If some of you are members of the Mandolin Cafe discussion site, you've seen that mandolin bridges have generated a couple of good discussions lately. One topic has to do with a subject of many experiments I've done, and that is mandolin bridge weight. Most folks may never think much about the bridge that comes… Continue reading Mandolin Bridges — Again!
Month: August 2008
Beginning Bass Clip
We've just added a clip from our Beginning Bass DVD to YouTube. Here it is:
September Newsletter
For those of you who do not receive our monthly e-mailings, here is the link to our September Newsletter.
Improvising in C
One thing I’ve been thinking about lately is improvising in C position---that is, playing in the key of C without capoing or re-tuning. One thing I noticed in leading the slow jams at Kaufman Kamp was that standard three-chord bluegrass songs become exponentially more difficult for banjos when you sing them in the key of… Continue reading Improvising in C
Playing The Music Is The Easy Part
You've seen bands on stage, right? You've seen them playing music and having fun entertaining the audience. This is good. But have you ever thought about what they had to do to get there and get ready to play? Sometimes a band's gig experience is dominated by everything besides the music. A job we just… Continue reading Playing The Music Is The Easy Part
How Fast Should I Move Through The Lessons?
The question posed in the title is one that I hear frequently. And it's a good one, especially if you're using the DVDs without a teacher, as many people are. In a nutshell (in case you are in a hurry to get back to practicing and don't want to read to the end of the… Continue reading How Fast Should I Move Through The Lessons?
Casey Henry Kel Kroydon Number 3
Yesterday I drove up to Hendersonville, Tenn., to pick up my new Casey Henry Signature Model banjo from Robin Smith at Heartland Banjos. This is the third Casey Henry model. I played the first one for about seven months and then sold it to one of my students. The second one went to a gal… Continue reading Casey Henry Kel Kroydon Number 3
You Roll With The Flow
We played music for a local restaurant last Saturday, and I thought that the job was a good illustration of things that can happen when you're performing. The gig was outdoors, in a shady location next to the restaurant, which was billing the event as "Bluegrass and Barbeque." Our friends Charlie and Charlotte and their… Continue reading You Roll With The Flow
Three-Part Harmony, Oh How Sweet To Me!
Hi all. Just walked back in the door from a lightning fast trip to Nashville which I made right after we shot most of the Slow Jam DVD. I rode over with Casey on Sunday (we did crosswords and listened to books on tape) and flew back today (Tuesday). Red picked me up at Baltimore’s… Continue reading Three-Part Harmony, Oh How Sweet To Me!
Slow Jam 2 Taping
Last weekend we filmed the majority of the new Slow Jam DVD (to be titled Picking Up The Pace: More Slow Jamming with Murphy and Casey) in Winchester. Over the course of two days we recorded eighteen or so songs at tempos ranging from slowish to mediumish (those are the technical terms...). We always mean… Continue reading Slow Jam 2 Taping