In every Irish banjo class that I have attended, there have been two questions that are always asked: How do I play triplets and how can I play faster? I have to admit that when I took my first class with Gerry O'Connor, I asked the same things, but I should have known better. In a different time I was the team doctor for the US Shooting Team during the 1984 Olympics and the coaches then always had the same answer to similar questions. "You have to have good technique before you can become an elite shooter." And so it is with playing the banjo, if you don't have solid technique, you will never get to the more interesting parts such as learning to play triplets.
I know it may sound boring, but the fact is that all great banjo players have an efficient relaxed right hand that produces a consistent full tone. So the questions asked in all of my classes are the wrong questions. What should be asked is, "How do you produce the wonderful tone that you have?" The answer is, "Good technique and practice, practice, practice."
The key to good tone is a combination of correct posture, finding the right pick angle, a consistent light grip, driving the pick with your wrist and not your fingers, precision and accuracy. This takes both practice and a lot of attention to detail, especially in the beginning. The problem most people have is that they don't want to explore such mundane things as posture and grip and would rather get on with the music making. This can lead to problems later on when they find out that they are at a dead end technically.
One example of this kind of technical short cut is anchoring your ring or little finger on the head of the banjo. This allows you to orient your hand on the A and E strings but it hampers you by changing the angle of attack of the pick and limits your stroke to fingers only. In addition slows down the transition to the G and A strings. It also produces an inferior tone because you lose the strength of the wrist movement while damping the head with your fingers. You can do well for a while using this technique but if you want to advance you will be hampered by your inefficiency.
Granted, a talented musician can do well in spite of poor technical abilities, but why handicap yourself?
Roland White, the mandolinist, once told a class I was in that he had very poor technique early on in his career. When he realized that his progress was slowed by the way his right hand worked he completely revamped his style because he had gotten to the point in which the old style (which was anchoring his fingers on the mandolin) did not allow him to play what was in his head. Once he switched to a more efficient style he was free to do what he wanted to. Now he refuses to listen to his early records because he hears the poor technique in them. When you hear one of the premiere musicians in his field confess to this you know there is something to it.
Describing a good right hand is hard to do in words. There are numerous printed sources that try, but I find them hard to understand. Instead I surveyed a number of well known Irish stylists such as Dan Beimborn, John Carty, Gerry O'Connor, and Dr. Christopher Smith for their opinions. In addition I looked at the videos of John Carty, Gerry O'Connor and Seamus "West Coast" Egan to see how they used their right hands. While there were some stylistic differences, there were striking similarities noted.
Grip
The purpose of the grip is to hold the pick. Now I know that sounds obvious, but most people think that there is more to it, which there is not. The grip has to be steady but light. If you use the Tasmanian Death Pinch on your pick all you will do is interfere with the stroke because the majority of the muscles used to move your fingers also tend to lock up the wrist. So the pick should only be held by the muscles in the fingers, not the large ones in the forearm. The stroke comes from your wrist, not your fingers which is also governed by the muscles in the forearm.
Most of us tend to write with our fingers using the flexor-extensor muscles in the forearm and the natural tendency is to hold and use the pick the same way. Pickers who end up using the fingers or a fingers-wrist combination to make the stroke also end up with weak tone and fatigue.
The most common grip is this:
But John Carty and Seamus "West Coast" Egan use this grip:
Angle of Attack
This is the most difficult concept to describe in print and the easiest to show in a picture. Basically you don't want to have the pick absolutely parallel to the strings because the pick will drag and scrape across the strings. You will find a natural angle that takes into account your grip, the arc of your forearm, and the precise three dimensional position that brings out the best tone in your instrument. Above all it should be a function of a relaxed grip and forearm because you will be using it a lot.
There are a lot of variations on the angle of attack, but this is the most common one:
Notice that the pick is slightly twisted in relation to
the strings, the top end of the pick is angled towards
Either way or anything in between is fine as long as the eyes (although angled downwards works for some the thumb does not move since moving the thumb will players too), and the whole hand/arm is in a relaxed change the angle of attack of the pick and effect the natural position. Only about an eighth of an inch of sound. pick is showing below the thumb. In this configuration the pick will slide through the string while imparting enough force to make the banjo ring.
Remember, the picking motion is not a straight line instead it is an arc determined by the wrist so the pick is actually in the same plane as the stroke making the angle of attack efficient.
