Music instruction books for fiddle,
guitar, mandolin, bass and ukulele may well outnumber those for Irish tenor
banjo, but with the publication of his Irish Banjo Tutor Books I and II, Enda Scahill has provided us 4-string banjo flat-pickers with two instant classics
that rank among the best manuals written for any stringed/folk
instrument.
 |
| Enda Scahill at the 2012 Milwaukee Irish Fest |
Scahill emphasizes the importance of
basic technique, relaxation and reducing tension as the building blocks to advanced playing. These are concepts
that all musicians could benefit from learning (mandolin
players especially should take note of these tutors). Enda’s teaching methods and philosophy seem consistent
with the latest research into “deep” practice and will help you learn how to learn.
There are loads of standout tunes in each book (even some old-time Appalachian ones!) and Scahill uses these tunes as the context to teach correct plucking,
fingering, triplets, slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, chords, variations and more. Taught in this way, these methods become more
than just drills. Enda also selects a
couple tunes in each tutor and keeps returning to them to demonstrate how each
new skill or technique would apply.
Volume I of the Tutor does not
include tab, just notation, but you can purchase a separate tab booklet as an
addendum. Volume II includes notation
and tab for all of the tunes and exercises.
Each tutor comes with 2 CDs containing the audio for all of the
exercises and tunes. At first I thought
the tunes in Volume I were way too slow, but I’ve learned that it’s best to
play a tune VERY slowly and methodically to begin with - building speed only
after you can play it perfectly.
No comments:
Post a Comment