Banjo Madness

My Grandpa was an amazing guitar player. He started playing when he was very young. It was free entertainment during the depression years and it was a fun activity that he could do with friends and family. He and his brothers would get together and play their guitars while his parents and sister would sing. Not that they were the Osmonds or the Jacksons but they were pretty good.

Grandpa in his chair

Since I was little, at every family event there would be live music with my grandpa setting down a great steady rhythm on his guitar. I can even hear it now, especially when aided by the tapes that were sometimes recorded at the really special events. My Grandma and a couple family friends leading on the fiddle, Alice on the piano, Uncle Len (who made his living as a bar musician) playing his 12 string or his steel guitar, Uncle Frank setting down the bass line and Grandpa playing rhythm guitar. This group throughout the years, with some additions and subtractions, was known as the Carousel Band and the Haney Old Time Fiddlers. When I was very lucky I would get to see them play at tea dances and various events. None of them did it for the money. I think they mostly played together just to play. You see, all of them were retired by this time. They had all played together when back in the 60's my grandparents had hosted crazy blowout dances in their basement. But once they all retired I think they maintained the band so that they could hangout and play together all the time. Even in his last few years when he would be in and out of his own head, he always enjoyed playing his guitar.

Picture off one of The Haney Old Time Fiddlers Records

Sometimes if I was very, very lucky Grandpa would get out his Banjo. Not only was he a highly skilled guitar player but he could play anything with strings; guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, steel slide guitar. He even tried his hand at the piano. Oh, and did I mention that he couldn't read music? He always learned things by ear. Anyways, if we were very lucky the Banjo would come out. He could do all the tricks that George Formby made famous. Grandpa's banjo was a beautiful 1927 tenor Whyte Lady Vega. Of course I didn't know any of that at the time. I just knew that he was fantastic. I will always remember when he would play and he would be doing some crazy strum, he would look at me and he would wink.

Grandpa's Whyte Lady Vega Banjo

When my Grandpa died all of his fabulous instruments went into storage at my Grandpa's house. Since picking up the ukulele, I've gotten the idea that maybe I could learn to play the banjo. It always seemed impossible that I would be a good string player. I've got short stubby fingers and because of that I've have always leaned towards woodwind instruments. The strumming and chording always looked like a magic trick when I watched my Grandpa play. I guess I've learned recently while playing the uke that it's less magic and more skill which I don't yet and may never possess. Recently my Grandma gave me The Banjo. It's a pretty loud instrument to learn in an apartment building so I've only been playing it during the day with the resonator off and a towel tucked behind the head to quiet it. I've changed some of the strings around so that it is tuned like one of my ukes (GCEA) which I'm sure my Grandpa would have called sacrilege but on the other hand I'm sure he would be happy that it's being played. Ever time I pick it up I feel a strange connection to him and wish that I had started playing years ago when he was still alive. If I ever become even a fraction of the banjo player he was I will call that a win.

Headstock of the Banjo

Back to practicing!

First few strums

The first few strums were definitely the most difficult. Thinking the noise that would be produced by my cute little uke could sound bad was horrible. I wanted everything to sound great right away. But nothing I strummed even sounded good. It took days to get a series of chords that sounded right together and even longer to gain the confidence to strum loud enough for others to hear. I still worry that what I play will sound terrible.

The internet helped a lot in finding songs that I could and wanted to play. Of course they all lean towards vintage Jazz. The best was the first time I found a tab that matched a song that I already had a recording of. It was After Your Gone. I have a recording done by Tuba Skinny, a band from New Orleans. The tab I found was in the same key. It was fabulous to play along, relaxing and exhilarating at the same time!

I started gathering as many interesting tabs as I could find and matching them to songs or if the key wasn't right, transposing them into the right key so they would fit. When I was playing along with a recording I wasn't worrying about the sound I was making so much as I was enjoying playing.

I couldn't keep my new found hobby secret for very long. I started talking to people. Soon after that I was dragged to the Ukulele Circle by a very good friend. She gave me the courage to go and we even performed together that night. After only a month of messing around on the Uke. Unfortunately she moved away for school but I still continue to go to the Uke Circle and have even enlisted many others to attend.

I'm continuing to practice. My confidence has increased substantially. I've started playing with a pick to save my finger nails. Before all the strumming was filing off my right index finger nail.

Currently I'm practicing On a Slow Boat to China. It's a really fun song that was written by Frank Loesser in 1948. Unfortunately it is in the key of B flat which is making the chording very tricky. I've mostly been playing songs in the key of C, F, and G which is probably my favourite. I'm hoping that I will be good enough and have the confidence and courage to play it at an upcoming Uke Circle. The real challenge will be finding the courage to sing.... eek!!!

The Beginning

The adventures of strumming started with an innocent trip to see my great uncle Frank in Langley. He's always been the cool great uncle (or just uncle, as great uncle makes him seem far too old for his life philosophy and attitude). Uncle Frank has always been a music enthusiast. I suppose I have grown up with and around music enthusiasts as my grandma and grandpa surely were as well, I may even be one myself.

The Uke that started it all

So on this crispy april(ish) night as we were trying to decide which restaurant to go to, I noticed a ukulele hanging on his wall. It was a cute little thing. Uncle Frank is a bass player. He can play the guitar too but his normal weapon of choice is the bass. I asked him about the ukulele because it seemed curious that he would have one. He says that someone had given it to him and that I should have it. Uncle Frank then hurried around the room looking for the instructions that came with it. That night I dropped off the coop car at the RCH skytrain station and took the skytrain home carrying a ukulele. 

Clarophone Banjolele headstock

Clarophone Banjolele

Since then I have gotten four more. A 1920s Tonk Brothers banjolele that Dave bought me for my birthday (he is such an enabler), a beautiful Concert uke from Newfoundland, an amazing Recording King dobrolele and a 1920s Gretsch Claraphone banjolele that I bought so Dave could play a banjolele at Uke Group too. As my excitement and passion has grown for playing the ukulele so has my collection. 

Tonk Bros. Banjolele

Newfoundland Uke

I suppose that's how it all started.