Messages posted by: flatpicker

Hi Amy - if you look on any Lessons page there's a Theory Lesson available. I know that doesn't sound like much fun, but it's been carefully written with bluegrass in mind, and there is much to be learned about relative minors and why they act the way they do.

Andy

Sorry for the slow response. It's taken me a little while to understand exactly what you're asking (I'm not a dobro player), so forgive me if I've got the wrong end of the stick. I think you're saying that if you put your capo on the 2nd fret and are now in A, you use notes in an 'open' position when the chord is A, then you move you're bar to your 5th fret when the chord is D, and do the same thing there. And so on for all the chords.

I think you need to think about it in a completely different way. Every song or tune has a melody and you need to work out how to play that, regardless of how much you need to move things around. Listening to recordings and reading tab are good ways to see what other people do in certain situations. Learning some music theory is also a very good idea. There is a music theory lesson available at Bluegrass College which concentrates solely on bluegrass and how theory can help you improvise. Use the left navigator and click on 'Lessons'; you'll find a link at the top of the new page.

Learn the melodies first though!

Andy

Dear Desperate

There is no simple answer to your question. Improvising well is a combination of familiarity with the melody, it's harmonic structure, and having the technical ability through the practice of exercises (like scales) to put original ideas together on the fly. If that all sounds a bit pompous... you need to think in terms of melody AND chords AND practice more scales...

A good way to start is to take a tune you know in one version and listen to lots of other versions to see what can be done that's different while still retaining the essence of the melody. Then may be try playing through something you know slowly trying to make small changes while not worrying about mistakes....

Have fun though, it's the best thing about bluegrass

Andy

Don't forget that on our news page there are many top tips from our instructors - including some great exercises for all levels from Casey Driessen.

Andy

The answer on Pete Wernick's site is definitely the right one (there's a lot of good advice about playing with other people on his site). If you've read any of our 'top tips' (on the news page over the last couple of months), most of our instructors recommend practicing with a metronome. There are several advantages to this: we all naturally slow down for 'difficult bits' in what we're playing (however slightly), and then when we play with other people who don't slow down with us, we fall apart. We can gradually set the metronome faster and faster by such small increments (a beat or two at a time) that we don't really notice - and then the whole piece gets good at the same rate. And we can force ourselves to practice faster than we really need to so that slowing down to the 'right speed' feels very relaxed. I can tell you though that I've produced some of the best drummers around, and even with a click track hammering in their ears they'll speed up into a chorus and slow down into a verse (almost imperceptibly); remember that music has a natural push and pull, and really metronomic performances don't sound any more 'right' than ones that veer drunkenly from one speed to another!

Utterly confused by the dobro/banjo thing, I passed your question to Brad Talley - the dobro player! Nice guy that he is, he says

"I listened to the banjo with the banjo tab and he's correct. Tony has a 0 when it should be 2."

I will however pass the question on to Tony as well....

Andy

I'll pass this on to Brad...

Andy

Hi Dave - fingering isn't always included in tab, and for that reason, one of the video downloads included in the lesson is a close-up of the right hand showing the fingering.

Hope that helps

Andy

This is a great topic, as it gives a real insight into what tunes you might like to find on the site.

I'm wondering if it depends on what instruments you commonly pick with. I go to a session with a great Dobro player, so we often play Fireball and Fireball Mail which are big dobro favourites, and Reuben's Train.

Keep those lists coming...

Andy

I've added it to the list for the next batch of free tab.

Andy

Hi Jon

I've emailed Matt Flinner to see if he has any good advice.

Andy

Here's Brad's reply:

"Man, it's always great to know that people are using and hopefully enjoying the arrangements and tab.

Thanks so much for the inquiry. I start the hard slide on the 4th string/7th fret with my middle finger, after sliding to the 5th fret I play the 5th string/6th fret with my index. Finally, I end the transition with all thumb strokes on the 6th string. (M - I - T - T)"

Hope that helps

Andy

I have that killer sweat which kills even 'coated' strings, so I've settled on d'Addario regular bronze with a 13 top (medium) on the grounds that they're inexpensive enough (ordering online) to change them fairly often. I tried 12 top, but it doesn't put up enough of a fight! I had to move away from Martin strings due to breakages - the d'Addarios almost never break.

Andy

I've emailed Brad, and will post his reply when it arrives.

Andy

Brian

This just came through from the Sore Fingers forum:

"Andy, would you please tell Brian that he would be MOST welcome to come
along to my picking Session at the White Horse, 39 London Road Bognor (by
the Mazda garage) this coming Thursday (10th).

I play guitar, mandolin, and dobro, and always looking for new picking pals."

Andy