Yay! Successfully combining cardboard colin and an angry looking pink banjo playing polar bear! Priceless! And providing a convenient transition for me to chat about banjos for a while! Double win!
If you're an avid kate blog reader you may have noticed my obsession with banjos (perhaps in one of my previous eight posts I've mentioned them in...). Well yes. Banjos are pretty super rad in my eyes and learning to play one is part of my resolutions for the year! So since I've already been doing such a great job of blogging every day and breaking into the world of craft shows - it is time for the banjo!
First step of banjo playing wonder? Purchasing a banjo! Which...I did a few months ago. So far banjo really seems to enjoy chilling out in its case (by that back door we have never used):
Poor banjo. Unfortunately with the move and crazy hectic craft sale schedules I haven't had much spare time to get to the second step of banjo playing and actually learn it - but not to worry! There is still time before we hit 2011! I even bought some banjo playing books on amazon and have a musical genius of a friend who is willing to show me the ropes! Plus it is so pretty! Take a look at banjo out of its case:
Fun! I am totally destined to reach my goal of being the coolest 30 year old banjo playing crafty woman in kamloops! Heck! I've got 4 whole years to get there! And even if I haven't really gotten to playing the banjo yet, I do enjoy how gorgeous it is. Check out those charming flowery/heart details on the frets:
*Sigh* I figure once the xmas crazy craft selling season is over I will have a whole month to pick it up and awe the world with my plinking skills! But I do have quite the number of craft projects on my to do list...so...we'll see how that works for me...
I didn't know you got a banjo! That's so awesome! And you got a FENDER Banjo! I didn't even know Fender made banjos. But they make really cool guitars, so I imagine you have a well made instrument there (in fact, I'd bet on it).
ReplyDeleteFun confession time: in musical instruments, brands matter. They're not just about image or anything. And Fender is one of the top two. Most people, when they buy their first image, buy one of the lesser-known, cheaper brands, and wind up regretting it later (as they sound worse, and are often harder to learn on). This is why I own a little-played Washburn electric guitar. So really well done picking up a Fender! I wish I owned a fender! (A telecaster electric, preferably from 1976, but beggers can't be choosers)
Do you have all the crazy gear? An abundance of picks (do you use a pick with a banjo, or a thumb pick)? A litle electric tuner? One of those little cranks so you can quickly restring the thing? God, I know so little about the banjo!
I did some reading on it a while ago (cuz I wanna buy a banjo too, but haven't yet, and probably won't in the near future), and apparently you can tune it sort of like a guitar (E A D G, with that top, fifth string tuned to G, I believe)... I think that might be the easiest way to learn, because then you can pick up guitar tabs and learn easy guitar songs to get your fingering downpat. Plus, the few times I've played a banjo, normal guitar chords actually sounded pretty good.
Anyways, that's really exciting! I'm super stoked for you! Can you tell how awesome I think it is that you have a banjo?
Exclamation point!
Luckily I had that musical genius friend of mine (chris) come with me and help me find a good banjo! Also we quickly learned that unless I start a heavy weight lifting regime this banjo is pretty much the best one I could ever get! As they go up in quality they go up in weight - and trying to play an instrument I can barely hold (especially with my old lady arthritic hands and wrists) is sort of ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteAnd yup - got a whole bunch of fun gear - strap, picks galore (you use 3 finger picks), etc. No electric tuner though. I actually already have 2 of those from my guitar and ukulele playing days - and according to the books I have many people never actually tune their banjo! No wonder there are so many jokes about how awful it sounds. Like my dad's favourite, "Perfect pitch is when you throw a banjo in a dumpster and it hits an accordion" (or something like that...very funny dad....)
My goodness, the above comment leave me nothing to talk about ... maybe I can be glad your won't be learning at home and I can enjoy the end result. Mom
ReplyDeleteHehe. Mom's comment is funny :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not holding my breath on you learning the banjo this year. Something tells me you'll have too much other stuff (like crafting) going on to get around to it before 2011. Maybe you should make it next year's resolution too? Blogging every day and starting craft shows in addition to learning the banjo seems like an awful lot for one year.