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She seems to use
x 12 10 10 10 x
A lot for the tonic F chord
sounds great ....
I might use that a bit more
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11-18-2019 01:56 PM
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Originally Posted by grahambop
Graham, is that a tenor or a plectrum banjo? If the latter, how do you tune it? They were originally tuned CGBD (bass to treble), then DGBD, but "Chicago" tuning was also popular with guitar players: DGBE, but you can't get the chord voicing that the tenor gets. Those voicing became the banjo sound in this context.
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Hi Rob it’s a 5-string banjo, so tuned GDGBD with a high drone G string as the 5th string.
The 5th string tuning peg is in the middle of the headstock and the drone string runs through a metal tube inside the neck and emerges just after the 5th fret (weird British design perhaps!)
Is it called a zither banjo? Thought I read that somewhere. It has a closed back. It says ‘Windsor Whirle Ambassador Supremus’ on the headstock.
When I got it that 5th string used to bind inside the tube and break when I tuned it, I think I got through about 4 strings, then I ran a piece of cotton and some lubricant through the tube and cleaned it, also I filed the tube opening to smooth the edge, now it works ok.
I haven’t played it all that much I must admit, have got some music for it though.
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So it does (have a 5th string). Those tunnels are very cool. I doesn't look like a zither-banjo body, though the neck might have been attached to a different body. A lot of swapping of parts went on, and it's hard to be 100% sure with any surviving instruments whether that's how they started life. But it never mattered then, and shouldn't matter now.
Check out my zither-banjo page: Zither Banjo | Rob MacKillop ~ Musician
They had quite odd stringing, including one gut string. You can get the right strings for it from these guys (scroll down when you get there) Zither-Banjo Strings - Strings - Banjo strings - Zither-Banjo - Clifford Essex Music Company Limited
If you want to set it up for jazz, get rid of the 5th string and buy a book of chords for Plectrum Banjo, or tune it to Chicago tuning, DGBE, just like a guitar, and off you go!
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Danny Barker was a NOLA native that started out as a banjo player and switched to guitar as that became the favored instrument. Moved to NYC and had a successful career playing with the likes
of Cab Calloway and Benny Carter. He eventually returned to NOLA and is given a lot of credit for reviving the brass bands that were common in his youth and trying to pass that music to younger generations.
A few years ago, they started a Danny Barker festival to honor his legacies. I went to the second iteration and had a blast. Performances by NOLAs premier guitarists and traditional musicians, seminars, lectures, etc. I'll definitely go again. Check it out here:
Danny Barker Events 2020 | Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival 2019 - The New Orlean's Festival to see in 2019! Festival New Orleans 2019 New Orleans Festival 2019
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Dixieland banjo should be 4 string, preferably. You don't pluck, you strum! AFAIK, they always take 5th string off, that's how the plectrum banjo came to life.
I have a tenor banjo, and in 3 years I had it I had like one gig on it hahaha. Fun instrument, but the Chicago tuning never sounded good to my ears, and CGDA gotta learn all the new shapes, so I stay at the very basic level on it.
And then there is a Reso guitar, that was my favorite choice for all NOLA stuff. Very banjo-like vibe from that guitar.
But I think 6th string banjo is the way to go! If you can handle the weight.
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Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
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I had a flick through the book 'Jazz' that accompanied the Ken Burns series. In every shot of a New Orleans jazz (or whatever they called them back then) band before about 1920 it's a guitar and string bass (unless it's a marching band). Then, after the ODJB it's like banjos everywhere. Not many tubas or sousas though in the small groups.
Peter Sprague & Leonard Patton "Can't Find My Way...
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