Posts Tagged ‘murphy’

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Tuning Story

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

Murphy Henry

So, Cody, who is now taking banjo, comes in for his lesson last night. I ask Bob Van to stay and play some guitar, so I can play banjo and Cody and I can trade breaks. Well, Bob and I haven’t been in tune for the whole hour of his lesson. My fault, not his. His tuner is off from mine, and I was just too lazy to ask him to retune. And it wasn’t off that much.

But by the time Cody came in, I was ready to be in tune. And since Cody’s banjo wasn’t quite in tune, I asked him to tune it. He didn’t have his tuner with him so I handed him mine. Then, I asked Bob to go ahead and use that tuner to tune, so we’d all be in tune together. No big deal, right? All I wanted (for Christmas) was for them to get in tune…

So Cody looks at Bob and says, “ I think I’m gonna buy her a T-shirt that says, ‘Please be in tune WITH ME.’ ”

And Bob says, “Yeah. And the operative words are WITH ME.”

Hmmm….somehow I never thought of it like that!

Murphy

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The Lights Come On!

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

Murphy Henry

As many of you know, breaking away from tab and starting to learn by ear is not easy. It’s scary (Can I really do this?) and it feels like you no longer have a safety net (What will I do if I mess up?). But, the payoff is BIG! You will actually learn to play the banjo. Your tunes will sound like tunes, and eventually, with lots of hard work on your part, you can learn to play with other people.

It thrills me when someone who is new to the Murphy Method takes that “leap of faith” and starts learning by ear. The series of emails below that I exchanged with Tom after our Beginning Banjo Camp in October seems to capture the start of that experience in a nutshell. With his kind permission, I am sharing them with you. As he said, “Hopefully the message will help others who have struggled with tab. As I say, if I can learn with your method and make some nice music with my banjo, anyone can!” Thank you, Tom!

November 10:

Dear Murphy:

Thanks again for the excellent camp. It was a great experience. I wanted to email you a question about the sequence of learning songs. I have always wanted to play Will The Circle Be Unbroken. I have tried to learn to play it for a number of years by using tab without any success. I do have your Gospel Songs DVD. I know you recommend doing the first two DVDs and Misfits DVD first. Over the past couple of days, I have begun using the Gospel DVD and starting to work on Will The Circle Be Unbroken. I know this song is out of the sequence you recommend for learning and it seems to have some more challenging licks and it will take more time to learn. I wanted to see if you had any recommendations about trying to learn this song. It appears to be a more challenging song but it is perhaps my favorite song on the banjo and a song I really like to sing. Since I have tried to learn it by tab for some time, it is also a personal challenge for me to learn the song by your method. For these reasons, I would like to learn this song and I wanted to see what your thoughts were about working on it. I would appreciate any suggestions or ideas you have. Thank you for your time and response.

Hi Tom,

Glad you enjoyed the camp. So did I! I appreciate your asking for my advice about learning Circle. I can understand why it’s a favorite of yours–it’s also a favorite of mine! And it’s a great song. Now, although this may seem counter-intuitive, I believe you can learn the song faster–in the long run–if you learn a few other basic tunes first. In spite of its seemingly simple roll pattern, it’s really pretty complicated. You don’t have to go thru Vol 1 Vol 2 and Misfits, but would you be willing to learn at least a couple of songs before tackling Circle? They will help you internalize some of the basics you will need to know so you can more easily tackle the specifics of Circle. If so, let me know what you already play from these DVDs and I’ll pick two others that will help you specifically with Circle. Hoping this will appeal to you!

Murphy:

Thanks for your response. I feel I play Banjo in the Hollow, Cripple Creek and Boil Them Cabbage Down fairly well as far as the banjo solos go, but not necessarily the vamping at this point since that was very new to me. Your method really helped me with Cripple Creek and Boil Them Cabbage Down since I had struggled with those songs for a few years with tab and now I am doing fairly well with the melody and timing. So here’s a banjo salute to you and your method. It does work, even with an older musical misfit like myself. I would appreciate any suggestions you have about two additional songs to learn from the Volume 1 or Misfits. As I said, I really enjoy Circle and have been very frustrated with trying to learn it from tab. Truthfully, I was about ready to smash my banjo over my head (just joking). Let me know what you think about some additional songs.

