the original Jazz Age players and audiences, who were still active at the time (in their senior years, when memory-lane revivals tend to happen). I believe its high-time for a modern-day reintroduction/revival of the original styles.
Thanks to the internet, young people (the future greats) are discovering and reintroducing all sorts of classic music styles; Trad Jazz, Gypsy Jazz, Ragtime, jug band, etc. It’s only a matter of time before they discover Reser and Peabody too; I plan to be a big part of that, and I encourage everyone else to be there too! There is no shortage of potential players; we just need to reach them before they grab another instrument.
Can the banjo be played in “newer” styles? Of course! It’s a musical instrument after all! I don’t believe that today’s prevailing banjo style—chord melody—is the best vehicle, however; again, I go back to the original styles. Chord melody is a simplified product of the “play-in-a-day” mentality of the pizza parlor/banjo band era. I grew up in that environment—and I still love it today—but it is a musical dead-end; it pigeon-holes the banjo in that happy, striped-shirt & straw-hat sing-along scene that we know and love so well (and that younger folks seem to have no interest in). In short, to expand into newer styles, we must master the older, more-technical styles of the founders, then grab the attention of those young and idealistic enough to shape the future.
The banjo’s musical development was frozen in time in the 1920s, and has, if anything else, back-tracked and been reduced to the simplest elements of the time. To progress, we must return to those days and revive the true mastery of the age. The ball was fumbled 90 years ago, and has yet to be picked up; well, I’m picking it up and running with it. Anyone care to join me?
Don’t forget to use some of the older instruction manuals to learn to read notation for the banjo and maybe even some of the song books that were out back then. A.J. Weidt comes to mind. Look up Rob Mackillop on You Tube playing plectrum banjo and tenor banjo on these pieces. Beautiful renditions of student pieces at the time, now, not many could play them because of the lack of reading skills.
Hi Ron,
For many years, I’ve had a graded repertoire syllabus for classical guitar and even mandolin at the school where I teach. I often have a few tenor banjo students who ask me if I could have the same for tenor banjo. And so, I am currently going back to the hundreds of solos published by AJ Weidt and others during the mid 1920s to try to develop a comparable eight level repertoire syllabus for tenor banjo. There is a lot to sift through, I’ll keep you posted.
Thanks to both Doug and Steve for the comments: The Clifford Essex Company used to have a graded testing system; we’re currently working on resurrecting it, but yes, the problem is reading skills (which of course is one of the main things being graded). I have updated over 70 pieces of plectrum banjo music so far in this process, and co-edited an update of Emile Grimshaw’s plectrum book. We put it all into TAB (in combo with the standard notation) in hopes of a revival.
Everyone knows by now how I feel about Eddie Peabody; he is not to blame for anything, but it is quite difficult to put his playing style into any form of writing–and everybody wants to play like him of course. He is an extremely important part of my call for the classics though; I’m working on it! Many players are very proud of their ignorance regarding reading and theory, and I do blame Peabody’s influence for that!
Harry Reser was marketed as strictly a tenor player (to avoid competition with the more popular Peabody), though he recorded almost as much with the plectrum. One of my goals is a transcription book of all his plectrum stuff (his tenor music is already well covered–though as he wrote it, not as he played it).
I would love to see and use a graded system for my students of the tenor banjo!
Steve; Any help and/or advice you can provide to that end would be greatly appreciated! It will happen!
My first teacher was Elliot Sweetland. He taught his own method along with the use of the Al Greathouse book which I found to be very digestible and he taught reading skills from a practical stand-point. My second and final teacher, Bill Luce, strongly emphasized reading and advanced music theory. I never learned to “read” tab and feel it is an enormous crutch. I have had too many people try to tell me it’s benefits, of which I remember none due to my strong feelings upon the topic, and can only say that it’s “okay” for a person who only wants to read or on a first grade level. (For those who strictly play tab I sincerely apologize to you for any snobbery or eliticism. If you’ve learned to read tab at a good clip why not take it just a step further and read staff music? The world can potentially open up even further for you. Regardless, I truly am not devaluing your playing abilities and am sure you enjoy whatever level of expertise you have ascertained and that is all that matters) I contribute my early development to the fact that I was encouraged to seek more advanced chord theory and to think outside the box of triads. In my humble opinion, if I am teaching someone who does not want to read or struggles greatly with the subject then I switch my focus towards helping them develop a better ear, how to play with better tone, etc.
