The year was 1962. My dad was a drummer in a DixieLand band. The banjo player left his old, old Vaga banjo at our house. I asked my dad if I could take a look at it. I had heard how it sounded and it was loud. I wish there had been music notation like these old Irish tunes here. I had never heard Irish reels played on banjo before. I have no idea where that old Vaga tenor ended up, but I hope it has had a good life, in good hands, as it is what it has deserved.
I picked up a 1923 Vega Style M recently. A bit crusty after sitting in a closet in an area with pretty good humidity and it has a bit of tarnish. I was going to have a 5 string neck fitted to it but just found the tenor tunes really cool so I ll go down that road a bit. I have a Gibson 5 sting and want an open back. The Tubaphone are remarkable. Cool story you posted.
Thank you for all the tunes I play mandolin and my wife bought me a 4 string. tenor Banjo for Christmas 2022 now I have all the scores to learn you tunes Wants again thanks
I am loving this video! I am just learning banjo and am so inspired by the video and the comments :) THANK YOU to you for sharing here. I wonder if anyone has advice on improving reach. I have been practicing slowly with a metronome to try to get some accuracy down but I can't seem to make the reach from 2-5 that many of the songs I'm learning require.
Thank you! Great to hear you're inspired to learn the tenor banjo. As far as reaching from 2-5, there are two main approaches: use all four fingers for frets 2-5 (more like guitar fingering; not usually the way I play, but popular) and shift to reach high notes, or angle the hand in such a way that three fingers can reach frets 2-5 (more like mandolin or violin fingering). Keep at it, working on slow tunes and scales to get the stretches under your fingers!
Good idea to show the basics. Then with a bit of work, one can progressively play them with oranmentations, triplets. rolls and even slight variations.
Thank you for this. Really nice playing. I use this and your other videos with my bodhran - learning to accompany various tunes for a band. I wont say play because, well...bodhran ;-) Really helpful to have the BPM listed and the metronome in too. I also like the way you nod reassuringly every now and then...makes me feel i'm doing a good job. :-)
I would highly recommend this world class instructional tutorial to Bodhran Players, wanting to know when to accent. Thank You Ben Hockenberry, for teaching me Bodhran, even though you never planned it so.
I appreciate it, Casper! If you use the speed controls in TH-cam to bring it up to 1.25x speed, you'll get approximately "session speed" for your bodhran practice.
I love this ,and I love playing along with my Irish flute or whistle. No sessions for me anymore bc of restrictions, so this means a lot to me ♥️thanks for making this ! 😊 I know all of them except the gravel walks , so I’m excited to learn a new tune this week . ☺️
Thanks for listening, and I hope sessions start back up in your area again soon! Gravel Walks is a tricky one on whistle and flute, at least for me, particularly the fourth part.
Slip jigs....I always have problems with the right hand technique..can you please enlighten me on the different types..I believe that reels are always done up, jigs down up down, down up down......etc ...do you have a chart that I can follow....I have just discovered your brilliant site and as a complete novice I shall find it extremely useful
@@Frakfayt Great tunes! I think I've recorded those at a bit higher speeds -- here's Splendid Isolation recorded early in Lockdown 2020: th-cam.com/video/tUFDr_rr6o8/w-d-xo.html
Very Authentic
Thanks, John!
The year was 1962. My dad was a drummer in a DixieLand band. The banjo player left his old, old Vaga banjo at our house. I asked my dad if I could take a look at it. I had heard how it sounded and it was loud. I wish there had been music notation like these old Irish tunes here. I had never heard Irish reels played on banjo before. I have no idea where that old Vaga tenor ended up, but I hope it has had a good life, in good hands, as it is what it has deserved.
Thanks for sharing your dad's banjo story Robert! Those Vegas are beautiful instruments.
I picked up a 1923 Vega Style M recently. A bit crusty after sitting in a closet in an area with pretty good humidity and it has a bit of tarnish. I was going to have a 5 string neck fitted to it but just found the tenor tunes really cool so I ll go down that road a bit. I have a Gibson 5 sting and want an open back. The Tubaphone are remarkable. Cool story you posted.
Thank you for all the tunes I play mandolin and my wife bought me a 4 string. tenor Banjo for Christmas 2022 now I have all the scores to learn you tunes
Wants again thanks
Fantastic, have fun with the new banjo! :D
Wow what a great resource thanks
I hope it's helpful, Mark!
Thank you soooo much! Im stoked!!!!
Thanks, I hope these videos are helpful!
God Bless you!
Nice steady pace, great for playing along to. Cheers
Thanks, Kevin!
great video , you know what learners are looking for and youve supplied it. Ive slowed it to the next speed down . That's my starting point.