November 11:

Hi Tom,

Thanks for your thoughtful, detailed reply. I believe if you learn I Saw The Light and Worried Man (from the Misfits DVD), those will GREATLY help your learning Circle. There is an important lick (slightly hard) taught in those–the Tag Lick–which will need some practice to get it down smooth before you go on to Circle. As I said, learning these will make learning Circle MUCH EASIER. No need to learn the vamping to these right now, altho in the future you would need to learn that. Each of these songs should take a least two weeks to get down smoothly, it not more. Good luck, Tom, and let me know how you are doing!

Murphy:

Thanks for your time and response. I really appreciate your help. I will plan on learning I Saw the Light and Worried Man before I take up Will the Circle Be Unbroken. After all of that, I will plan on resuming your recommended learning sequence from the Volume 1 and 2. Thanks again for your advice and time.

December 15:

Murphy:

I just hope you don’t mind updates on my experience/progress with the Murphy method. I just wanted to let you know that the lights started to come on. I had been progressing slowly with I Saw The Light as you had recommended but was having some difficulty bringing out the melody when all at once last night it seemed to click and the lights came on and the melody was there. It is still not quite where I would like it, but I am clearly getting there with this song. I plan to polish the song very well and then move on to Worried Man. I just want to thank you for your method. I don’t know if you realize how much frustration a person can have with tab and not being able to play a song and have it sound like the song if you know what I mean. It is a real pleasure to hear real music coming out of my banjo and not just a slew of notes. Thanks again for all of your advice, suggestions and the camp. I will keep you updated from time to time as I continue to make progress. I hope that you and Red, and Chris, Casey and Dalton have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Again, I thank YOU, Tom! Hearing your story will definitely help make my Christmas a Merry one!

Now, over to Casey’s house to see Dalton! Whoopee!

Murphy

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Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

Mark and Susan had lessons back-to-back today, so they jammed a little where their times overlapped. In the lull between songs we started talking about how no one ever seems to be satisfied with their performance. I told them about being at the Augusta Heritage Bluegrass Camp and how those amazing instructors would walk off stage after the faculty concert bemoaning the “fact” that they had played so poorly and had missed so many notes. These were performances that I—an instructor myself—had thought were flawless and wonderful. Mandolin whiz Butch Baldassari (God rest his soul) said, “Well, I hit more notes than I missed, so I count that a good performance!” (On the other hand, fiddling Fletcher Bright was always happy with his performance and was never happier than when he was stealing the show from someone else! I was always happy with him stealing the show too—as long as he wasn’t stealing it from me!)

Anyhow, the gist of our conversation was, as you have gathered, that no one ever seems satisfied with how they play. And does that dissatisfaction ever end? Perhaps when you are in the grave, Susan suggested.

Then Mark said, “I try to be happy with where I am while trying to get better.” Which Susan and I both acknowledged was an excellent way to look at things.

Then Susan said, “I like to hear a man saying things like that!”

To which Mark quickly replied, “I only apply that to banjo!”

And Susan and I just howled and rolled our eyes. Too funny.
And that, friends, is my short blog for today. Hope you have a wonderful last weekend before Christmas! I’m square dancing tonight so I am happy! “Oh, promenade that ring, take your girl home and swing, because, just because!”

Murphy

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WOW! — is all I can say!

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

Red Henry

Response to yesterday’s Murphy Method e-mail Newsletter has been terrific. Lots of people have ordered Casey’s custom DVD, “Christmas Tunes on the Banjo”, which teaches many popular numbers. We’ve also had many orders for this month’s half-price DVD, “Great Banjo Tunes”. Thank you all!

We’ve also had a lot of interest in our very first Murphy Method Banjo Camp, scheduled for late March. We often get inquiries saying “Where can I attend a banjo camp?”, and now Murphy and Casey, two of the best banjo teachers anywhere, will be giving a camp right here in Winchester, Va. There are still some student slots remaining, so if interested, take a look at the details here.
. . . . .

On another subject entirely, last night I did an extensive interview with a researcher who may write a book about Randy Wood, the pioneer (and still currently-active) bluegrass instrument builder who began making superb mandolins, banjos, and guitars way back in the 1960s. Since I have Randy’s very first mandolin as well as #3 (a Bill Monroe mandolin, which Murphy bought from Bill’s estate sale in 2001 and gave me), I like Randy’s instruments a lot and was able to share many stories from 35 and 40 years ago, about Randy’s pioneer work in making great instruments for bluegrass pickers to play.

