I don't really understand why tenor banjo is the instrument for me. None of my all-time favorite musicians are banjo players. Example:
Favorite Guitarists: Jerry Garcia and Bill Frisell.
Favorite Bass Players: Phil Lesh and Chris Wood.
Favorite Piano Players: Page McConnell and Brent Mydland.
Favorite Drummers: Billy Martin and Jon Fishman.
Favorite Singers: Jerry Garcia and Gillian Welch.
The musicians that I most admire don't conform to categories, traditions or styles, as far as I can tell. In other words, they aren't constrained by a box. The banjo player who best espouses this musical philosophy is probably Béla Fleck, but he plays a five-string banjo. My banjo has 4-strings and I play it with a guitar pick!
At this point in my musical development, my focus is on getting my ear and understanding to the point where I can actually learn things just by listening to my musical heroes, such as hearing the way Jerry Garcia or Bill Frisell improvises. I don't know that it matters that they are playing a different instrument than me; theirs are six-string electric guitars and mine is an acoustic 4-string banjo. The feeling is there regardless of instrument.
When I have played a plugged-in instrument through an amp something about it didn't seem right. There were too many sonic options, perhaps. This doesn't mean that the music I want to play on my tenor banjo can't be inspired by the music I have heard coming from players of electric instruments. It just means that my interpretation is going to have to be a little different.
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