A weekly check-in on the Banjo versus TV project — J.R.'s resolution to spend more time in 2008 on his banjo than on TV.
I think I've found my new banjo teacher. Dave comes highly recommended by some folks I know in the local music scene. He's got a great bluegrass style and he's the go-to guy for the local jam schedules. Dave and I arranged to meet at a local jam (first Tuesday of the month at the Red Line Bar), which gave us a chance to size each other up. Apparently I passed Dave's sniff test. We'll be talking terms and schedules soon.
Also in the last week:
- Lately I've been a little stuck, banjo-wise. I think the decision to change banjo teachers threw me for a loop. Combine that with a couple of other projects and you get what I've had the last few weeks: not much banjo time. So I took the banjo along on a Fourth of July weekend trip. I practiced at rest stops...
...and I was able to demonstrate the banjo...
...to some of my musically-inclined relatives. (Banjovangelism, I call it.) That did the trick. All unstuck. - I got to a jam session without my capo and I had the chance to use the improvised rubber-band-and-a-pencil capo I'd read about in Earl's book.
- I created a banjo mute out of a $1.47 foam paintbrush. This one deserves its own post, which I'll get to soon.
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