Okay, time for me to go read out of the Kloseé method book.
PD
I agree that we should all learn to read standard notation. I have several points in defense of TAB however:
1. TAB has been used for stringed instruments since the middle ages, starting with the lute; it is therefore a historically legitimate form of notation–not a shortcut.
2. TAB shows the proper fingerings, of which there are several choices on the plectrum banjo. Used in conjunction with the standard notation, it replaces all sorts of extra markings that writers used to have to use for that purpose. That will also lead one to a better ability to read standard notation.
3. TAB is a heck of a lot better than the “plectrum banjo standard”–chord diagrams! That’s how I learned to play; I had no interest in learning to read music, in fact I was proud of my non-reading skills! Buddy shamed me into action.
4. Whatever it takes to get folks to read and learn from the old music is better than nothing (which is currently what we seem to have)!
Anyway, the point is education, a concept which the banjo seems to resist quite well (thanks to the chord diagram method, and the play-in-a-day mentality). If we want to be taken seriously by the mainstream music community, we simply must become educated and take the banjo in a “legitimate” direction. That is my mission in life.
Sorry Ron, but I have strong beliefs in my opinions (and you know what they say about opinions). Because something might be deemed “historically legitimate” bears no weight – if this were such an accepted form of then why didn’t the masters and classics write in tab? If they did, it was only done sparingly. I’ve never seen a Tchaikovsky piece in tab. Just because it has been used for several centuries does not mean that it is correct, incorrect, or generally useful – It simply means that it’s been around.
I feel that this is a topic of musicality. In my teaching experience, I found that tab never educates one how to utilize different chord voicings or manipulate them for tonal differentiation. (I change my voicings constantly either for timbre, efficiency, or the like). Learning tab will only tell you “play this!”. It is explicit, not implicit, which brings us back around to the point of playing like someone else specifically, whether it’s the person who transposed the piece from standard notation to tablature or if that person feels that “X” song should be played only “this way”. (To me that’s kind of a funny statement because Ornette Coleman wrote a piece called “X Song”). Also, in today’s tab there is no true rhythmic definition as is written in standard notation. In fact, I’m not so sure this is taught in this day and age in the 4-string banjo community – if it is, it is not executed properly – plinkety plankety. It is all too common to hear a proficient banjoist that plays every single note with the exact same depth and duration (of which there typically is none). Music has life and needs to breathe and, unfortunately, a lot of people choke it to death, especially the technically good ones. Tab does not teach rhythm or inflection.
One would be much better served trying to play by ear where they have the freedom to choose how to play and not dictated to, and to be influenced by the atmosphere in which they are playing at that time.
I hope to not offend as this is not my intention. My only hope is that this is taken as a conversation with different viewpoints shared. I respect and value your opinions.
No offense taken; in fact, this is the reason I’m writing, to get folks talking again. I have a lot to learn (as I’m sure we all do), and there is no better way than to create conversation. And I certainly know from personal experience what they say about opinion!
Learning to play by ear is commendable, but many folks just can’t hear music well enough for that to happen. I’ve worked with many fine, highly-trained musicians who can’t play a note without music in front of them.
I’m on the road at the moment, but when I get home I’ll send you a piece of music written in standard notation and TAB; I think maybe you haven’t seen correctly done TAB. I agree it is a paint-by-number system, but so is standard notation! Nothing can show inflection; that is up to the musicianship of the player (and/or the quality of the teacher).