Tishomingo String Band --- Website is up!

The Tishomingo String Band (my band) have a new website up at www.tishomingostringband.com

You can hear Tishomingo songs there, read bios, and find out about new developments in Tishomingoland. Check it out...

Quote Me on That - Musical Quotes and How to Use Them

Looking for something interesting to throw in a break? Try a quote.

Throwing a short phrase from a recogizable melody can be alot of fun and can trigger a kind of instant nostalgia that only something dug up from our collective past can.

To inject a musical quote into your playing simply treat it as you would any other lick; find a space where it works harmonically and...voila!

The difficult part can be finding an appropriate melody; something that at least a few people in audience will grasp in a measure or four. I've picked a few examples that you are more than welcome to use.

The first one is from 'Dixie'. It is the first two measures of the song; "Oh I wish that I was in the land of cotton..." I think the Dukes used this for the General Lee's horn.


Here it is written in G and ready to be fit into any 2 measure section you please.





The second quote is from 'The Entrance of the Gladiators' which is commonly used in the circus and is associated with clowns. I actually throw this one in on 'Ground Speed' so feel free to check that out here http://banjohomeplace.blogspot.com/search/label/Ground%20Speed

Anyway, here's the quote





The last one I'll show here is the Turkish March. I love this melody and have heard fantastic arrangements of this on banjo; Jason Homey from the Clumsy Lovers occasionally plays it as a solo in concert. Here I have the first 4 measures transposed to G to be used as a surprise kickoff for a breakdown. The melody implies G minor but if you pop up to G major after the intro I find it to be an appealing shift.





Try those out and see how they fit. If you want more quote licks I have a few more up on my banjo lick site at www.banjolicks.blogspot.com

That's all for now, but as a famous Austrian once said "I'll be back."

Fun on the Mini-Banjo

I remember as a kid my cousins and brother and sister and I would get a huge kick out of riding my grandpa's minibike. It was just like a real motorcycle except about 1/3 scale and powered by a lawnmower engine.

I get somewhat the same thrill playing shrunk-in-the-wash style banjos. My mom bought a GoldTone Cripple Creek mini banjo for our son and needless to say I am the one getting the most use out of it. It is fairly midrange-y and has a nice little kick for a Danny Devito sized instrument.

Here's a quick clip of some Cherokee Shuffle on the little guy.



Here's the tab. If you want your full size in the same range as the mini you can capo up tho the 5th fet (C).