This is my own original arrangement of the classic folk ballad "John Henry." Note that in this video I sang "Big Bend Tunnel on the C&O Road," however, Dr. Art Rosenbaum has since convinced me that John Henry actually died in the Oak Mountain Tunnel on the C&W Road outside of Leeds, Alabama so I've written the below lyri...
2018-06-25 11:17:22 +0000 UTC View Post
gCGCC relative tuning ("Darling Cora tuning"). Here's how I figured out my original arrangement of John Henry many years ago. It's pretty simple.
When John Henry was a baby boy
Sitting on his mamma's knee,
Said that Oak Mountain Tunnel on the Georgia Road
Gonna be the death of me (x2)
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"I've recently finished building my first banjo (a tack-head, more specifically), partly inspired by you. My question is: how do you deal with changes in humidity when dealing with banjos without a mean of tightening the head? Do you treat the skin in any way, or do you leave it raw? Do you retune or change bridge with...
"I'm obsessed with playing traditional style banjo and learning about it's history. Most of my music friends are less than enamored with this style of banjo. They wanna know when I'm going to learn to play 'Dueling Banjos' and start cranking out bluegrass rolls. My jam group is hooked on playing the Beatles, Pink Floyd, th...
2018-06-20 17:56:41 +0000 UTC View Post
"Excerpts from Interviews with Dock Boggs, Legendary Banjo Player and Singer" from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
2018-06-20 02:30:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Great music and plenty of historical details in this live show from 2013.
'George Gibson from Knott County, Kentucky at the Laurel Theater in Knoxville, Tennessee at Bob Carlin's Banjo Extravaganza 15 Nov 2013 Cold Icy Mountain, Wild Bill Jones and Morphine. Video by Dean Turley,'
2018-06-19 02:32:42 +0000 UTC View Post
"I’d like to hear more on your opinion of Bluegrass and modern 'Round Peak' having little respect for the tonal range." - Mike R.
Let's talk through how to play Pretty Fair Damsel. Banjo is tuned fA#FA#C (one step below gDGCD). In this video I show the basics of how to play the song both two-finger "thumb lead" style and overhand.
2018-06-15 23:16:58 +0000 UTC View Post
In this video I demonstrate most of the elements that I have developed to embellish, emphasize and vary my traditional two-finger banjo picking.
1. "Bump-Ditty" or "Chicka-Boom" Lick
2.Two-Count Rhythm
3. Three-Count or Waltz Rhythm
4. Drop-Thumb
5. Pinch
6. Do...
2018-06-13 23:56:21 +0000 UTC View Post
George R. Gibson (banjo master, collector, researcher and mentor) has been invited to give a presentation at the 2018 Swannanoa Gathering at Warren Wilson College near Asheville, North Carolina. George is scheduled to go on at 1:15pm Wednesday, July 18th as part of their Old Time Week Master Artists series.
"George Gibso...
2018-06-13 22:01:16 +0000 UTC View Post
I learned this classic British love song from the recordings of Morgan Sexton out of east Kentucky and Tom Ashley out of east Tennessee. Thanks to Patrick for requesting this song; it has been years since I've heard or sang it.
gCGCD
Pretty fair damsel in the garden
Brave young soldier riding by,...
2018-06-10 13:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
In this video I'll show you 6 more traditional banjo tunings and discuss how to tune to each one by ear using the relative tuning method.
gCGBD "Minstrel," gCGAD "Naomi Wise," eCGAD "Little Birdie," gCGCD "Hook & Line," gCGCE "Cackling Hen," gCGCC "Darling Cora."
In this video I'll show you 6 different traditional banjo tunings and how to achieve them by ear using the "relative tuning" method. There are _many_ more tunings out there!
gDGBD "Standard," gDGAD "Moonshiner," f#DGAD "German War," f#DF#AD "Reubin," fDGCD "F," fFGCD "East Virginia."
Banjo Roots and Branches is now available for pre-order through University of Illinois Pr...
2018-06-04 14:54:47 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's a slowed down, close-up view of Hills of Mexico played using simplified overhand approach. fDGCD, relative.
https://patreon.com/cliftonhicks
http://cliftonhicks.bandcamp.com...
2018-06-01 19:37:31 +0000 UTC View Post
"Hills of Mexico" from Roscoe Halcomb of Daisy, Kentucky.