The Stroke
The movement that produces sound on a banjo (and a lot of other stringed instruments) is the most overlooked aspect of playing. It seems unnatural at first because it only involves the wrist and not the fingers (other than gripping.) Some players never get it because it "Just can't be right", but if you look at the great players, they have all gone to this style because it is fast and it is relaxed.
A good stroke comes from the wrist, is a short arc, and seems effortless. Triplets and other ornamentations are logical extensions of the wrist stroke and will come with time and practice. No one ever gets it right off the bat.
Look at the video of the right hand.
Now look at it again because the compression of the video might seem to be hiding something. It isn't, the stroke is that easy as long as you don't try to embellish it with finger movement or try real hard to make it work. Relaxation is the key to doing it correctly. Learning to do this stroke at speed takes a lot of practice, but mostly to keep the motion exactly the same while increasing the frequency without introducing other factors such as finger movement. I still struggle with thumb movement when I try to play faster.
String Orientation
In order to play a tune, you have to be aware where the strings are in relation to your hand. This is called string orientation and is often the cause of worry for players. A part of your arm/wrist/fingers has to be "anchored" (or at least touching) a part of the banjo in order for you to have good orientation with the strings. The problem is that most of the hand/wrist combination has to be mobile and free for the stroke to work well and touching parts of the banjo such as the head or bridge changes the sound of the instrument. Basically it leaves the forearm and the rim or armrest as the points of contact. At least as the permanent landmarks. While you travel from string to string you will encounter the bridge, strings and occasionally the head (if you play with an open hand) but these are only fleeting touches that don't affect the sound of the instrument. Those minor touches help with orientation and are the common way most of us navigate with the right hand. Using those points as permanent landmarks will hinder us, however, so that should be avoided.
Posture
In my classes with Roland White, John Carty, and Gerry O'Connor posture was a big issue. This was not Sister Mary Philomena wanting you to act like a proper little boy or girl, this was taught as a crucial part of achieving the right sound. The advice was that the neck of the instrument should be at a 45 degree angle (to promote a good angle of attack), backs straight while sitting (for comfort), always wear a strap to make sure that the instrument was at the right height with your arm, and use a foot stool if you don't have a strap while sitting. It may seem picky, but good posture affects your sound and keeps you from tiring out.
Putting It Together
One of the best ways to practice is to get in front of a mirror and watch your right hand while playing your favorite reel or jig. Look for thumb movement, angle of attack, and your posture. Listen for good tone and don't worry about speed or the diddleys. They will come later. Oh, just for reference, I use a Jim Dunlop .60 mm light gray nylon pick. I've tried hundreds of others and keep coming back to it.
Here's a video showing everything I have been talking about. I don't know the name of the tune but John Carty gave me permission to show this video of him playing another student's Gold Tone Cripple Creek Irish Tenor. There is some extra noise but listen to his great tone and look at how efficient he is.
Look at the video of John Carty.
Resources
Dan Beimborn not only has a wonderful website about his music, but gives a nice lesson on the right hand at http://www.celticmusic.com/dan/technique.html
Dr. Chris Smith has written about right hand techniques (some of which will be covered in later lessons here) at http://banjosessions.com/dec03/irishmusic.html
Roland White is a terrific teacher and a well known bluegrass musician. Look at his web site and check out his right hand in the pictures http://rolandwhite.com
Gerry O'Connor can be seen at http://www.gerryoconnor.com and his MadForTrad CD-ROM can be bought at http://www.celticgrooves.homestead.com/CGTutorials.html. Also check out his book, The Complete Guide To Learning The Irish Tenor Banjo, Walton books, distributed by Mel Bay
John Carty does not have a web site but has just produced a new album called "I Will If I Can." It can be purchased at racket@iol.ie
Seamus Eagan has a video, Irish Tenor Banjo and Mandolin with Seamus Eagan, "Lark In The Morning", distributed by Mel Bay.
About the Author
Mike Keyes, a native of Franklin, Tennessee, has played tenor banjo since
1957 and over the years has learned to play five string banjo, mandolin, and
guitar. He earned his way through college and medical school playing in bluegrass
and dixieland bands and currently plays in the Irish band "Good Luck."
He is an expert in sports performance and has written and book and over 200
articles on the subject.
His interest in Irish music started a number of years ago when effort to learn
more about his musical roots led him to the discovery of session playing. Since
then he has been to Ireland to learn more about the music and has taken classes
and interviewed such banjo greats as John Carty, Charlie Piggot, and Gerry
O'Connor.
His medical practice is in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin where he practices Psychiatry.