Everybody keep picking!

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Becoming an Independent Banjo Player (Flying and Picking #10)

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Red Henry

Red Henry


Murphy, in an old Banjo Newsletter column, talked at length about how people want to become Independent Banjo Players. They want to be able to get in a group and play tunes, play backup, and pass the breaks around to others just like “independent” pickers do, who don’t need a teacher’s guidance to participate. And they need to be able to do all this while standing up!

I thought about this yesterday while I was on a solo cross-country flight. As you learn to be an independent pilot, you learn to fly the plane and land it, communicate with other pilots in the air, and to navigate from one place to another– and eventually, you do all this without an instructor’s help. So I took off yesterday morning by myself and flew about 75 miles to an airport I’d never seen before (Somerset County, Pa.), landed there, took off again, and found my way right back and landed here at Winchester. When I got back here, I felt like I was learning to be an Independent Pilot. Could I have done this without a lot of training from my instructor? Of course not. But is it good to feel like an Independent Pilot? Oh, yes.

It also feels good when you learn to be an Independent Banjo Player. You know that you can stand up in a group, play the tunes, do backup when someone else is playing, take breaks and pass them off when you’re through playing yourself, and start and finish the tune at the same time as everybody else. Can you learn this all at once? No. And like everything else, it takes some folks longer to learn than others. But when you reach your goal, it feels good. You know you’re an Independent Banjo Player.

Red

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Posted in banjo, By Red, Improvising, Instructors, jamming | 2 Comments »

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME AND MY DADDY

Monday, May 18th, 2009

Murphy HenryYes, indeed, folks, today is the day I share my birthday with my dad, Dr. L.G. Hicks, Jr. Or vice versa. He first saw the light of day in1925; I scooted out in 1952. I’ve always liked that reversal of numbers. Although I was raised (just like corn) in Clarkesville, Georgia, my dad’s hometown, I was actually born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, birthplace of the great Don Reno. We were there because Daddy was doing his internship preparatory to moving back home to open his own practice.
He was surely one of the last of the old-fashioned General Practitioners, a real, honest-to-goodness country doctor who, in my lifetime, still made house calls and even treated patients who came to our home.

I’ve been in Clarkesville this whole weekend, spending time with Mama and Daddy, and we will be having our birthday supper tonight. I’ve already given Daddy my present, a song I wrote for him that starts off “Born on your birthday, in South Carolina / You were just 27, and a brand new M.D….”.

I can’t tell you how proud I’ve always been to share birthdays with my dad. It made me feel special. (And with four younger sisters, every little bit helped!) Mama always baked us two cakes. Daddy’s was usually a pound cake and mine, something chocolate, often with M and M’s on top!

Those of you who read liner notes closely may know that for most of my young life I had planned on being a doctor, just like Daddy. (When I was feeling especially pious–usually after a summer revival–I wanted to be a medical missionary!) But my plans were derailed by a higher power when, deep into my third year as a pre-med student at the University of Georgia in Athens (go Dogs!) I went to a show at a small club called The Last Resort and heard folk singer Gamble Rogers perform. Pretty much from that point on my medical aspirations went spiraling down the tubes as I spent most of my time playing my 12-string guitar, learning Gamble’s songs, performing as a folk singer myself, hanging out at the Last Resort, driving long distances to hear Gamble play, and finally, attending my first bluegrass festival (at Gamble’s suggestion) where he introduced me to a friend of his, Red Henry.

If my dad was disappointed that I chose music over medicine and picking the banjo over delivering babies, he never said a word.

So, if you’d like to wish us a happy birthday, you know that Casey, our super web manager, has made it really easy to post comments at the end of each blog. I would like nothing better than to hear from some of you and I’ll be sure to share your comments with my dad!

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Misfit Jam

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

Murphy HenryWe had four folks who braved this nasty, rainy weather to come out and jam: Susan and Mark on banjos, Ellen on guitar, and Bob Van on bass. Bob Mc couldn’t make it because he was at a hospital meeting trying to figure out what to do if the swine flu epidemic hits Frederick County, Virginia.

