The Murphy Method Blog

This week the American Made Banjo Company featured Casey Henry in their email newsletter.

Click here to see the newsletter.

We’ve posted a new sample clip from our Clawhammer Banjo Volume 2 DVD, taught by Lynn Morris. In this lesson, Lynn gives a very detailed explanation of the double-thumbing clawhammer technique.

There was quite a bit of excitement at the jam tonight as Logan, 16, challenged me concerning the chords to a couple of songs. He proclaimed that “Worried Man” and “I Saw The Light” had the same chords. I said they didn’t. He said they did. I said I didn’t know exactly what the chords were without counting them out, but I knew they weren’t the same. He said he knew they were the same because……………he was the Bluegrass Master! The rest of us just looked at him with astonishment. The Bluegrass Master? (He had just come back from a week-long summer camp and I think he was feeling his oats!)

I said, “You wanna put some money on it?” He did want to. We confirmed the exact nature of the bet—that he said the chords were exactly the same—and I said, “Can I get a witness?” Ellen was kind enough to witness and she reiterated “exactly the same.” We bet one dollar. (All the time that this exchange is going on, Bob Van Metre, who has fallen into this trap many times himself, was trying to shut Logan up and even offered him a handkerchief to stuff in his mouth! I’m surprised he didn’t get out a roll of duck tape!)

So at the end of the jam, I said, “Alright, let’s see about these chords.” And I got out a pencil and paper to keep track of them as I played them on the guitar. But, no, Logan would not allow that. “You say never to write anything down. You won’t let us write anything down.”

I conceded the point and counted the chords aloud to each song while Mark kept track. As I pretty well knew, the chords were NOT exactly the same. (Even though they were darn close!) Now came the interesting part.

Logan: But you can play the same banjo break to both of them.

Murphy: I know you can but that wasn’t the bet.

Logan: Yes, it was!

Murphy: No, it wasn’t. You said the chords were—and I quote—“exactly the same.”

Logan: But the same licks work for each song, so the chords have to be the same.

Murphy: Yes, they do, but the chords aren’t the same.

Logan: You didn’t count them right!

Murphy: Yes, I did.

Logan: No, you didn’t.

Murphy: I can understand why your mom gets [ticked] at you sometimes!

Logan: Well, how did you know the chords weren’t the same?

Murphy: Because I am the Bluegrass Master!

Kaboom! End of story!

Students present: Ellen, Mark, Bob Mc, Bob Van, and, of course, Logan.

Songs played:

Banjo in the Hollow/Cripple Creek/Boil Them Cabbage: all done in unison for our warmup

Blue Ridge Cabin Home
Old Joe Clark
Worried Man (to which Logan played the break for “I Saw The Light” which set up the whole controversy!)
John Hardy
Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms

And for the finale, Shucking the Corn, played really fast by Logan, from whom I am still waiting on my dollar. “When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?”

One of the CDs I came home with after my weeks at Kaufman Kamp was the new tribute to Butch Baldassari: The Road Home. Butch, who passed away in January after a valiant battle with cancer, worked with, inspired, helped out, befriended, taught, and set an example for many, many musicians over the years. His friend Brian “Doc” Hull helped assemble the tracks on this wonderful CD from artists such as Ricky Skaggs, Tim O’Brien, Sam Bush, David Grisman, Roland White, Butch’s own Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, and many more.

The Road Home: A Tribute to Butch Baldassari

Not only is it inspiring to see how many wonderful musicians donated their music, but the music itself is great! At least two tracks were written specifically for Butch: Don Stiernberg’s “Western Red” and the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble’s “Butch’s Bounce Back.” The rest, be they original or traditional, make a lovely musical program that you’ll find yourself returning to again and again.

I am still firmly ensconced at Kaufman Kamp for the rest of this week. At this camp I always learn at least as much as the students who attend. So far I’ve picked up a couple good pieces of advice that I’ll pass along.

I can’t remember who said this first one: “Don’t measure your progress (on banjo, mandolin, guitar, or whatever) in increments shorter than a year.” Learning an instrument is a life-long project. You’ll have good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks, and sometimes you’ll feel like you’re actually regressing. But compare where you are now to where you were a year ago and you will see how far you’ve come. Of course, it’s hard to remember how you sounded a year ago, so taping yourself (and then putting that recording away and not listening to it for twelve months) is a great way to compare.

This second item comes from Stacy Phillips, who taught fiddle this year. He said, when you practice your hardest material, your best is getting better; when you practice your easy material, your worst is getting better. Often students fall into just practicing their newest, or hardest, songs, or just the difficult passages, which can be a bit of a drudgery. Remember to play your fun/easy tunes as well. It keeps it enjoyable for you and improves your lousy level (the level at which you play when you are totally and completely out of practice).

I’m playing on the concert this evening (Wednesday), so if any of you blog readers are in the Maryville, TN area, come on out! I’ll have the marvelous Kathy Chiavola on guitar, Andy Owens on mando, and Bob Rostollan on bass.

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