Great video for learners. Thanks Ben
Thanks Sean!
Greeting from Dublin Ireland. Fantastic stuff Ben, thanks for sharing. You’ve got a new subscriber 👏👏👏👏👏👏🙏🏿
Thank you!
BRILLIANT,Ben! Thank you so much for taking the time to do these brilliant vidseos for us.I have learned so much from them.
Thank you!
I am loving this video! I am just learning banjo and am so inspired by the video and the comments :) THANK YOU to you for sharing here. I wonder if anyone has advice on improving reach. I have been practicing slowly with a metronome to try to get some accuracy down but I can't seem to make the reach from 2-5 that many of the songs I'm learning require.
Thank you! Great to hear you're inspired to learn the tenor banjo. As far as reaching from 2-5, there are two main approaches: use all four fingers for frets 2-5 (more like guitar fingering; not usually the way I play, but popular) and shift to reach high notes, or angle the hand in such a way that three fingers can reach frets 2-5 (more like mandolin or violin fingering). Keep at it, working on slow tunes and scales to get the stretches under your fingers!
Good idea to show the basics. Then with a bit of work, one can progressively play them with oranmentations, triplets. rolls and even slight variations.
brilliant stuff all together benjamin,i.m thoroughly enjoying playing along with you top 20s
Thanks John!
Thanks for that Ben, that is very helpful. Now to memorise the tunes. You made a good selection.
Thank you!
Nice. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks, hope it's helpful!
Tank U ben great video
Thanks Robbie!
Thank you for this. Really nice playing.
I use this and your other videos with my bodhran - learning to accompany various tunes for a band. I wont say play because, well...bodhran ;-) Really helpful to have the BPM listed and the metronome in too. I also like the way you nod reassuringly every now and then...makes me feel i'm doing a good job. :-)
Ha! I should nod more, it sounds reassuring. ;) Glad it's useful, and have fun with that bodhran!
Terrific. Thanks!
Thanks Alfred!
This is perfect. I was looking for something like this. Thanks!
Hope it's helpful!
Thank you much - fantastic video. 🙏👏👏👏 You’ve made a lot of people very happy 💕
Thank you, I hope it's useful!
This is brilliant, some good ones for me to work on, Much appreciated!
Thanks, Neil!
Thanks Benjamin. This is most helpful.
Thanks Alec!
Brilliant collection and lovely tempo for learners and beginners. Will be bookmarking this to learn with me fiddle :)
Thank you!
Really great for learning and playing along..I download it from banjoheads but lost phone..glad to have stumbled across it again here.
Thanks
Thanks Colum!
I would highly recommend this world class instructional tutorial to Bodhran Players,
wanting to know when to accent. Thank You Ben Hockenberry, for teaching me Bodhran,
even though you never planned it so.
I appreciate it, Casper! If you use the speed controls in TH-cam to bring it up to 1.25x speed, you'll get approximately "session speed" for your bodhran practice.
I love this ,and I love playing along with my Irish flute or whistle. No sessions for me anymore bc of restrictions, so this means a lot to me ♥️thanks for making this ! 😊 I know all of them except the gravel walks , so I’m excited to learn a new tune this week . ☺️
Thanks for listening, and I hope sessions start back up in your area again soon! Gravel Walks is a tricky one on whistle and flute, at least for me, particularly the fourth part.
This is awesome. I'm definitely going to use this to round out some session tune gaps.
Thanks, hope it's helpful! :)
Oh, I get to practice my bodhran technique along with the banjo. For cool.
I hope it's helpful! :)
Wow, this is so helpful. Do you think you might do the next 20 reels some time? There are so many popular reels I feel you can never know enough!
Possibly! I need to get to a few more of the major tune types... the polka video needs to happen!
Which type of tune would you like me to play next in this top 20 series?
Hornpipes would be great!
@@danshingler1372 Thanks!
Slip jigs....I always have problems with the right hand technique..can you please enlighten me on the different types..I believe that reels are always done up, jigs down up down, down up down......etc ...do you have a chart that I can follow....I have just discovered your brilliant site and as a complete novice I shall find it extremely useful
Maids of mount Cisco. Splendid isolation
@@Frakfayt Great tunes! I think I've recorded those at a bit higher speeds -- here's Splendid Isolation recorded early in Lockdown 2020: th-cam.com/video/tUFDr_rr6o8/w-d-xo.html
BRAVO !
Thank you!
I would love tabs for these songs!
I added tab in this video: th-cam.com/video/xapwXaHnKuU/w-d-xo.html
Playing at 1.5x and it sounds great
Thanks Pablo-- good idea!
How is your banjo tuned? Thank you.
GDAE, an octave below violins and mandolins.