Note for Note

This weeks homework: Jayme has been showing me the ins and outs of single-string picking for the past two lessons. The "single-string" style of picking a melody is similar to guitar playing because you pick several notes per string in a row, moving across the neck.  It differs from "melodic-style", which uses open strings and a different string each time a new note is played, and "Scruggs-style" which is based on rolls, giving it the "bluegrass" sound. Last week I memorized the G major scale, including all of the different modes, on the entire neck of the banjo. No small feat; yeah I'm gloating. This week's homework is to pick a song and learn to play it in several different locations on the neck of the banjo.  I've been busy this week transcribing Bill Keith's version of Sailor's Hornpipe, recorded in 1963 right after he was hired by Bill Monroe.  It's a "melodic-style" tune, but I'm going to arrange it for "single-string" picking.  Transcribing this tune has been tricky, mainly because it's so fast.  So I've been listening to 3-5 second sections of it over and over.  I finished it LATE last night and now I just need to figure out how to arrange it on the banjo. I'll get around to a "melodic-style" arrangment after that.  It will sound smoother and I'll be able to play it faster that way.