| 1 |
Buy the "banjo" fingerpicks for your thumb, index, and middle finger Grow and strenghten your ring fingernail (or buy the fingernailpick) I am using plastic thumbpick, two metal fingerpicks for index and middle finger up-picking, and the plastic fingernailpick for ring fingernail down-picking (frailing). |
| 2 |
Retune just one or two outer strings of your tenor banjo CGda => CGdg => DGdg (Irish GDae => GDad => ADad) The purpose of these tunings is to come close to 5-string banjo tunings so you can steal the techniques from it. I am using most of the time the DGdg tuning (equivalent of open G tuning gDGbd), but for the key of C the CGdg tuning (equivalent of standard C tuning gCGbd or double C tuning gCGcd) may sometimes work better. |
| 3 |
Start to steal/adapt the picking hand techniques from 5-string banjo, guitar or ukulele | |||
| Frailing with thumbpick, ringnail and index fingerpick | Scruggs rolling with thumbpick, index and middle fingerpick | Travis picking with thumbpick, index and middle fingerpick | Syncopated strums with thumbpick, ringnail, and index and middle fingerpick | |
| NEW |
Handout from the workshop at Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival in September 2009 | |
| for CGdg and DGdg tuning derived from jazz CGda tuning | for GDad and ADad tuning derived from Irish GDae tuning | |
| ! |
Get more from your instrument! If you are flatpicking tenor banjo player, you can now easily play frailing and fingerpicking techniques without buying 5-string banjo. Retuned tenor banjo is also ideal second instrument for fingerpicking guitar player - there is no misleading thin string on bass side, so you can trade the picking patterns from guitar to banjo and back. Become the "first generation" tenor banjo fingerpicker! |
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Page created July 2001 Last update Oct 1, 2009 |
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