Posted by Doc Warlick on September 04, 19102 at 18:09:56:
In Reply to: Learning the banjo posted by Regina Donald on September 02, 19102 at 16:24:38:
I have ten banjos hanging on the wall. An Earl Scruggs Gibson, a Robert Rock archtop, a Les Arnold Lucytone, a 1911 Clifford Essex, a 1930 Gibson RB 1 with original everything, and others, trying to sound like Earl. It took ten years to figger out that no one will ever sound like Earl. He took a style from Snuffy Jenkins and made it his own. You and the rest of us are doing the same. Enjoy your individuality. Your style is as legitimate as anybody's style...the big secret is that there is no right way to play the banjo. If you can keep tempo with two or three fingers, go for it! If anyone says that you don't sound like Earl, ask them what I ask those rude people..."Were you a Bluegrass Boy?" If they say no, then tell them to shove it and keep the comments private...if they sy yes, call them a liar.