Performance (two-finger): https://youtu.be/zTsDSWlwPro?si=ehM38aaqhe1M9_HD
Tutorial (two-finger): 2018-06-01 03:09:49 +0000 UTC View Post
"If you could snap your fingers and have any banjo, what would you get and why?" - Lindsay
"To my ear, you seem to get quite a deep, bassy tone from your banjo. Banjos aren't really associated with a deep, bassy sound but I wondered whether things like a skin head, tuning down, heavier strings or older wood might contribute...
2018-05-30 15:36:03 +0000 UTC View Post
My banjo is tuned: dBEAB (fDGCD, relative, aka "F Tuning")
I learned this song from the famous recording of Roscoe Holcomb from Daisy, Kentucky. In the past I've mostly used up-picking to accompany this song; here I chose to finger pick it in an effort to more closely follow Holcomb. While this song's popularity has grown in r...
2018-05-30 04:53:00 +0000 UTC View Post
This is a very basic introduction to traditional overhand (or "clawhammer) style banjo playing. Even if you're already familiar with this style of banjo playing, you might get some use out of my relatively different approach to teaching it.
Banjo is tuned fCFAD (relative gDGBD standard "open G" tuning).
2018-05-28 16:33:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Fine music and wise words from expert banjoist/fiddler Dan Gellert.
(Filmed by Dylan McMurry & Quinn Donoghue.)
2018-05-26 15:50:20 +0000 UTC View Post
https://patreon.com/cliftonhicks
http://cliftonhicks.bandcamp.com
Although made famous by renowned Appalachian folk artist Frank Proffitt, I actually learned this song from con...
2018-05-25 06:10:15 +0000 UTC View Post
Let's talk our way through how to play "Frankie & Albert" in f#DEAD.
2018-05-23 21:05:22 +0000 UTC View Post
(f#DEAD, relative, aka "Frankie" tuning.)
Here is a close-up view of both hands playing "Frankie & Albert" a couple of different ways. To slow this video down click on the machine cog symbol in the bottom right of the video player and then click on "Speed."
2018-05-23 18:03:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Sean wrote in and asked me to list my top 5 banjo albums were I to be, somehow, stranded on a desert island with a functioning CD player. Well yall, I think I picked SIX albums and they're not all "banjo" albums... but here they are! These are all recordings that have deeply influenced my own banjo playing and singing.
2018-05-23 17:31:18 +0000 UTC View Post
"This is a very rare video of the late Scott Didlake, 1948-1994, pioneer gourd banjo builder and the lost origin of the banjo researcher. He his talking at a Gourd banjo workshop during the Tennessee Banjo Institute event 1992 together with Mike Seeger and Clark Buehling." - Ulf Jagfors
2018-05-22 04:12:50 +0000 UTC View Post
A few of yall are running into the same troubles I had when I first tried to make a tackhead banjo. Mounting the head on one of these contraptions is fairly challenging and nuanced--hopefully this short video will spare you the agony of a busted or loose banjo head.
2018-05-20 15:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Young Tennessee banjoist Camden Pugh (who learned much of his music from world famous entertainer Leroy Troy) has come up in more than one of our discussions here. Though I'd say he is mostly known for his finger picking and singing, here Pugh is laying down a fairly straight overhand rhythm for dancers at a small house party ea...
2018-05-20 11:27:18 +0000 UTC View Post
f#DEAD, relative (aka "Frankie" tuning)
Here's my attempt at this fairly unusual piece of music that I learned from banjo master, researcher and mentor George Gibson of Knott County, Kentucky. Virgil Anderson, Dee Hicks and Dock Boggs (to name a few) also used this tuning to great effect.
Look out for some close-ups on t...
2018-05-19 16:32:52 +0000 UTC View Post
Several folks have asked for a formal introduction to my two dogs, Mexico and Copper--so here they are! We also _try_ to answer Patrick's question about the details of my deer bone fifth string "pips."
2018-05-16 22:12:45 +0000 UTC View Post
A number of you have inquired with me about Mike Seeger's "Banjo Tales" film and field recording project that I participated in during 2008. Due to the sensitive nature of this subject (and the numerous parties involved) I have been reluctant to respond to your inquiries... until now.
"Banjo Tales" on IMDB: 2018-05-15 22:42:35 +0000 UTC View Post
