Why do that? Because the song requires a 2-octave singing range, and Noel could sing F to F but not D to D.)ĥ-string players, on the other hand, have to contend with the drone string whenever changing keys. (Noel "Paul" Stookey, a baritone, played "Early In the Morning" with G chords on the third fret, putting it in Bb. Even Folk singers doing their own songs used to do this, if they wanted to be able to play a certain kind of part in the range that they could sing. Acoustic guitar players, called upon to have "open strings" for a folk or classical sound, simply slap a capo on the neck and transpose.So to go from A to Bb, they simply move their left hand's "center of operation" up a fret and keep going. Electric guitar players (and Jazz banjo players, for that matter) use chords that fret every string, such as barre chords.Guitarists have relatively little problems with "obscure" keys. Not only did the picker find himself or herself encountering funky chords in the middle of a score of otherwise "normal" chords, the picker might be asked to play the whole song in Ab or some such. In other words, the well-prepared, working 5-string player might find himself accompanying "Salty Dog" in one gig, "Tzena" in another, "Malaguena" in another, "Hava Nagila" in another, and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in another. Although he or she usually chose a four- or six-string banjo, the 5-string occasionally made an appearance. In pop orchestras, the guitar player was expected to be able to double on banjo. And "folk" was more like what we call "World Music," today, with Latin, African, Middle Eastern, and Eastern songs and tropes being added to the mix. Even "folk" acts like the Limeliters often performed songs they liked from obscure pop and musical theater sources. This is a follow-up to our article on Standard ("C," DBGCg)) and Raised Fifth (DBGDa) banjo tunings, which hopefully helped you begin exploring the world outside of G tuning.īack when I was a youngster, banjo pickers played all kinds of music. Written by Paul Race for Creek Don't Rise TM Beginning Five-String Folk Banjo - Part 11 - Other Keys and Tunings
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |