Posts Tagged ‘Banjo Technique’

This ebook, An Alexander Technique Approach to Banjo Technique, is published on this website in a PDF format. It is very detailed and practical, and it will give you the physical tools you need to take the limits off of your ability to create an extraordinarily accurate and kind banjo performance.
This ebook is also for sale on all AMAZON websites in a KINDLE format.
Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. (MOVEMENT THERAPY)
IT IS EASY TO BE A GREAT BANJO PLAYER. IT IS HARD TO NOT LET YOURSELF BE A GREAT BANJO PLAYER. I really enjoy being on the flip side of what most people believe is true. What I mean, is that “common sense” says it’s hard to become an extraordinary banjo player, and it is easy to be a mediocre player.
It is the opposite! Let me explain. If you are practicing two hours or more a day, why not become extraordinary? There is a cause and effect thing happening here. What you expect of yourself on the banjo – how you practice, and whether you’re choosing the best technique (most effortless way to play), will determine whether you’re standing still as you practice, or are choosing a way to make the banjo a place to fully express yourself with ease.
Whether it’s conscious or unconscious, I believe most banjo players believe it is much harder work to become a fine player, than muddle through being an average player. There are two major considerations here that show it is much harder not to be as good as you can be.
The first is, if you are an average banjo player, do you have the potential to be a great banjo player. If you have the potential to be a great player, and you’re practicing consistently, and you’re hiding this from yourself, THEN YOU ARE IN PAIN.
Why? Because if you really love the banjo and its music, and you’re muddling through, isn’t this an attack on yourself? What I mean, is that if you know what you would love to hear coming out of the banjo as you play, but all you’re offering yourself is pain, strain, struggle, and boring interpretations, this is incredibly unloving, when you could do infinitely better.
The second major unloving thing a banjo player can do to him or herself, is to believe it is too hard to be as good as want to be and can be. “Too hard” is based 100% on a lie. IT IS TOO HARD NOT TO PRACTICE SMART, SO THAT YOU ELIMINATE ALL OF YOUR TECHNIQUE WEAKNESSES AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, BY CHOOSING A TECHNIQUE AND POSTURE THAT MAKE THE BANJO EASY.
But this isn’t all, when it comes to beliefs that make being an extraordinary banjo player too hard. When I was an aspiring concert guitarist, I was told that I had to think about the guitar ALL OF THE TIME, if I wanted to be one of the best concert guitarists. WHAT A CRUEL THING TO TEACH A KID!
I believe there are a whole lot of banjo players out there that believe smart limited practice sessions aren’t enough. That if you want to be any good, you have to eat, sleep, drink, and think banjo 24/7. I can’t think of a quicker way to burn out a banjo player, than to NEVER get away from the instrument.
PRACTICE A LIMITED AMOUNT OF HOURS WITH INCREDIBLY CLEAR AND SMART GOALS WITHOUT SACRIFICING OUR BODY, AND “PUT THE BANJO DOWN” WHEN YOU’RE NOT PRACTICING THE BANJO OR IN YOUR HEAD.
When you “put the banjo down” most of the day, then it is psychologically and emotionally possible to commit 100% to effortless playing when you “pick the banjo up”. Then it will be easy to be a wonderful banjo player without exhausting yourself or attacking yourself by muddling through in your designated finite practice time.