We warmed up this week by having the banjos play the lead together on The Big Three: “Banjo in the Hollow,” “Cripple Creek,” and “Boil Them Cabbage.”

Then, having limbered the fingers up, we continued on with:

Foggy Mountain Breakdown
I Saw the Light
Lonesome Road Blues (with Bob and me singing)
John Hardy
Blue Ridge Cabin Home
Old Joe Clark

Coming in from the vamp to the lead in OJC is still giving the students fits. The entrance is particularly hard to catch because those first two notes are, in fact, pickup notes. I suggested that they try playing along with the last few licks in the break beforehand to get oriented. Then Mark figured out it made more sense to him to come in just on the four fill-in notes, so he showed Susan how to do that which proved to be a big help!

Mark is going great guns with his improvising! He had a major breakthrough at an Apple Blossom Festival picking party that Bob Mc hosted on Saturday. Somehow, something just clicked—that basic idea of licks against chords—and he was off and running. He improvised a break to “Lonesome Road Blues” right on the spot! And maybe one to “Two Dollar Bill,” if memory serves. Tonight he added some improv licks to “I Saw The Light.” You go, Mark!

Susan, also, is taking her first steps toward improv with “Blue Ridge Cabin Home.” She came through with flying colors tonight—not perfect, but good enough! And, as she said, “At least I didn’t faint!”

So once again a fine time was had by all. I do hope you notice that we continue to play the SAME SONGS over and over and over. This is the value of a jam session. Pretty soon you learn to play the darn songs just by dint of having played them so much!

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“Wear Something Frilly!”

Monday, May 4th, 2009

Murphy HenryOne of my “lapsed” banjo students returned this week for a lesson. I’d taught him for several months last year while I was still holding forth at Brill’s Barber Shop. Various family crises and commitments had gotten in the way of his continuing, so I loaded him up with DVDs as he walked out the door, and he promised to keep playing. He was already doing quite well. Solid right hand, good tone, good timing.

How to describe Roy? (Not his real name.) Tall, lean, fit, good looking, gray-haired, and gregarious, he projects an air of confidence and ease when he walks into a room. As we were catching up, he was telling me about the house he had renovated–from stem to stern–doing all the work himself, which included adding plumbing and completely rewiring it. I was amazed at the enormous range of talent it takes to do something like this and a bit envious to boot. I do so wish I had some construction skills! It just seems so handy, being able to fix and build things yourself without having to rely on someone else to do it.

After the convivialities wound down, Roy got out his banjo so we could get reacquainted musically. He’d told me that he felt like he was at a “crossroads” and didn’t know where to go. Before I could advise him, I needed to see where he was with his banjo playing. Truth told, most folks who quit coming to see me also quit picking up their banjos. So, I asked to see “Banjo in the Hollow” and “Cripple Creek,” the usual drill.

So Roy starts out. Did I mention that he’s somewhat of a perfectionist? I think he’s playing well, but he’s not satisfied because he’s missing a few notes, his hand is shaking a little bit making him the tiniest bit sloppy, and once he forgot to repeat the “B” part of “Cripple Creek.” So he says to me, “I don’t know why I can’t play. I do fine at home, when I’m in my shop by myself.” Pause. “You are so intimidating!” Pause. “Why don’t you wear something frilly?”

And I just cracked up! End of story.

PS: Roy had, in fact, kept up with all his tunes, successfully navigating through “Old Joe Clark,” “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,”  “Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms,” and “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder” among others. He was eager to press on to “Improvising” and I agreed. I also told him what he really needed was to come to our Wednesday night jam, and he said he would. So, perhaps next week I’ll be reporting back on that!

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Greetings From Georgia

Monday, April 27th, 2009

Murphy HenryGreetings from Georgia! I’m down here doing my weekend with my folks. This visit happened to coincide with the nearby appearance of our friends Robin and Linda Williams, stars of radio (Prairie Home Companion) and screen (Prairie Home Companion). They and their Fine Group were playing at the Crimson Moon in Dahlonega (pronounced “Duh-lon-uh-guh), a mere hour’s drive from my hometown, Clarkesville. So I decided to catch their show Friday night on my way down. I met my sister Claire there for supper at 7, followed by the show at 8.

