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REDLAND BAY BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL 2005
MASTER CLASS WITH BUTCH ROBBINS
Interpreted by Wendy Holman
Fingerstyle
- Physical fitness.
- good posture and balance are needed for control
- banjos are heavy and you may be standing, supporting your own body weight and the banjo for long periods of time. Butch uses the services of a chiropractor who also practices western and homeopathic medicine.
- Find a mentor/coach. Ditch the ego.
- a trained observer can help with feedback, to break bad habits and
- to work out a strategy plan for progress
- Technique
- reduce to the least number of moving parts, eg, fingering economy
- Picks - have two sets of fingerpicks
- least curved adds resistance - to build muscles
- most curved for actual playing – least resistance, therefore speed
- Butch recommends the maximum surface area meets the string and
- 3 types of stroke are possible: under the string,(hooking action), across the string (normal playing angle) and glancing over the string (classical guitar rest-stroke style).
- Turns of the string on tuning pegs.
- minimum number – 1.5 rounds
- lock them off
- Butch uses cam/stop type Keith tuners.
- He pre-sets these so that on stage he can quickly down-tune to lowest setting then quickly back up at which point the string should be back in tune – as though they have a ‘memory’.
- Earl Scruggs Instruction Book – Get it! Read it! Apply it!
- Who do you want to follow?
- Scruggs is a linear melody player – close to the melody
- Reno is more formulaic – plays out of chords and scales
- On J.D. Crowe... “He’s a ‘straight’ banjo player. Straight players are the timekeepers in the band.”
- Make A Joyful Noise! – No disclaimers!
- ie, “But make sure it’s in time” “that you’re in tune..” etc
- On interpretation...
Butch uses the metaphor of the rendering of a house as an analogy for the different philosophies in approach.
- a photographic rendering – bog standard, but possibilities of light and shade and angle
- the architectural ‘to scale’ technical approach. Everything is measured and perhaps clinical?
- a painting by an artist – more emotional, artistic. Butch puts Bill Munro into this category
- the abstract artist’s approach which is cerebral, intellectually stimulating, eg jazz.
- Getting the most value from practice time available. Use metronome.
Approx 1.5 mins for each of these exercises
- Rolls:
- IMIT, M (1st string) I (3rd string) T (5th string) open backward roll,
- T (4th string) I M T (5th string) I M syncopated triplets (as a forward roll)
- The same but in sixteenth notes
- Closed chords and vamping
- melodic scales
- Chord hand – fingering exercise 1,2,3,4, 1,2,3,4, 1,2,3,4, 1,2,3,4, Set metronome at approx 50-100bpm – this is a slow exercise to begin.
This is one rep. Do 6 – 8 reps increasing speed and logging failure speed for each. Set metronome 20 bpm slower than max speed.
- Anchor is your forearm over the armrest.
- Picking hand must be free to move about and for bracing to exist or not as expression demands
- Find the sweet spot on your banjo.
- The place where it responds best for general playing. The place where string tension and muscle capability work best together.
- Melody comes out of scales
- “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.” Cultivate a body metronome.
- If necessary begin with foot taps.
- Pickers need strong sense of ‘big time’ to be able to emphasise beats and/or to be able to syncopate – ie, to emphasise what is normally a weak beat.
- On purism: Without innovation there is no change, no progress.
- Butch describes himself as a “Munro Nazi”
- He believes Bill Munro to be a true creative artist and worthy of intense study.
Highly recommended album: Grounded, Centered, Focussed
Butch’s website: www.butchrobins.com
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