28 September 2012

I haven't had an update in a very long time, the computer has been broken since last winter. However, i told a couple of people about this blog, and felt i should post something.
The banjo diagrams should be posting up soon, i may be able to photo them. These and a few others i can post like this.
The recent release by marc ribot's ceramic dog, of an old protest song "bread and roses", is as one would expect, just great. He has an ability to sound so hip while playing so out there, it reminds me of jimi hendrix.
In banjo news, i got danny barnes's split livers cassette, and it was also really great. The cassette is still pretty viable, at $10.00 for 90 minutes of music. I will be on the lookout for more releases on tape.
Meanwhile, tapermark has released another danny barnes concert on the archive.org website, and video of the show on youtube.
In other news, i was recently reminded how important it is, no matter how good your tone is, to be in the right key. This includes the right mode. A little simple analysis like this can usually settle the matter:
How many sharps or flats? Well, you can lay out all the chords, write down the notes, and just count them. While you don't have time to do this on stage, you certainly do at home.
Another method is by looking which chords are major or minor. A major chord is going to be a one chord, a four chord, or a five. So in the first chord, you've narrowed it down to one of three keys. Practically speaking, if it's a major tonality it will be major scale or mixolydian, if it's a minor tonality, it will be natural minor scale or else dorian.
So that narrows it down to two choises, presuming you can tell a major from a minor tonality. (Here's a hint, if it starts on a major chord, it's a major tonality.) The way you tell major from mixolydian most easily is if you're playing the flat seventh of the scale ( b flat in the key of c, for example ) then you're mixolydian.
In the minor tonality, you look at the 6th. If it's a flat 6th ( a flat in the key of c, for example ), then it's natural minor. Otherwise, it's dorian.
My point is, be sure you know this much about the song before you start playing it (particularly on stage, i mean). It's ok to depart from the modality, but you have to know what it is you're departing from, or you ain't ever going to get back.