Archive for the ‘By Red’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Practice!

Friday, January 28th, 2011

Red Henry

Today we’ll talk about what may be an unpleasant subject: PRACTICE. While some learners find it easy to play one or two or six or seven hours a day, some can’t get the energy or time for 20 minutes. But it’s important.

I can talk from my own experience. As I get older it’s harder to get up the energy to practice, but sometimes there are special events coming up that make it easy. Right now, I’m practicing mandolin and singing every day, to get ready for a CD which Christopher and I plan to record in a couple of weeks. And you know what? Practice helps, even if you’ve been playing a long time. I’m playing and singing a whole lot better than I could a month ago. I was pretty rusty, but now I’m getting back into shape.

Is it hard for you to practice? Remember that it’s a lot easier to start practicing and sound good after just a day or two off, than it is if you haven’t played for a week. That by itself is a good reason to play a little every day– you’ll sound better when you play again. In fact, play every day if you can, even if it’s just for 20 minutes. Or 15 minutes. Or 10 minutes. Then when you get a chance to practice for a longer time, it’ll be easier to play and sound better!

As I’ve said before in these pages, 20 minutes a day is better than 2 hours on Saturday. If you go from one weekend to another without practicing in between, it can be hard to even pick up your instrument and play! So even if your schedule is rushed, when you have a few minutes in the morning or evening, play a tune or two. Your fingers will be glad you did.

Red

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in banjo, By Red, General, Practice | 2 Comments »

Are You Listening?

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Red Henry

Since I pick with people when I get the chance, and I’ve also taught a good many music lessons in my life, I’ve developed an attitude about listening and learning. It’s this: If you can’t or don’t listen, you can’t play. At least, you can’t play right. You have to know what a tune sounds like before you can play it. And tab won’t show you what a tune sounds like– you can only learn that from listening. Sound obvious? It’s not obvious at all to a lot of folks.

Murphy expresses this in a way when she says, “Listen, listen, listen, and play, play, play!” What does it mean? It means that you can’t learn to play a tune right unless you’ve heard it, and preferably, heard it a lot. This is why tab won’t help you to play a tune right, because tab can’t show you what a tune actually sounds like. West-Coast banjo wizard Pat Cloud said in a recent Banjo Newsletter interview that he wishes his students would listen to a tune a hundred times before they looked at the tab. Well-known player Pete Wernick stated, also in BNL, that since students have to get away from tab eventually, it’s better if they don’t use it in the first place.

What does this have to do with you, the Murphy Method student? Only that you need to listen. Listen to the music you want to learn. Listen to the music on CD over and over, whether it’s on Earl’s records, or Murphy’s, or Casey’s, or whoever else’s recordings, but get that sound in your head before you expect to learn the tune! Once you know what the tune sounds like, you’re ready to start playing it! And you’ll learn a whole lot faster, too.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in banjo, By Red, jamming, Learning By Ear, Practice | 2 Comments »

Murphy Method Digital Downloads

Friday, January 14th, 2011

Red Henry

Folks, we’ve had a terrific response to our first 6 DVDs offered as digital downloads (details here). We didn’t know quite what to think of this new technology at first, but when we put these 6 up on line, the response from old and new students has been excellent. It appears that the downloads have a bright future for the Murphy Method. These are our titles available at present:

Beginning Banjo Volume 1
Beginning Banjo Volume 2
Slow Jam with Murphy and Casey
Picking Up the Pace: More Slow Jamming
Easy Songs for Banjo
Beyond Vamping: Fancy Banjo Backup

…so as you can see, it’s a great bunch of titles. Now, we’re working on 8 more DVDs, which will be available digitally in a few weeks:

Banjo for Misfits
Vamping: Beginning Banjo Backup
Improvising: The First Stage
Beginning Guitar
Beginning Mandolin
Beginning Bass
Beginning Fiddle
Beginning Dobro

These will occupy us for a while, as we take care of all the details about putting them on line. I’d estimate that it will take about 5 or 6 weeks to have them available. But from now on, we need to hear from you. Which of our DVDs would you most like to see available this way? We’ll have about 25 more DVDs, and need to know which way to go. Please let us know, either through your comments on this post, or by way of the “Contact Us” button on the website. We can’t promise that your favorite DVD will be on line soon, but your opinion is important!

Red Henry

Tags: , ,
Posted in banjo, By Red, DVDs, General, Learning By Ear, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Holiday Picking — Keeping in Shape

Tuesday, January 4th, 2011

Red Henry

Let’s talk about playing music this time of year (and, as bluegrass aficionados may note, cop a title from the Stanley Brothers). Winter often seems to be a pretty dead time for performance opportunities and even jam sessions. Energy levels are low. In this part of the country, the weather may also prohibit travel to some events we’d like to attend. But it’s important to Keep Picking, especially if you’re learning to play.

