2 comments on “My Argument for a Classical Banjo Education”
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1530/5000
Hello Ron!
I am delighted and very happy to have read your article about the study and the accession of the banjo to classical music education.
Indeed, I was interested in the “classic banjo” and I practice it for over 25 years now, I play particularly ragtime. There is a huge amount of music written for the banjo in England, but not only in America, but banjo music has existed since the 1870s with the publications of Frank Converse and Samuel Swain Stewart. I’m French, and, I have a method of classic banjo published in Paris in 1914 by Salvator Leonardi (maybe a pseudonym because the Italian-sounding names were very popular at that time in France) and there is also French music written for the 5 string banjo.
I absolutely share your point of view when it comes to classic banjo ennobling and music education. It is true that in our time, 5-string banjo players, especially bluegrass, do not play the written music, and that’s a shame.
I share your ideas in teaching, because I also play plectrum banjo, this being for me the logical and chronological continuation, which is to go from the classic banjo to 5 string to the plectrum banjo, the agreement is the same. I even adapted some pieces of Fred Van Eps that I play 5 strings, for the plectrum.
There are also a lot of Alfred Cammeyer’s banjo pieces that can also be played on a banjo plectrum.
Eric; Thank you for your comments! In my opinion, true “education” can only happen when a subject is standardized; otherwise, it just continues to be a folk tradition where songs are passed from one generation to the next with nothing written down.
Check out my YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/user/banjoplayer1/videos); I have a lot of Cammeyer. He’s my favorite!
1530/5000
Hello Ron!
I am delighted and very happy to have read your article about the study and the accession of the banjo to classical music education.
Indeed, I was interested in the “classic banjo” and I practice it for over 25 years now, I play particularly ragtime. There is a huge amount of music written for the banjo in England, but not only in America, but banjo music has existed since the 1870s with the publications of Frank Converse and Samuel Swain Stewart. I’m French, and, I have a method of classic banjo published in Paris in 1914 by Salvator Leonardi (maybe a pseudonym because the Italian-sounding names were very popular at that time in France) and there is also French music written for the 5 string banjo.
I absolutely share your point of view when it comes to classic banjo ennobling and music education. It is true that in our time, 5-string banjo players, especially bluegrass, do not play the written music, and that’s a shame.
I share your ideas in teaching, because I also play plectrum banjo, this being for me the logical and chronological continuation, which is to go from the classic banjo to 5 string to the plectrum banjo, the agreement is the same. I even adapted some pieces of Fred Van Eps that I play 5 strings, for the plectrum.
There are also a lot of Alfred Cammeyer’s banjo pieces that can also be played on a banjo plectrum.
Eric; Thank you for your comments! In my opinion, true “education” can only happen when a subject is standardized; otherwise, it just continues to be a folk tradition where songs are passed from one generation to the next with nothing written down.
Check out my YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/user/banjoplayer1/videos); I have a lot of Cammeyer. He’s my favorite!