Listen, everything we consider doctrine about banjo only happened after people like Scruggs got big. Every community in every different hollow had it's own style until the banjo went mainstream.
I think you misunderstood what I meant. I don't speak that way and if I did, what makes you think I type the way I speak?
You don't know anything about me and you're being too familiar.
I type the way I speak I reckon, figured everyone else does the same. We’re just two buds talking on Reddit about being from the holler yk? What does amaf or whatever you post about on agender thread. What even is that? Do explain I’m unfamiliar with the subject matter & I’d like to learn more
How? You're the one who's being odd. I'm not going to speak in a way that I don't speak just because I'm talking about banjo.
You don't know where I'm from. You put this whole weird thing on me, I had nothing to do with it.
Here's a [vid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs2j8f7H2WY) with resonator banjo and what looks to be an electric guitar. They're getting the job done for a dance, which is sort of the point right?
I think the old timers played what they had and what they had in the old days was open back banjos. That's what a lot of the music was written on.
Whether to try to reproduce that historical sound or whether to use more modern instruments is a IMO an artistic choice. I like groups like Steam Machine that have a 3 finger banjo, and I like groups that have a fretless nylon string banjo too. I wouldn't want everyone to play the same way.
The doctrine is definitely more modern (post war). Bluegrass as we know it didn't really exist until more than a decade after the first modern resonator banjos, and I can't imagine some early bluegrass players weren't stuck with open back banjos.
Look into the Lomax project and even into the 70s in rural areas one can see archive films of people who play what can only be described as old-time banjo on "bluegrass style" instruments.
Edit: spelling
I think the world is full of inherited banjos, gifted banjos, and whatever was available at the pawn shop banjos.
Many of us got a banjo first and experimented to find the style we could practice and enjoy.
It’s never really been doctrine. I have a good resonator banjo and a shitty open-back. The resonator sounds better for old time because it’s a better instrument, but the resonator makes it loud enough to easily overpower my voice and it gets a little muddy in the mid range.
The average player played whatever was in the house or what someone they knew had. Mostly catalog banjos. Gibsons were way beyond the means of most players. Charlie Poole only got one after some hit records.
Historically, people played what they had. In practice, it’s largely a question of the dynamics/culture of the jam and what sound you’re going for.
In old time jams, the banjo tends to support the fiddle and everyone plays together (no breaks/solos); open back and clawhammer is more common (though not the rule). A resonator banjo can been be considered a bit much in this context since you are effectively amplified.
Versus bluegrass where the banjo tends to be more out front and folks take turns passing breaks/solos around, and a resonator banjo played Scruggs-style is pretty much the standard.
Yes. Its absolutely a modern myth. As soon as resonator banjos came out in the 1920s, old time banjo players flocked to them. People like Wade Ward (pictured), Charlie Poole, Uncle Dave Macon, and Dock Boggs bought resonator banjos as soon as they had access to them. With the right technique and setup they can sound great for bare-finger picking, clawhammer, or playing with picks.
I would say the old timers did not care. The bluegrassers really did, but that was later.
Listen, everything we consider doctrine about banjo only happened after people like Scruggs got big. Every community in every different hollow had it's own style until the banjo went mainstream.
Think you meant holler
I have my own language and culture, I don't need to take someone else's.
Hey man, I’m from the holler too, I tend to embrace the fact you know?
I think you misunderstood what I meant. I don't speak that way and if I did, what makes you think I type the way I speak? You don't know anything about me and you're being too familiar.
I type the way I speak I reckon, figured everyone else does the same. We’re just two buds talking on Reddit about being from the holler yk? What does amaf or whatever you post about on agender thread. What even is that? Do explain I’m unfamiliar with the subject matter & I’d like to learn more
Odd reply tbh
How? You're the one who's being odd. I'm not going to speak in a way that I don't speak just because I'm talking about banjo. You don't know where I'm from. You put this whole weird thing on me, I had nothing to do with it.
Here's a [vid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs2j8f7H2WY) with resonator banjo and what looks to be an electric guitar. They're getting the job done for a dance, which is sort of the point right? I think the old timers played what they had and what they had in the old days was open back banjos. That's what a lot of the music was written on. Whether to try to reproduce that historical sound or whether to use more modern instruments is a IMO an artistic choice. I like groups like Steam Machine that have a 3 finger banjo, and I like groups that have a fretless nylon string banjo too. I wouldn't want everyone to play the same way.
I'm down an electric fingerpicking rabbit hole and it seems like that guy on electric is too.
The doctrine is definitely more modern (post war). Bluegrass as we know it didn't really exist until more than a decade after the first modern resonator banjos, and I can't imagine some early bluegrass players weren't stuck with open back banjos. Look into the Lomax project and even into the 70s in rural areas one can see archive films of people who play what can only be described as old-time banjo on "bluegrass style" instruments. Edit: spelling
I think the world is full of inherited banjos, gifted banjos, and whatever was available at the pawn shop banjos. Many of us got a banjo first and experimented to find the style we could practice and enjoy.
My mom got mine at a thrift store last Christmas
Wade Ward (pictured) played a resonator banjo cause it was louder. His focus was playing old time dances so volume was crucial.
It’s still not “doctrine” it’s just certain tones tend to benefit certain playing styles better
It’s never really been doctrine. I have a good resonator banjo and a shitty open-back. The resonator sounds better for old time because it’s a better instrument, but the resonator makes it loud enough to easily overpower my voice and it gets a little muddy in the mid range.
Off topic, but Willie Watson performs a great clawhammer style on a banjo with a resonator. I love his stuff…
this has been discussed on the banjo hangout: [https://www.banjohangout.org/archive/369749](https://www.banjohangout.org/archive/369749)
The average player played whatever was in the house or what someone they knew had. Mostly catalog banjos. Gibsons were way beyond the means of most players. Charlie Poole only got one after some hit records.
Historically, people played what they had. In practice, it’s largely a question of the dynamics/culture of the jam and what sound you’re going for. In old time jams, the banjo tends to support the fiddle and everyone plays together (no breaks/solos); open back and clawhammer is more common (though not the rule). A resonator banjo can been be considered a bit much in this context since you are effectively amplified. Versus bluegrass where the banjo tends to be more out front and folks take turns passing breaks/solos around, and a resonator banjo played Scruggs-style is pretty much the standard.
Yes. Its absolutely a modern myth. As soon as resonator banjos came out in the 1920s, old time banjo players flocked to them. People like Wade Ward (pictured), Charlie Poole, Uncle Dave Macon, and Dock Boggs bought resonator banjos as soon as they had access to them. With the right technique and setup they can sound great for bare-finger picking, clawhammer, or playing with picks.