Even if you can’t get out to play with other people (or if, as in some parts of the country, the nearest pickers are out of reach), you can play a little each day. You might be surprised at how soon you can get really rusty if you aren’t playing– sometimes, four or five days can set you ‘way back. But even 15 or 20 minutes a day can keep your skills up to a tolerable level.

That photo above was taken in 1971, when I was in the Air Force at Del Rio, Texas for a year. That whole year I never found anybody to pick with there, but I tried to play a little every day I could. And I not only held onto what I could play to begin with, but made some progress as well.

Of course, it’s always easier to practice if you have other people to play with. But if you don’t, our Slow Jam and Picking Up the Pace DVDs are made just for you. You can also play along with Murphy at the end of nearly every lesson on our other DVDs. And I have heard of people even practicing with each other on the phone! However you do it, don’t forget your Holiday Picking.

Red

Tags: , , ,
Posted in By Red, jamming, Learning By Ear | 3 Comments »

Special Murphy Method Christmas shipping!

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010

Red Henry

Folks, Christmas is coming fast, and we know you want your DVDs! So today (Tuesday) and tomorrow (Wednesday), as a special gesture of thanks for your orders, we will ship ALL ORDERS by PRIORITY MAIL (2-3 day shipping) at no additional cost to you.

This will give your packages their best chance to arrive at your house by Christmas Eve. So place your orders either on line or on the phone (800-227-2357), and we’ll send them out today and tomorrow by Priority Mail!

Tags: ,
Posted in By Red, DVDs, Learning By Ear | No Comments »

Our Christmas sale is extended for another week!

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

Today’s news is that we’ve extended our sale through December 22nd! Call us at 800-227-2357 and you can buy any 4 Murphy Method DVDs at the sale price of just $75.00! (This includes Casey’s Custom Christmas Collection for Banjo!)

Posted in By Red, DVDs, Uncategorized | No Comments »

A little old time jam session

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

Red Henry

Now, you may justifiably ask, what kind of title is that? Here at the Murphy Method we play bluegrass, don’t we? But I do get into old time picking sessions sometimes, and last Friday we had one at Cousin David’s house.

Now, this wasn’t like the last session at Cousin David’s. No, indeed. That time, we had 17 or 18 pickers in the Tater Hill Tavern. This time it was different. How many pickers were there? Three.

Three musicians usually make a pretty thin jam session, but this time we had a good combination of people. Cousin David played the banjo, in his own unique old-time style. Our friend Jamie played fiddle at first, switching off later to banjo-ukulele (yes, such instruments are allowed in old-time music). I played mandolin mostly, but Cousin David had suggested that I bring my fiddle, and I picked that up for the last several numbers. And anchored by Cousin David’s supernatural sense of rhythm, we played for a couple of hours and had a good time. We PAID ATTENTION and PLAYED TOGETHER.

So what did we play? We played a few tunes that the bluegrass people know, such as Soldier’s Joy and Red-Haired Boy. We played some old-timey classics like Cowboy’s Dream and Old Mother Flanagan. And we also played some pretty obscure tunes, like Blake’s March and The Squirrel Hunters. And why am I talking about all this? Because the basics of a good jam are the same in all kinds of music. You can have a good session with only two or three pickers, or with 20, as long as everybody PAYS ATTENTION and PLAYS TOGETHER.

You might see people in jam sessions who aren’t paying attention to anyone but themselves. These people sometimes play too softly to be heard, not because they’re shy but because, I guess, they don’t care about being heard (so why are they there?), and others might be playing too loudly all the time. Either way, they’re not LISTENING to everybody else and PLAYING TOGETHER. Or, you’ll sometimes find people who try to crowd everybody else out of the center of the jam, or deliberately play so loud as to drown out other folks. What does that have to do with PLAYING TOGETHER? Nothing.

Most of the people reading this blog know what to do in a jam session, partly because many of you have been in jams directed by Murphy or Casey. You can also practice listening and playing at the same time with our Murphy Method Slow Jam and Picking Up the Pace DVDs. But no matter where you are or whom you’re picking with, always remember to LISTEN to the jam and PLAY TOGETHER!

Red

Tags: , , ,
Posted in By Red, jamming, Learning By Ear | 6 Comments »

A busy day, and good picking

Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

Red Henry

Friday was a good day. First, in the morning, I packed a lot of DVDs to send out for our Murphy Method telephone sale. Then, in the afternoon, we (Murphy, myself, Christopher, and Cousin David) played music at a party for some nice folks here in Winchester. People listened to us, we played lots of requests, and a good time was had by all.

