Site last updated .
This particular page was created 16/11/2003 and last updated 28/08/2004
Site updates |
| | When I started writing this page, I got the image in my mind of somebody singing a soulful version of Danny Boy accompanied by a banjo. Any music lover's worst nightmare! So how do you play banjo to an slow irish air or ballad? The answer is: carefully!
The banjo can be a wonderful tool for adding power and drive to a piece of music, but sometimes power and drive is the last thing you want. So when it's time for the ballads, it may be a good idea to lay down your banjo and strum some carefull backing on your guitar instead. If you don't play the guitar, and don't want to learn, you can get yourself an octave mandolin. It's tuned and played exactly like an irish tenor banjo, but sounds much softer and sweeter. (Click here for other alternative secondary instruments for an irish tenor banjoist.)
Or you can just take a break of course. There's no law saying that everybody has to play on every tune!
ExceptionsThere are exceptions even to this rule. On ballads that are not too slow, some careful banjo picking (either the tune or chord notes) might be effective.And sometimes you actually want to rough things up a bit. A bawdy drinking song like Seven Drunken Nights may be slow (at least the first part, but it isn't exactly lyrical. For such tunes you can play the tune, preferably with lots of tremolo (and perhaps other ornaments if you like, or you can just lay down the chords at the beginning of each bar: 
| |
|