Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Old Joe Clark - Key of F

Here's a little stab of Old Joe Clark rooted down in the mighty key of F.  Tempo is kind of slow and loping, more of a low down feel.  I like alot of the licks that seem to present themselves in the key of F and the high G string adding the 9th adds a certain ethereal quality at times.

Here's the video...



And here's the tablature (click to enlarge)


Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Blackberry Blossom Banjo Harmony




Came up with a little Blackberry Blossom banjo harmony I thought I might share with my faithful readers...


    It's a fairly straightforward harmony, mostly parrallel 3rds, but I think it does the trick of harmonizing with a standard melodic arrangement nicely.  

    If you have tabledit (the viewer is a free download from tabledit.com) you can view the tablature here in tabledit form where, among other things, you can hear the two parts together with robotic MIDI Sounds.Will try and post a video of the harmony as soon as I can wrangle up a willing 2nd banjo.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Mr. Banjo

Being both a banjo fanatic and comic book lover I was delighted this week to discover a minor DC Comics character from the 1940s whose schtick, and possibly his superpower, was playing the banjo.  Behold him in all of his glory...


Turns out he was a villain (nobody's perfect).  Here's a bio I found for him on comicvine.com:

"One of Captain Marvel's recurring villains from the early issues of Captain Marvel Adventures in the 1940s, Kurt Filpots worked as an agent for the Axis powers during World War II. Dressed as a stout man in a shaggy green suit and straw hat who carried around an old banjo with him, Filpots delivered secrets in the form of musical notes. Although evil, Mr. Banjo would go up against Captain Marvel with nothing more than a banjo."

Awesome.

Next step is to find an old Captain Marvel comic with Mr. Banjo in it.  Let the search begin...

Monday, January 14, 2013

Tishomingo Boogie

Here's a little clip of the Tishomingo String Band from about 6 months ago that is now up.  I always enjoy the back and forth between the banjo and guitar at the end of this one...