In the evening Murphy went out to square dance, but for Christopher and myself, it was time for an old-time jam at Cousin David’s place, the Potato Hill Tavern. Chris and I arrived in the middle of the jam’s second tune, which means that we’d only missed about 15 or 20 minutes of the jam.

A tune and a half? 15 or 20 minutes? Well, you know, old-time jams are pretty different from bluegrass sessions. For one thing, everybody’s playing at once, and sometimes there are a lot of “everybody.” (In this case, “everybody” was 7 fiddle players, 4 banjo pickers, 4 mandolin pickers, and 3 guitar players, with people coming and going all the time.) For another thing, the old-time players really enjoy the tunes and play them for a long time, sometimes as long as 10 minutes or more. That may sound strange from a bluegrass standpoint, but it has advantages.

One advantage is that if you don’t know the tune (and there are hundreds of them) you can often learn it as you play, and then play it some more, for a long time, to get it into your head. Another thing is that when everybody’s playing together, it creates a whole different atmosphere from a bluegrass session. Instead of the spotlight focusing on people individually (and putting pressure on every individual to play well when their time comes and everybody else is looking at them), in an old-time session everybody can just relax and PLAY. Everybody pulls together, and it’s a group effort, and a strong sound.

The players often take turns suggesting tunes. Whenever this session threatened to hit a slow spell, I’d suggest one of my old-time favorites, not much known in bluegrass: “Cowboy’s Dream”, “Old Mother Flanagan”, and others. But most of the time I just sat there and played and enjoyed learning new tunes. Ten minutes at a time. It was good, and I went for about three hours before calling it a long day.

If you ever have a chance to participate in an old-time session, go and have yourself a good time in a different atmosphere. It’s a great chance to learn.

Now, back to our Murphy Method telephone sale! I’m packing DVDs as fast as I can!

Red

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in banjo, By Red, jamming | No Comments »

Murphy Method Sale Going On

Friday, December 3rd, 2010

Red Henry

Folks, I haven’t blogged yet this week, and there’s a good reason: You, our Murphy Method customers, have responded so well to our ongoing telephone sale that I haven’t had time in the morning to even write a few paragraphs. If you are looking for a gift for your Murphy Method family member, remember our special price of 4 DVDs for just $75.00! Murphy Method DVDs are a great Christmas gift for yourself, too! Take a look on our site to see what you’d like to order, and call us toll-free at 800-227-2357. The sale runs for 8 more days, until Saturday, Dec. 13th!

Our band (Murphy, myself, Christopher, and Cousin David) is going out this afternoon to play the first of this year’s Christmas parties. This is a large party held at a local church, and we’re looking forward to playing music. A good time will be had by all!

Tags: , ,
Posted in By Red, DVDs, shows, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Banjo heads: Clear? White? Frosted? Smooth? Genuine imitation leather?

Friday, November 19th, 2010

Red Henry

We recently received a question from a student, asking about the head on his banjo. In this case, the banjo had had a clear head on it before he bought it, but has a white head on it now. He asked whether this affected the sound.

Well, there’s no one answer. Banjo heads are like bridges or strings: Some banjos (or banjo players) sound best with one kind, some with another. But there are a few guidelines which we can glean from experience:

1. Sometimes, the clear heads are thicker than the white ones. This means that they may have a fuller sound (or, to put it another way, they may not give as much clarity on some banjos). Some banjos like one kind of head best, some like another.

2. As I recall, the Stewart-MacDonald 5-Star heads may be a bit thinner than the Remo Weather-King heads. This means, again, that a banjo might give more fullness and volume with the thicker head, but might obtain more high end and clarity with the thinner one. Does this all sound confusing? That’s because it is. Every banjo is different!

3. Some banjos really like the heavier, textured, imitation-leather heads. Those heads go best on banjos that have plenty of volume and high end already, and have plenty of power to make the heavier heads sound good.

4. Some bluegrass pickers may want to experiment with real skin heads. A friend sent me a good-quality old skin head once, and I installed it on my pre-war Gibson banjo. I immediately saw why some older banjo players swear by skin heads! But I also understood why other players swear AT them. The good news is that putting a skin head on a a high-quality banjo may give you a more powerful sound, with more volume and dry tone, than any other kind of head. The bad news is that this is not true for all banjos, and even when it is, you probably need to adjust the head tension EVERY DAY to make sure the banjo will sound its best. There were good reasons why banjo players in the 1950s were really glad that plastic heads became available!

If you know as much about banjo heads now as you did before you read this, then you’re doing well. The bottom line is that you have to try different heads out on every banjo to see which kind it likes best. You can also go on the Banjo Hangout and find people who will talk about banjo heads until the cows come home. But don’t even think of changing the head until you have the strings, bridge, and head tension already adjusted to sound their best! — and that is all another chapter.

Red

Tags: , ,
Posted in Accessories, banjo, By Red | 6 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »