- Jim Bottorff's
- TIPS ON PLAYING
ALONG WITH THE SONGS
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Following are some tips for
listening, practicing, and playing along with the songs on this
website:
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- 1. The 8-beat lead-in and introductions
are intended to get you into the song easily. Listen to
the bass notes and you should be able to pick out the tempo and
rhythm. Lead-in melody notes sometimes will start before
the 8-beats are finished. On other songs the melody notes
may not start until after the 8-beat introduction. Listen
closely and be ready. The 3/4 time songs have either 6
or 12-beat lead-ins and are treated similar to the 8-beat introductions.
2. Listening to the bass is important. The bass notes are
usually a simple steady beat with occasional fill-in notes. Almost
all the chord changes occur on a bass beat. If you listen
closely to the bass notes, the chord changes should become easier
to recognize.
3. Most of the songs with verses start with melody only, and
progress to 3-note harmony. The first chorus is often 4-note
harmony with the melody in octaves (high and low). If you
use headphones, you can hear the separation of the high and low
melody. The high melody is on the right channel and the
low melody is on the left channel.
4. The first chorus plays the melody as a singer would sing it,
and as written in the sheet music. The high octave pitch
is similar to playing melody on the "D" string
of a tenor or plectrum banjo. The low octave pitch is similar
to playing the melody on the "C" string
of the tenor or plectrum banjo. The second chorus of a song generally
starts with the melody played in the lower octave, and then harmony
is added as it progresses to the end. The second chorus
is a good place to practice playing single string melody on the
fourth string.
5. With the use of headphones, you can adjust the type of melody
being played, either high or low octave. Try removing the head
set from one ear or the other to hear the difference. For
less melody, remove the left channel headphone from your ear
during the second chorus. The bass is on both left and
right channels.
6. If you need to mute your banjo try using two small size wooden
or plastic clothes pins, spring type, and clip one on each side
of the bridge below the strings. You can also use a tenor or
plectrum 4-string guitar, or even a baritone ukulele (tuned like
your banjo) for playing quietly. One quick way to get a
soft sound on the banjo is to use a felt type ukulele pick, most
music stores sell them.
7. Be careful with your body position (neck, shoulders, and back)
when practicing. Keep your head and eyes up, your shoulders
and back straight, and stay relaxed. Stand up and stretch often.
Try practicing in front of a mirror and watch your chord and
finger positions in the mirror, instead of looking down on your
banjo. I like standing up and using a banjo strap as a refreshing
change of position.
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- 8. The "Vanbasco" midi
player plugin (free download from http://www.vanbasco.com) allows
for changing the tempo and key of the songs along with turning
off any of the instrument tracks. If you are a melody
player, you can turn off the song melody and play your melody
along with the bass and other instrumental accompaniment.
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- 9. Click
here for some additional tips on changing the tempo and key of
the songs.
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