Robin (whose middle name is Murphy) and Linda were in fine form for two sets of mostly original music primarily drawn from their new album “Buena Vista.” (I was gonna tell you how Robin said that was pronounced in Virginia, but I can’t figure out how to spell it phonetically! Suffice it to say that “Buena” rhymes with “June” or, more precisely, “June-uh.” I had no idea this blog would include so much about pronunciation!)

Linda was playing more clawhammer banjo than I’d seen her play on a show before which was a wonderful treat. Putting the bottom in the band on electric bass as always was Jim Watson whose rendition of “Hesitation Blues,” modeled on that of the great banjo player Charlie Poole, was a highlight of the show. And on the fiddle was none other than Chris Brashear whom I had never seen with the Fine Group before. Chris is a fine songwriter in his own right, and his song “Mason’s Lament,” (which Lynn Morris recorded) is one of my faves.

Robin was kind enough to recognize me from the stage (always flattering! ) and to dedicate “Blue Ridge Cabin Home” to me. Little did he know that BRCH is so widely used by me that I now abbreviate it BRCH! It’s my “go to” song for both vamping and improvising, and at camps it’s become the perfect vehicle for a group lesson in how to play a high break. (And can be found on at least two, if not three, of our DVDs!)

Apropos of nothing musical, the woman I was sitting next to (from Gainesville, Georgia) turned out to be good friends with my best friend from Camp Echoee, Jane Adams. At the closing ceremonies of camp one year, Jane and I both got ribbons for being “Head Skinny Dippers.” Whoo hoo! Those were the days!

And on that note, I will turn myself to checking on my parents, fixing a cuppa, and starting on the unbelievably hard crossword puzzle in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution!

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Jam Report April 15, 2009

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

Murphy HenryWe had four people in the jam tonight. The mostly ever-faithful Bob on bass, Mark and Susan on banjos, and Ellen on guitar.
Our song list was as follows:

Cripple Creek
Banjo in the Hollow
I Saw the Light (Bob singing, me harmonizing)
Old Joe Clark (in G this week; no fiddlers!)
Blue Ridge Cabin Home (Bob singing, me harmonizing)
Salt Creek
Foggy Mountain Breakdown

If the list seems short for an hour’s jam, it’s because we got a little bogged down in “Old Joe Clark.” That song often gives banjo students fits when they try to come in off the vamp. The first notes of the break (hammer to second string and then open first) sound like they are the downbeat but they are not. They are the pickup notes. The downbeat is actually the fifth string. And none of this makes much sense on paper, or in a Blog. You just have to experience it. Which is what Mark and Susan were doing big time tonight.

And I hasten to point out that they each play “Old Joe Clark”  extremely well at their individual lessons–even when we are trading breaks on banjos. But there is something about a jam session that reveals the weak places in a break. That’s why jams are so valuable! I can’t tell you how many times that’s happened to me. I practice and practice something (usually on fiddle now) and think I’ve got it, and then I take it to the jam and fall apart. It’s painful, but I know that jamming is where I will really learn to play the fiddle.

Now, I have to brag on Mark a little bit. At his lesson this week he started learning to improvise. To that tried and true improv number, “Blue Ridge Cabin Home.” And, with basically no prompting, he came up with a GREAT BREAK! (Of course this wasn’t the first time he’d heard the song, which helped. He sorta knew the chords and melody from hearing it at Casey’s Banjo Camp last fall.) He based his break on the low break to “Boil Them Cabbage Down.” With tag licks. Never thought of that! And I’ve never seen another student do it that way. So, tonight, just one day after he figured out the break, I asked him to play it and he did—beautifully! I was so proud of him. He seemed to catch onto the whole concept of improvising, which is playing licks you already know against a chord progression. He said, with an amazed look on his face, “This means I could play almost any song if it had just G, C, and D in it.” I said, “Yeah, don’t tell anybody. I’d be out of a job!”

I will remind you that Mark has been playing less than a year. A key factor to his being able to improvise so early is that he has been jamming since November. Not every week, but probably once a month. And it also helps that his wife Ellen is learning to play guitar and they play together a lot. It makes a difference. You learn the songs at home, but jamming is where you really learn to play. What are you waiting for?

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