A Mel Bay Publications, Inc. Webzine
June 2008 · Bimonthly
     If you liked this article, you might be interested in: |
In this issue: Basic Bluegrass Backup: Part One |
Two-Finger Bluegrass Banjo | Cello Suite 1 Prelude for Irish Tenor Banjo | Dig a Hole Print this Article (PDF) Email Article to a Friend 
Dig a HoleWe don't think of Irish tenor banjo as having very many standard techniques other than the triplet, but here is one that you will hear from virtually every professional banjo player. Gerry O'Connor showed it to me several years ago when I was first learning to play. "Learn this, you will always use it", he said. It consists of playing a note and then playing a triplet on the next string below. The technique is often repeated several times in a tune and is used mostly in reels. I call it Dig a Hole because it feels like your pick is lingering in the space between the strings and using that space as a pivot to make music. John Walsh showed it to a banjo class at the St. Louis Tionol where he also gave us a great tune that used that device, Paddy Kelly's. Dig a Hole looks and sounds like this.  Notes: Repeat ad nauseum until you get it right
The secret of this technique lies in its efficiency. You move your pick between two strings with only a small amount of effort starting with a down stroke on the A string and coming back with an upstroke on the D string then a triplet on the down stroke When described like this it sounds like you have to go back over the A string before you hit the D string on the up stroke. But it is called "Dig a Hole' for a reason. When you make the first down stroke, make it with a slight scooping motion. Instead of picking flat across the string you come from slightly below and pick slight above it. Try and catch the same amount of string that you would normally catch when picking with a flatter angle rest stroke but start from a slightly lower point. 
This motion allows you to bring the pick just above the string (and not to the other side) and then descend into the space between the strings (the "Hole.") Next use an up stroke to catch the D string and then do a triplet on the same string starting with a down stroke. Because your pick will end up in the hole between the strings at the end of the technique you can start all over if you need to. The tip of the pick goes into a little scooping motion dipping below the strings each time you do this technique which is different from the usual rest stroke method of picking across the string. One hint: this method is easier to do if only a little of the pick is exposed. If you are in the habit of leaving a lot of the tip exposed, you will lose control of your picking. I leave about 50 mm of tip between my fingers and the end of the pick. This allows for the best angle for the Dig a Hole technique while also giving you plenty of pick to use when using a normal stroke. Dig a Hole is used a lot in Irish music and it almost always involves going from a higher note to a lower note on the neighboring string. When looked in the context of the banjo (or any GDAE tuned instrument) most of Irish music is played on neighboring strings. It is uncommon to go from a note on the E string to a note on the G or D string. As a result, you will have the potential of putting in a triplet using Dig a Hole much of the time. I am going to make a little confession here, I always come from slightly below the string even when not using Dig a Hole. My standard stroke is more of a scooping motion each time I play a string and is different from the rest stroke style I use on mandolin. I find that I get as good tone from my banjo as I would using a rest stroke and it fits into the mantra of being as efficient as possible. One of the main differences between banjos and mandolin/guitar/bouzoukis is that good tone is easier to produce on the banjo using a variety of techniques due to the way the strings resonate. If you tried scooping each note on a mandolin your tone would suffer. Here is a neat tune called Paddy Kelly's. I an not sure which one this is, Paddy Kelly apparently never named his tunes, but it is a good one. John Walsh plays it on his Clifford Essex Paragon banjo.  Rhythm Reel Notes: Arranged by John Walsh Played all the through AB AB etc. until the final ending Paddy Kelly's Video John Walsh lives in Alaska and is originally from Dublin. He is a font of knowledge about the banjo and a great guy to boot. You can find him on the web at http://www.akirishtrad.net/ and http://www.myspace.com/banjowalsh. I've mentioned the St. Louis Tionol before, but why not mention a good thing again? It is the best bargain in weekend festivals and is held every April. Check it out at http://www.tionol.org. If you don't have Quicktime for the videos, you can get it here: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/ 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 "Maggie's Misfortune." He is an expert in sports performance and has written a 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. You can email him at mikeyes@charter.net if you wish to discuss some aspect of the Irish tenor banjo or go to his web site at www.mikekeyes.com. [ top ]
| |||
Stumble It!
Delicious